Physician assistant is the nation's best job in 2021, with 39,300 projected jobs and a median salary of $112,260, according to a U.S. News & World Report list released Jan. 12.
For the ranking, U.S. News used data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to identify jobs with the greatest hiring demand from 2019-29. From there, researchers compared each job's median salary to determine a list of the highest-paying jobs. The publication also considered opportunities for promotion, stress levels and work-life balance.
Here are the 10 best jobs as ranked by U.S. News:
1. Physician assistant
2. Software developer
3. Nurse practitioner
4. Medical and health services manager
5. Physician
6. Statistician
7. Speech-language pathologist
8. Data scientist
9. Dentist
10. Veterinarian