Most Popular Jobs Today and for the Future
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In the 21st century, no amount of education guarantees a bright future and a salary you can live on comfortably. More than ever, it is important to evaluate the return of your investment and the potential for career growth.
To help you choose a career that will be fulfilling and financially rewarding, we’ve identified the 25 best jobs, based on projected job growth and median salary. All of them are projected to grow and pay at least$90,000.
25. Computer Systems Analyst
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*Data is from the U.S. News & World Report 100 Best Jobs 2021. Ranking is based on median salary for positions with projected jobs of over 1,000.
Median salary: $90,920
Projected jobs: 46,600
Education needed: Bachelor’s
Bottom line: It's no surprise that information technology (IT) skills are in hot demand. You don’t even need advanced secondary education to make big bucks. For a career in computer system analysis, you can be making $90,000 with only a bachelor’s degree.
The job entails analyzing and designing computer systems that will enhance client experiences. You’ll need to be good at research, do cost-benefit analyses and plan new systems.
Here's how to enhance your skills.
24. Statistician
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Median salary: $91,160
Projected jobs: 14,800
Education needed: Master’s
Bottom line: If you’re good enough at statistics to have a masters in mathematics or a related field, you can consider becoming a statistician. You’ll collect, analyze and interpret data and report it back to clients.
As to who those clients are, the possibilities are endless. Nearly every industry needs statisticians so you can be working in fields like sports, government, healthcare or anything else that interests you.
Here's how to enhance your skills.
23. Database Administrator
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Median salary: $93,750
Projected jobs: 12,800
Education needed: Bachelor’s
Bottom line: Databases are key to the functioning of many companies. Because of this, database administrators are becoming increasingly in demand.
This job makes sure data is being collected effectively and correctly. Database administrators also have to fix any blips that may come up and perform upgrades.
Here's how to enhance your skills.
22. Data Scientist
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Median salary: $94,280
Projected jobs: 10,300
Education needed: Bachelor’s
Bottom line: The ability to collect unimaginable quantities of data provides another job opportunity.
Data science is a field that is of interest to many industries. Everyone from newspapers to the government to tech startups need data scientists.
You won’t be administering the database, but rather analysing sets of data by using statistics, programming and other skills.
Here's how to enhance your skills.
21. Construction Manager
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Median salary: $95,260
Projected jobs: 40,400
Education needed: Bachelor’s
Bottom line: Few of us think about everything that it takes to construct a building, a highway or a bridge. If you’d like to be the one thinking about it, construction management might be for you.
This career only requires a bachelor's degree and pays generously. You’ll be in charge of managing contracts, supplies, payroll, permits, schedules and more.
Because of the explosion of development and construction, this job is projected to add around 40,000 jobs in the next few years.
Here's how to enhance your skills.
20. Veterinarian
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Median salary: $95,460
Projected jobs: 14,200
Education needed: Doctorate
Bottom line: As culture shifts to including more animal rights and people have more pets, the demand for veterinarians increases. And it is not projected to slow down any time soon.
Besides earning around $95,000, you’ll also get the satisfaction of helping animals in need and bringing joy to their human families.
Just prepare to spend a lot of years in school.
Here's how to enhance your skills.
19. Information Security Analyst
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Median salary: $99,730
Projected jobs: 40,900
Education needed: Bachelor’s
Bottom line: Data breaches and hackings are bound to happen and will probably become more and more common in the years to come.
Companies hire information security analysts for protection. Their job is to catch vulnerabilities in security systems and correct them.
The job pays well and can give you some bragging rights.
Here's how to enhance your skills.
18. Business Operations Manager
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Median salary: $100,780
Projected jobs: 143,800
Education needed: Bachelor’s
Bottom line: This job is in demand, and it's expected to add 143,800 positions in the upcoming year.
Every company needs a business operations manager to plan and organize how the company will do what it’s set out to do. You need to have knowledge of business and economics, and also have leadership and problem-solving skills.
You can break into the six-figure club with a bachelor’s degree.
Here's how to enhance your skills.
