The 50 best jobs in America in 2018

Rachel Gillett and Áine Cain, Dec. 12, 2018

woman phone happy work computer laptop — Many of these jobs pay at least $100,000 a year and are beloved by the people doing them.

Every January, Glassdoor publishes its list of the best jobs in America. For the third year in a row, the top spot goes to data scientist.

According to the report, the best jobs in 2018 are highly-skilled; can be found in almost every industry; have high earning potential, hiring demand, and job satisfaction; and are staying ahead of the growing trend toward workplace automation.

"The key skills that are helping workers stay ahead of automation are creativity, judgment, and flexibility," Dr. Andrew Chamberlain, Glassdoor's chief economist, said. "Those are aspects of work that are extremely difficult to automate, and having them allows workers to team up with technology to become more productive — rather than simply being replaced by it."

"Many of the jobs on this list require proficiency in these 'soft' skills," he said.

Glassdoor's "50 Best Jobs in America" report identifies careers with the highest overall "job score," which is determined by weighing three factors equally: earning potential (median annual base salary), job satisfaction rating, and number of job openings.

For a job title to be considered, it had to receive at least 100 salary reports and 100 job satisfaction ratings shared by US-based employees over the past year. The number of job openings per job title represents active job listings on Glassdoor as of January 1, 2018.

Below are the 50 best jobs in America right now.

50. HR generalist

Overall job score (out of 5.0): 4.1

Job satisfaction rating (out of 5.0): 3.9

Number of job openings: 2,705

Median base salary: $57,120

49. Nurse practitioner

Overall job score (out of 5.0): 4.1

Job satisfaction rating (out of 5.0): 3.5

Number of job openings: 8,510

Median base salary: $100,000

48. Project manager

Overall job score (out of 5.0): 4.1

Job satisfaction rating (out of 5.0): 3.5

Number of job openings: 23,274

Median base salary: $80,000

47. Management consultant

Overall job score (out of 5.0): 4.1

Job satisfaction rating (out of 5.0): 3.8

Number of job openings: 1,024

Median base salary: $110,000

46. Executive assistant

Overall job score (out of 5.0): 4.1

Job satisfaction rating (out of 5.0): 3.9

Number of job openings: 4,684

Median base salary: $55,000

45. UI developer

Overall job score (out of 5.0): 4.1

Job satisfaction rating (out of 5.0): 3.8

Number of job openings: 1,004

Median base salary: $95,000

44. Accounting manager

Overall job score (out of 5.0): 4.1

Job satisfaction rating (out of 5.0): 3.6

Number of job openings: 3,273

Median base salary: $82,000

43. Business analyst

Overall job score (out of 5.0): 4.1

Job satisfaction rating (out of 5.0): 3.6

Number of job openings: 9,603

Median base salary: $71,000

42. Business intelligence developer

Overall job score (out of 5.0): 4.1

Job satisfaction rating (out of 5.0): 3.9

Number of job openings: 882

Median base salary: $86,000