Best Jobs in America
Money Magazine staff and compensation experts PayScale.com started with more than 7,000 jobs and then focused on jobs that the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects will grow 10% or more over the next decade and that require at least a bachelor's degree. Using PayScale's proprietary compensation data, they screened out titles with median pay below $65,000 for experienced workers (at least two to seven years of experience in the field, depending on the job) and fewer than 10,000 positions nationwide.
They eliminated jobs that did poorly during the recession (based on Conference Board data showing growth in online help-wanted ads in 2009), and grouped jobs with similar responsibilities and skills. This brought the list down to 100 jobs.
Here are the results. The following 10 jobs were top ranked, in order of ranking.
| Title | 10 year growth (%) |
| Systems Engineer | 45 |
| Physician Assistant | 27 |
| College Professor | 23 |
| Nurse Practitioner | 23 |
| Information Technology Project Manager | 16 |
| Certified Public Accountant | 16 |
| Physical Therapist | 27 |
| Computer/Network Security Consultant | 27 |
| Intelligence Analyst | 15 |
| Sales Director | 10 |
Sources: PayScale.com, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Conference Board Help and Money research, 10/1/09