17. Medical and Health Service Manager
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Median salary: $100,980
Projected jobs: 133,200
Education needed: Bachelor’s
Bottom line: If you want to work in the medical field but not be a doctor or a nurse, this is a good career choice. You'd be in charge of running the show behind the scenes, making sure places that provide medical services are operating as they should.
A good medical and health service manager can help a lot of people by ensuring that they are receiving adequate services.
Here's how to enhance your skills.
16. Software Developer
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Median salary: $107,510
Projected jobs: 316,000
Education needed: Bachelor’s
Bottom line: One of the jobs of tomorrow is already hot today. As a software developer, you can develop the software that people use in their everyday lives.
You are responsible for making apps, phone features and the little things we take for granted but that have changed our lives forever. The job pays handsomely and is necessary for companies in various industries. This career is projected to continue and expand for decades to come.
Software developer is ranked as the second-best job in U.S. News & World 100 Best Jobs 2021.
Here's how to enhance your skills.
15. Actuary
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Median salary: $108,350
Projected jobs: 4,900
Education needed: Bachelor’s
Bottom line: Don’t worry if you’ve never heard about this job. Many people haven’t.
Actuaries analyze and manage financial risk. Because of this, they’re most commonly employed by insurance companies, though other industries also find themselves in need of an actuary from time to time.
You’ll need mathematics skills and an understanding of statistics.
Here's how to enhance your skills.
14. Nurse Practitioner
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Median salary: $109,820
Projected jobs: 110,700
Education needed: Master’s
Bottom line: If you want to be a nurse, or if you’re already one, you should consider extending your education a bit further to be a nurse practitioner.
This job is for registered nurses who want to be able to be more hands-on with patients. You can do things registered nurses can’t, like prescribe medication, order lab exams and do routine exams.
It also comes with a larger paycheck.
Here's how to enhance your skills.
13. Physician Assistant
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Median salary: $112,260
Projected jobs: 39,300
Education needed: Master’s
Bottom line: Physician assistants are halfway between nurse practitioners and physicians. They can do more than nurse practitioners, like giving a diagnosis and performing minor procedures, but there are certain things, like surgery, where a physician is necessary by law.
The main perk of this job is that it requires a bit less schooling than being a physician, so it’s a good alternative for people who don’t have the financial flexibility to study for longer.
Physician assistant was rated the number one best job by U.S. World & News Report.
Here's how to enhance your skills.
12. Computer Network Architect
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Median salary: $112,690
Projected jobs: 8,000
Education needed: Bachelor’s
Bottom line: The magic of computer networks doesn’t just happen on its own. A digital architect is behind it. If you’d love designing and building networks like the cloud, this is the job for you.
Of course, IT skills are necessary, but you’ll also need to understand the needs of the companies you work for, in order to design systems within their budget.
This job has a 0.7 percent unemployment rate, so you’re basically guaranteed a job if you have the skills.
Here's how to enhance your skills.
11. Optometrist
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Median salary: $115,250
Projected jobs: 1,900
Education needed: Doctorate
Bottom line: Optometrists provide primary vision care by performing eye exams and vision tests, prescribing corrective lenses, detecting some eye abnormalities and prescribing medications for some eye diseases. They are not medical doctors, like an ophthalmologist who is licensed to practice medicine and do surgery, but we all need optometrists.
This is a job for those who want to serve the community while earning well. The number of projected jobs isn’t as high as some other jobs, but it's a job that is safe. At least until robots can examine your eyes.
You will have to get a medical degree, so you’ll spend long years in school. But it’ll be worth it to help people who need eye exams.
Here's how to enhance your skills.
10. Pilot
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Median salary: $121,430
Projected jobs: 6,100
Education needed: Bachelor’s
Bottom line: Humanity has been flying for more than 100 years, but the idea of being a pilot continues to be exciting and romantic. You’ll get paid a pretty penny to fly around the world, either for commercial, cargo or private airplanes.
Plus, a bachelor’s degree and flight time is enough to get you flying. The pressure and the hours are rough, but it can be well worth it.
That being said, this job can suffer from unexpected events. So be expect the unexpected.
Here's how to enhance your skills.
