Research
Breaking Down the 50 Best Jobs in America for 2019
Amanda Stansell
Amanda Stansell, Author at Glassdoor US | Jan 23, 2019
In today’s tight labor market, job seekers have a prime opportunity to search and apply for new jobs in 2019. Using Glassdoor’s unique data on jobs and companies, we compiled a list of the 50 Best Jobs in America for 2019. The list is based on three factors that are top of mind for job seekers today:
Source: Glassdoor Economic Research (Glassdoor.com/research)
Here are our key takeaways from this year’s full list:
- Salary: The median base salary reported on Glassdoor over the past year;
- Job Openings: The number of U.S. open job openings on Glassdoor as of 1/2/19; and
- Job Satisfaction: The overall job satisfaction rating (on a scale of 1.0 to 5.0) reported by actual employees working in these roles on Glassdoor over the past year.
| Rank | Job Title | Median Base Salary | Job Satisfaction | Job Openings |
| 1 | Data Scientist | $108,000 | 4.3 | 6,510 |
| 2 | Nursing Manager | $83,000 | 4.0 | 13,931 |
| 3 | Marketing Manager | $82,000 | 4.2 | 7,395 |
| 4 | Occupational Therapist | $74,000 | 4.0 | 17,701 |
| 5 | Product Manager | $115,000 | 3.8 | 11,884 |
| 6 | Devops Engineer | $106,000 | 4.1 | 4,657 |
| 7 | Program Manager | $87,000 | 3.9 | 14,753 |
| 8 | Data Engineer | $100,000 | 3.9 | 4,739 |
| 9 | HR Manager | $85,000 | 4.2 | 3,908 |
| 10 | Software Engineer | $104,000 | 3.6 | 49,007 |
- Data scientist is the number one Best Job in America for the fourth year in a row. Its consistency in competitive salary, numerous open jobs and high job satisfaction over the past four years indicate that this will be a desirable job for years to come. We see data scientist roles open at both tech and non-tech companies, highlighting the effects of tech spreading through other industries. Data scientists compile and analyze data to turn into valuable insights informing business decisions, especially as companies across industries continue to collect more data at scale. In previous economic research, we took a deeper dive into the different skills data scientists use on the job, including Python, R and SQL.
- Tech jobs dominate this year’s list, with almost 20 roles being tech positions. Additionally, five out of the top ten spots in this year’s list are tech roles, including data scientist (#1), product manager (#5), devops engineer (#6), data engineer (#8) and software engineer (#10). Today, these jobs continue to diffuse throughout a diverse set of industries, and are not found only at tech companies.
- Similar to tech jobs, professional services roles have experienced tremendous growth in recent years, as the demand for skilled “knowledge workers” continues to increase. Several of these roles are manager-level positions, highlighting the need for talent with many years of experience and the ability to work with teams. This is great news for job seekers who want to build their careers in fields such as operations and strategy.
- Health care roles have a strong presence on this year’s list, claiming two of the top ten spots, including nursing manager (#2) and occupational therapist (#4). Health care jobs will continue to be sought-after positions as the demand for these skills will only increase as baby boomers continue to leave the labor force. As one of the trends to watch for in 2019, with the boomer generation leaving the workforce in coming years, the need for additional workers to fill their roles in addition to the more intensive health care required as these workers age will make health care jobs continue to thrive.
Amanda Stansell
Tags:changing-jobs/careersHot Jobs
