Top 10 Most Unhealthy Jobs: Is Your Job on the List?

What denotes an unhealthy job? High stress, low pay, long hours? Findings from the 2011 Jobs Rated Report by Careercast.com examined 200 jobs, based on factors such as job demands, amount of travel required, growth potential, physical demands, and environmental conditions, among others. Ultimate scores were determined by totaling each factor from within five categories (environment, income, outlook, physical demands, and stress). You may be surprised by some of the entries.

Construction Worker

Overall Score: 798

Hiring Outlook: Low

Income: $29,211.00

With high physical demands and lulled job prospects due to the economy, the construction worker ranked poorly in the Job Report.

Meter Reader

Overall Score: 798

Hiring Outlook: Poor

Income: $34,171.00

You may curse that ticket tacked to your windshield, but the meter reader—in charge of monitoring utility meters—is considered an under-appreciated, over-stressed role.

Painter

OverallScore: 798

HiringOutlook: Poor

Income: $34,152.00

With fairly high day-to-day physical work, interior and exterior painters perform backbreaking labor that can contribute to significant amounts of stress on the body.

Welder

Overall Score: 811

Hiring Outlook: Poor

Income: $35,126.00

A welder can eventually earn a decent salary and develop a niche. But after years of thorough training, the physical demands and poor working conditions of the job rank this as one of the least healthy.

EMT

Overall Score: 814

Hiring Outlook: Low

Income: $30,168.00

Emergency medical technicians (EMTs) work long shifts, and are usually first at the scene of an accident. Continually responding to high-stress, critical situations, EMTs receive relatively low pay for demanding and stress-inducing work.  

Taxi Driver

Overall Score: 821

Hiring Outlook: Low

Income: $21,127.00

Taxi drivers may have to handle a lot in one shift: weaving through traffic, dealing with difficult customers, warding off potential robberies and assaults—all for low pay. Working as independent contractors, taxi drivers pay for their own gas and often lose money at the end of the day, ranking this one of the highest risk, least rewarding jobs.

Roofer

Overall Score: 863

Hiring Outlook: Poor

Income: $34,168.00

Similarly to welders and painters, roofers put in backbreaking labor for low pay and have seen a recent decline in steady work over recent years. The low hiring outlook and physical labor when there is work contribute to high amounts of stress.

Lumberjack

Overall Score: 868

Hiring Outlook: Low

Income: $32,109.00

Highly dangerous work coupled with low pay leave the lumberjack (or logger) as one of the worst jobs of 2011.

Ironworker

Overall Score: 887

Hiring Outlook: Poor

Income: $34,127.00

Ironworkers fared slightly higher in terms of stress levels, work environment, and physical demands of the job, compared with lumberjacks. However, the extremely poor employment outlook ranked this job as, overall, more stressful, illustrating the toll that unsteady employment takes on the body.   

Roustabout

Overall Score: 892

Hiring Outlook: Poor

Income: $32,143.00

Coming in last out of the 200 jobs in the report, the roustabout position offers low pay for extremely dangerous work. Roustabouts clock in long hours away from home to maintain oil rigs and pipelines. The huge physical demands and risks required for the job ranked it as the worst job of 2011.

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Before you decide to quit your job, learn more about stress-management techniques.

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