9. Lawyer
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Median salary: $122,960
Projected jobs: 32,300
Education needed: Doctorate
Bottom line: As much as everyone likes to drag lawyers, the truth is that we need them. There are various kinds of lawyers so you can choose to practice in the way that best suits your interest.
That can mean being in court or behind a desk. Lawyers famously make a lot of money and, depending on their ethics, they can do a lot of good.
Here's how to enhance your skills.
8. Financial Manager
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Median salary: $129,890
Projected jobs: 108,100
Education needed: Bachelor’s
Bottom line: If you love managing money and can handle the pressure of dealing with millions of dollars, consider studying to be a financial manager.
Financial managers help companies handle their finances and are responsible for advising organizations on how to increase profits. This means making budgets, creating reports and being on top of where the money is coming from and going to.
Many people snooze at this, but it can be a pretty high-stakes and interesting job.
Here's how to enhance your skills.
7. Marketing Manager
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Median salary: $136,850
Projected jobs: 19,100
Education needed: Bachelor’s
Bottom line: Love selling ideas to people? If you’re a marketing whiz and have strong people and leadership skills, you could be a marketing manager.
In this role, you lead a team of marketing professionals and are responsible for also meeting with the higher-ups to represent the marketing department.
Here's how to enhance your skills:
6. Petroleum Engineer
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Median salary: $137,720
Projected jobs: 1,100
Education needed: Bachelor’s
Bottom line: Petroleum might not have an infinite future in this world, but it is still a high-paying job, and its job prospects are not too bad.
Petroleum engineers make it possible for companies to extract petroleum from the ground (or the sea). You could design equipment and also come up with ways to do the process in a more cost-efficient way.
You will build a transferable skill set that can set you up for success if you ever want to transition to clean energy.
Here's how to enhance your skills.
5. IT Manager
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Median salary: $146,360
Projected jobs: 48,100
Education needed: Bachelor’s
Bottom line: If being part of the IT crowd pays well, it makes sense that managing the IT crowd would pay even better. You’ll probably need to work up to this job, as you need to know everything that an IT tech would.
But besides being able to fix everyone’s tech problems, you’ll also be in meetings, handle hiring, scheduling, and general management of the team and other more business-related tasks.
Here's how to enhance your skills.
Master’s Degree in IT Management from Indiana University, edX
4. Dentist
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Median salary: $155,600
Projected jobs: 3,700
Education needed: Doctorate
Bottom line: We don’t need to explain to you what a dentist does (besides terrorizing the dreams of every child). But it is good to know that they make over $150,000 a year.
Although projected jobs could be higher, the unemployment rate for dentists is 0.2 percent. You can work for a company or open up your own practice.
And even though you might not be everyone's favorite person, you will be essential to their health.
Here's how to enhance your skills.
3. Nurse Anesthetist
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Median salary: $174,790
Projected jobs: 6,200
Education needed: Master’s
Bottom line: Much like physician assistants, nurse anesthetists are a step away from general anesthetists. This means that you get to do many of the same things, but don’t have as much responsibility or liability. You also don’t have to study for as long.
The pathway to this career is usually for registered nurses who get a master’s degree specializing in anesthesiology. Yes, there are some things you won’t be able to do, but you can start working much earlier.
That can be worth it.
Here's how to enhance your skills.
2. Physician
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Median salary: $206,500
Projected jobs: 18,500
Education needed: Doctorate
Bottom line: If being a physician assistant interests you, and you have the time and money to invest in more years of school, consider becoming a physician.
You will be able to treat your patients without limitations, and you can earn over $200,000 a year. Physicians do tend to have more student loans, but given their high salaries, they’re usually not impossible to pay off.
Here's how to enhance your skills.
1. Psychiatrist
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Median salary: $208,000
Projected jobs: 3,300
Education needed: Doctorate
Bottom line: In our current age, anxiety, depression and other mental health issues are on the rise, particularly with younger generations. This means that there has never been as much need for psychiatrists as there is now.
You won’t only be making a great amount of money, but you’ll also be helping people manage or recover from these issues and lead a better life.
That’s worth more than any amount of money.
Here's how to enhance your skills.