

Most statistics from 2020, unless otherwise indicated. Bureau of Labor Statistics, unless otherwise noted. Take a look at these risky jobs that pay well.ĭata sources: All data provided by the U.S. Plus, many of them won’t be replaced by technology, which spells job security. Top earners in many of these fields can enjoy six-figure salaries, in some cases even without college degrees. So we crunched the numbers on injuries, fatalities and salaries to identify eight occupations offering paychecks that make up for the elevated risks by paying more than the national median of about $58,000. We believe that if you're going to take a risky job, you should at least get compensated handsomely for it. Not surprisingly, workers in jobs that involved transportation and moving material accounted for the biggest proportion of occupational deaths at a total of 2,258, accounting for more than 47% of the total work-related deaths in the U.S. The most common cause of death on the job was transportation-related incidents, which resulted in 1,778 deaths that year, more than 37% of all work-related deaths. Still, those data showed an American worker died every 111 minutes from a job-related injury. Conversely, the days away from work decreased slightly for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers, whose mean wage was just over $50,000, between 20.Īs perilous as work has become for many during the pandemic, fewer people were injured on the job in 2020 than in any year since 2013, according to the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 2020, however, there were nearly 429,000. Going back the last few years before the pandemic, there were generally between 10,000 and 11,000 respiratory illnesses among U.S. Yet nursing assistants make a mean wage of just over $30,000. They had 1,024 days away from work per 10,000 workers in 2020, an increase of 14 times the rate in 2019. Nursing assistants had the highest number of days of any profession away from work in 2020, the most recent year available, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The pandemic also made a new group of low-paying jobs among the riskiest in the nation. But a closer look at the numbers reveals that while injuries dropped significantly, illnesses went way up. Overall, workplace injuries and illnesses were down 5.7% in 2020, compared to the previous year. The COVID-19 pandemic shook up the risk scenario in the workplace.

Loggers, at nearly 28 times the overall fatality rate, rank second. Yet the fatality rate for fishermen is nearly 39 times the rate for all occupations, the highest of any profession, in fact. They can expect median salaries of under $35,000 a year, $23,000 less than the mean for all workers. In fact, plenty of perilous jobs pay paltry sums compared to other options. Often with dangerous jobs, the pay doesn’t come close to compensating for the risk.
