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A little reassurance you’re on the right track

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This week I did something I swore I wouldn’t do.

After hearing a lot of chatter from colleges and seeing Facebook posts, I did a Google search for the best and worst jobs of 2015. Apparently, from what I’ve been reading and hearing, news reporters—and really any job having to do with the news media—was somwehere on the worst list. So I looked into it, and, man, was it true. It’s really depressing when your profession is rated no. 1 worst job on in the United States for 2015 by Forbes.

But you know what’s not on any of the worst lists? The dentist. At the complete opposite end of the spectrum from my news reporting job, the dentist topped the charts in January with the best job in America based on a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predictions on which 100 jobs will grow the most between 2012 and 2022. Dentists and dental hygienists continue to rank near the top of all of these list year after year. The careers picked for the U.S. News and World Reporting’s 25 best jobs of 2015 shine when it comes to salary, work-life balance and expected employment growth, and dentist is at the very top.

According to U.S. News and World Reporting, dentists have the best job for four reasons:

1. A low unemployment rate of 0.9 percent.

2. A decent work-life balance, especially compared to other health-care jobs (and other jobs in general, I say).

3. The pay, which according to the report is excellent. Dentists earned an average wage of $168,870 and a median hourly wage of $72.74 in 2013, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

4. The employment outlook. The BLS projects employment for dentists will grow 16 percent between 2012 and 2022, adding 23,300 jobs.

But the job of dental hygienist isn’t following far behind. Coming in at no. 5 best job in the country, the dental hygienist’s median salary is $71,000 with an unemployment rate of 1.7 percent. Expected job openings in this career are estimated at 64,200.

So, in conclusion, those of you looking for a job in the dental industry: do not worry. It seems as if there are going to be plenty of jobs to go around in one of the best industries in which to be employed. In other, unrelated news, perhaps I should start considering a career change.

Katie Devereaux
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