11 of 100
BACK NEXT
11. Actuary
Actuary
Dale Hall, 39, an actuary at Country Financial in Bloomington, Ill., likes helping people cut risk.
Top 100 rank: 11
Sector: Consulting

What they do: Analyzes statistical data, such as mortality, accident, sickness, disability, and retirement rates and constructs probability tables to forecast risk and liability for payment of future benefits. May ascertain premium rates required and cash reserves necessary to ensure payment of future benefits.

Do Actuaries have great jobs, or what?
Actuary stats
Pay
Median pay
(experienced)		 $133,000
Top pay $222,000
Opportunity
10-year job growth
(2008-2018)		 21%
Total jobs
(current)		 20,000
Quality of life ratings
Personal satisfaction A
Job security A
Future growth A
Benefit to society C
Low stress C
Flexibility A
From the November 2010 issue
Notes: All pay data from PayScale.com. Median pay is for an experienced worker (at least two to seven years in the field). Top pay represents the 90th percentile. Job growth is estimated for 2008-18. Total current employment level is estimated number of people working in each specific job

Sources: PayScale.com, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and MONEY research
Galleries
Video
How we picked the Best Jobs
MONEY and compensation experts PayScale.com used Bureau of Labor Statistics growth forecasts for 7,000 jobs, and identified industries with the biggest increases in jobs requiring bachelor’s degrees. Ranked them by 2008-18 growth and pay. More

Comments? E-mail the editors
Contact Us Closed Captioning Manage Cookies+ Site Map

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.