What Jobs Have the Best Work-Life Balance?
As you may know firsthand, thanks to "urgent" 11pm emails from your boss, it's hard to believe there's still such thing as a work-life balance in today's always-on work culture. However, a fresh analysis by the folks over at jobs site Glassdoor has identified the careers people say won't grind you down to a miserable pulp and actually allow you to live your best life.
The site looked at ratings data submitted by users about their employers over the last year and determined the top 25 jobs you can turn to for an allegedly satisfying work-life balance. Perhaps what's surprising about the list is that most of the jobs with the best ratio of work to life will have you parked behind a computer screen all day, such as software developer, social media manager, and web designer. You'd think that'd be the easiest work to get stuck bringing home, right?
Along with a work-life balance rating, Glassdoor's list includes the average salary for the position, and even the number of openings for that job on the site as of this month. Check out the full ranking below and see if your job made the list. It probably didn't.
25. Front End Developer
Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.7
Salary: $75,000
Number of Job Openings: 1337
24. Software Developer
Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.7
Salary: $80,000
Number of Job Openings: 3,330
23. Lab Assistant
Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.7
Salary: $27,550
Number of Job Openings: 779
22. Solutions Engineer
Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.7
Salary: $92,456
Number of Job Openings: 652
21. Content Manager
Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.7
Salary: $60,960
Number of Job Openings: 409
20. Data Analyst
Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.7
Salary: $58,928
Number of Job Openings: 1,954
19. Program Analyst
Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.7
Salary: $71,120
Number of Job Openings: 524
18. Research Technician
Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.8
Salary: $36,525
Number of Job Openings: 299
17. Web Designer
Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.8
Salary: $53,848
Number of Job Openings: 500
16. Software QA Engineer
Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.8
Salary: $91,440
Number of Job Openings: 457
15. Marketing Analyst
Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.8
Salary: $60,000
Number of Job Openings: 341
14. Instructional Designer
Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.8
Salary: $66,040
Number of Job Openings: 782
13. Client Manager
Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.8
Salary: $71,120
Number of Job Openings: 503
12. Civil Engineer
Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.8
Salary: $65,532
Number of Job Openings: 809
11. Risk Analyst
Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.8
Salary: $69,088
Number of Job Openings: 208
10. Web Developer
Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.8
Salary: $66,040
Number of Job Openings: 2,117
9. Marketing Assistant
Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.8
Salary: $32,512
Number of Job Openings: 384
8. Digital Marketing Manager
Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.9
Salary: $70,052
Number of Job Openings: 640
7. UX Designer
Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.9
Salary: $91,440
Number of Job Openings: 338
6. Recruiting Coordinator
Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.9
Salary: $44,700
Number of Job Openings: 446
5. Substitute Teacher
Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.9
Salary: $24,380
Number of Job Openings: 590
4. Social Media Manager
Work-Life Balance Rating: 4.0
Salary: $40,000
Number of Job Openings: 661
3. Talent Acquisition Specialist
Work-Life Balance Rating: 4.0
Salary: $63,504
Number of Job Openings: 1,171
2. SEO Manager
Work-Life Balance Rating: 4.1
Salary: $45,720
Number of Job Openings: 338
1. Data Scientist
Work-Life Balance Rating: 4.2
Salary: $114,808
Number of Job Openings: 1,315
Well, there you have it. Are you dusting off your resume yet?
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Tony Merevick is Cities News Editor at Thrillist and is lucky to have a job that hardly feels like work sometimes. Send news tips to news@thrillist.com and follow him on Twitter @tonymerevick.