The 10 Happiest Jobs You Might Not Expect

According to a 2024 Pew Research Center report, half of U.S. workers surveyed said they were “extremely” or “very” satisfied with their jobs, and self-employed workers were more likely than traditionally employed workers to report job satisfaction.

Job satisfaction is key to a long-term career, and job dissatisfaction can lead to career burnout. In 2023, the American Psychological Association (APA) reported through its Work in America Survey that 57% of workers polled were experiencing negative impacts from work-related stress sometimes associated with burnout.

And, according to the Society for Human Resource Management, employees who experience career burnout are almost three times more likely to search for another job than those who do not.

You deserve a career you’ll love, not one that will make you ill. In this guide, we’ve gathered 10 roles with some of the highest reported job satisfaction to help you find a career that brings you some joy.

We’ve analyzed job satisfaction based on data from Career.io, Bamboo HR, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and Payscale. These sources comprehensively detail employee happiness, workforce trends, and salary ranges.

Here’s a list of 10 of the happiest and most satisfying jobs, with education requirements and salary data from the BLS:

As a real estate sales agent, you’ll help people buy and sell houses or business properties and facilitate property rentals.

This role can help promote a positive work-life balance by giving you a flexible work schedule. You can create your own schedule and choose your work environment, working either part time or full time.

Another perk of the job is that you get to help people make a significant financial decision, one of the biggest decisions of their lives — purchasing a house or business property.

If you have a passion for construction and an interest in overseeing construction projects from start to finish, you may enjoy a construction management career.

You’ll delegate tasks to lower-level construction workers while overseeing the building of roads, bridges, houses, and other structures. Many enjoy the diversity of responsibilities, which can fuel excitement on the job.

According to the BLS, employment for construction managers is projected to grow by 9% from 2023 to 2033, which is more than double the average projected rate across all occupations for the same time period.

The best kindergarten and elementary school teachers are passionate about children and early childhood education.

They’re also multi-talented, working in schools to teach a variety of basic subjects. Many kindergarten and elementary school teachers find deep meaning and fulfillment in witnessing their students’ development.

If you want to teach kindergarten or elementary students, you’ll need a blend of communication skills, physical stamina, resourcefulness, and patience.

People with a passion for coding may find deep satisfaction in software development careers, partially because they pay so well. Software developers earn median annual salaries of over $133,000, per the BLS.

As a software developer, you’ll use your coding skills to design or create apps, video games, and operating systems to meet business needs. Software developers typically work in offices or remotely from home.

Your employer may be a software publisher, a finance or insurance company, or a manufacturing firm. According to the BLS, 32% of software developers work in computer systems and design.

Fitness trainers and instructors can derive deep satisfaction from helping people reach their health and fitness goals. Part of what attracts people to this role is its low entry barrier: You only need a high school diploma.

As a fitness instructor, you can help change lives by leading exercise classes and personal training sessions in gyms, health clubs, or exercise studios.

You’ll likely need to maintain physical fitness to lead classes and model exercise demonstrations. You’ll also need customer service skills, which involve active listening and clear communication.

As a firefighter, you’ll get regular opportunities to save lives, making this a career you can take pride in. Firefighters do more than just douse flames, however. They often go into burning buildings to rescue people and respond to various public emergencies.

As a firefighter, you can expect to respond to many medical emergencies, so you’ll have to train to provide swift and accurate medical attention.

You may also help clean hazardous materials or contain forest fires. Per the BLS, firefighters have a unique schedule: You may work at the station for 24 hours, then have 48-72 hours off before you return to work.

Some of the most satisfying professions involve caring for others and engaging in personal passions. Clergy get to do both in their careers: They get to participate in their faith while helping the church’s followers and the communities they serve.

Clergy members primarily work in churches. Their job satisfaction stems from service work, relationship-building, and helping people through various life challenges.

While the journey to becoming a physician or surgeon is long and rigorous, the job comes with high rewards that can lead to deep job satisfaction.

A high salary is one benefit you can look forward to once you finish med school and land a job in a hospital or clinic. According to the BLS, physicians and surgeons earn an average annual wage between $222,340 and $450,810, depending on their role and other factors such as experience, location, and employer.

Many radiation therapists value the rewards of saving lives by treating cancer and tumors. More specifically, they use radiation treatments to shrink cancers and tumors. To perform this role, you’ll need to be comfortable working in healthcare settings.

Along with technical skills, you’ll need deep compassion and advanced interpersonal skills to develop relationships with patients. Building patient trust is key when you’re treating patients whose progress you’ll monitor via detailed records.

People of all ages and abilities struggle with speech. As a speech-language pathologist, you can get great satisfaction from helping children and adults improve their speech. Your clients may include people who’ve experienced strokes, stutters, lisps, or have swallowing problems.

Job satisfaction in this field can come from helping people improve their ability to pronounce words, swallow foods and drinks, and string together sentences with ease.

You’ll also counsel patients and their families on coping mechanisms. Your work environment may be a hospital, nursing home, school, or private practice.

According to a Q4 2024 Bamboo HR report, which has analyzed data from over 57,000 employees, the industries with the highest job satisfaction include construction, education, travel/hospitality, finance, technology, healthcare, nonprofits, and restaurants (food and beverage).

Roles within these industries may offer flexible schedules, fair compensation, strong benefits, and positive work-life balance. Plus, employees in these industries may benefit from growth opportunities. Positive career factors like these tend to promote happiness, increasing employee engagement.

As you consider jobs with the highest satisfaction, consider factors like flexibility, supportive work environments, fair or competitive compensation, growth opportunities, meaningful work, and work-life balance.

If you have a job that’ll make you happy, you generally won’t wake up dreading work in the mornings or feel a conflicted knot in your stomach while you’re working.

Try to find a job with an organization whose mission matches your values. Identify your interests and strengths. Also, assess your needs and allow yourself to look for a new opportunity if the role you land doesn’t align with what you’re looking for in a career.