Statistician Tops List of Best Jobs in 2017

Online career guidance website CareerCast.com has ranked “statistician” as the best job in its 2017 jobs report. The occupation has teetered near the top in recent years, having grown in popularity as demand for this position’s unique skill set has skyrocketed amid the global data revolution.

In compiling the list, CareerCast.com applied various criteria, including income, growth outlook, and stress/environmental factors. “One key factor in the profession’s top billing is that employment is expected to jump by 34% in the coming years,” notes the site. Additionally, “the demand for these skills spans a variety of industries, from marketing, banking, government, sports, retail, and even health care.”

Not far behind is the listing for data scientist, which comes in at number five. Of the top 10 professions, four are math focused—reflective of the fact that STEM-affiliated positions are no longer the way of the future, but rather the necessity of today.

With the plethora of data acquisition and mining comes the responsibility of data security. CareerCast.com ranks the profession of “information security analyst” at number four—the highest-rated technology field in the report.