What is the most meaningful job?

PayScale.com, the world’s largest crowdsourced salary database, released today a study on how different kinds of employees feel about their jobs. The data is broken down to show the Most Meaningful Jobs, the Least Meaningful Jobs as well as Jobs that Make the World a Worse Place.

Most Meaningful Jobs
The jobs where the highest percentage of workers answered “Very much so” or “Yes” to the question, “Does your job make the world a better place?”

Rank	Job Categories (Breadth 30)	Median Pay	Percent High Meaning	Percent High Satisfaction
1	Clergy	$46,600	98%	90%
2- tie	English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary	$43,600	96%	74%
2- tie	Directors, Religious Activities and Education	$37,600	96%	84%
2- tie	Surgeons	$304,000	96%	83%
5	Education Administrators, Elementary and Secondary School	$76,700	95%	88%
6	Radiation Therapists	$70,200	93%	86%
7 – tie	Chiropractors	$60,100	92%	70%
7 – tie	Psychiatrists	$197,000	92%	85%
9 – tie	Anesthesiologists	$273,000	91%	83%
9 – tie	Rehabilitation Counselors	$39,100	91%	74%
9 – tie	Occupational Therapists	$64,400	91%	77%
9 – tie	Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education	$39,000	91%	81%
9 – tie	Epidemiologists	$69,000	91%	77%

 

Least Meaningful Jobs
The jobs where the lowest percentage of workers answered “Very much so” or “Yes” to the question, “Does your job make the world a better place?”

Job Categories (Breadth 30)	Median Pay	Percent High Meaning	Percent High Satisfaction
Parking Lot Attendants	$19,700	5%	41%
Gaming Supervisors	$46,400	20%	77%
Prepress Technicians and Workers	$38,300	25%	51%
Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers	$32,700	25%	70%
Fabric and Apparel Patternmakers	$52,900	25%	50%
Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	$33,200	26%	63%
Counter and Rental Clerks	$26,500	26%	43%
Crushing, Grinding, and Polishing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	$36,000	26%	41%
Purchasing Agents and Buyers, Farm Products	$40,600	26%	52%
Fashion Designers	$50,700	26%	58%

 

Jobs That Make The World Worse
The jobs where the highest percentage of workers answered “My job makes the world a worse place” to the question, “Does your work make the world a better place?”

Rank	Job Title	% who answer “My Job Makes the World a Worse Place”	Median Salary
1	Fast Food Worker	25%	$16,700
2	Picker	21%	$24,800
3	Table Games Floor Supervisor	20%	$50,900
4 – tie	Merchandise Planning Manager	18%	$94,400
4 – tie	Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Strategist	18%	$52,300
4 – tie	Valet	18%	$21,900
7	Paralegal or Legal Assistant	16%	$40,000
8 – tie	Laundry Attendant	14%	$18,600
8 – tie	Garbage Truck Driver	14%	$36,600
9 – tie	Photographer, Commercial	13%	$45,200
9 – tie	Cash Posting Clerk	13%	$31,300
9 – tie	Financial Sales Consultant	13%	$32,600