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The happiest jobs tend to have 4 characteristics: satisfaction, freedom, balance, and good pay (salary transparency included). Based on 37,000 people that LinkedIn surveyed in 2025, 63% of employees say that compensation and benefits are their top priorities when looking for a job. That’s not surprising. Money is kind of the whole reason we work in the first place.
If we’re working 40 hours a week, we’re spending a third of our lives toiling away for a paycheck. You might as well do something that you enjoy and makes you happy. That doesn’t mean it has to be your “passion” either. It could simply be a low-stress job that pays well, is fulfilling, and has good job security.
BambooHR reported that we’re currently in what they call an “eggshell economy”. Employees feel like they’re literally walking on eggshells at their jobs while economic tension looms and AI becomes more involved. Many are happy that they have jobs, but may not necessarily have a “happy job”. This shows us that what makes employees happy at their jobs shifts as our economy, technology, and job market shifts. Job security definitely goes into the happiness equation.
Even in an economy and mixed-up job market that we have now, there are still happy jobs that are both stable and high-paying. Let’s look at the top 9 to see where your skills and interests might fit.
Key findings:
- The happiest jobs are real estate agents (4.2 out of 5 job satisfaction rating from Career.io) and surgeons (ranked most meaningful job by Payscale).
- Roles with the highest reported job meaning are surgeons (96%) and physical therapists (90%).
- Out of the real professionals we interviewed, anesthesiologists, physical therapists, and firefighters talked the most about why they love their job.
- The highest-paying happiest jobs from our Salary Database are surgeons, anesthesiologists, and civil engineers.
- Happy jobs with the highest median salaries according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics are surgeons, anesthesiologists, and data scientists.
- More than half of the jobs listed have a six-figure median salary and a third of them don’t require a college degree to get started.
- Browse thousands of more publicly shared salaries on our Salary Database.
What makes a “happy job”?
A happy job is exactly that. It’s a job that makes you happy. The job itself may not be the sole reason you’re happy but it supports your ability to be happy, because happiness is subjective. It’s a personal emotion, like anger, sadness, fear, and excitement.
A whole branch of psychology, called positive psychology, has been trying to define happiness since the 1990s. There’s no specific thing that makes everyone happy across the board. Psychology Today comes close and defines happiness as, “a state of well-being that encompasses living a good life, one with a sense of meaning and deep contentment”.
A happy job is a job that’s meaningful and gives you the freedom to live your life how you want. Which brings us to the question, “What’s meaningful work to you?” What gives you satisfaction at a job? What brings you joy? What do you want your life to look like? These are the important questions you should be asking yourself when trying to find your own “happy job”.
9 Happiest Jobs With The Highest Pay
We’ve identified the happiest roles that pay the most using job satisfaction data from Career.io and Payscale, salary data we’ve collected in our public Salary Database of over 13,500 salaries and 3+ years of street interviews, and job data from the U.S.Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
To find more about these happy jobs, search our Salary Database and Transparent Job Board. Don’t forget to join and add your salary!
1. Surgeon
Median salary: $371,280
Highest salary recorded in our Salary Database: $1.5M
Job growth (2024-2034): 3%
Payscale asked 2 million workers about the most and least meaningful jobs and surgeons topped their rankings at 96% reporting high job meaning and 83% reporting high job satisfaction. These include general surgeons, orthopedic surgeons, and neurosurgeons who treat and operate on patients.
Even though this is definitely a high-stress job, surgeons have a huge impact on their patients’ lives and find a lot of fulfillment in that. It’s also the highest-paying healthcare job out there, but if this is something you want to do, make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into. The healthcare field is not for the faint of heart, but for those who are up to the task, the work is very rewarding!
Required education: Bachelor’s degree in a science field, a Doctor of Medicine (MD) or Doctor of Osteopathy (OD) from medical school, and a 3 to 9-year residency.
Learn the skills for this job: Human Anatomy and Medical Terminology Fundamentals
2. Anesthesiologist
Median salary: $336,640
Highest salary recorded in our Salary Database: $625,000
Job growth (2024-2034): 3%
A factor that contributes to healthcare workers’ happiness is that they’re 10% more likely to prioritize an inclusive workplace when compared to other industries, according to LinkedIn. This could be one of the reasons that Payscale’s most meaningful jobs with the highest job satisfaction were healthcare jobs, with anesthesiologists being at number 2.
Anesthesiologists are the doctors who put you under for surgery so you don’t have to feel that pain in real time. They watch over you to make sure you don’t have any weird reactions and slowly bring you back to reality once it’s all over.
The hours can be long, but the job actually comes with a lot of balance. A cardiac anesthesiologist we interviewed has 4 kids and says that he never missed anything important. He makes $700,000 a year!
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Required education: Bachelor’s degree in a science field, a Doctor of Medicine (MD) or Doctor of Osteopathy (OD) from medical school, and a 3 to 4-year residency. There are also other roles available in the anesthesia area that pay well and don’t require a doctoral degree, like certified anesthesiologist assistants!
Learn the skills for this job: Vital Signs: Understanding What the Body Is Telling Us
3. Data Scientist
Median salary: $112,590
Highest salary recorded in our Salary Database: $270,000
Job growth (2024-2034): 34%
Career.io analyzed over 750,000 job reviews to find what makes people happy at work and data scientists ranked as the most satisfying among highly-paid jobs (4.07 out of 5).
Data scientists are the professionals that are powering AI. They spend their days looking at data sets to find similarities in order to build machine learning models, like ChatGPT, which is a machine learning model called a large language model. There’s a lot of freedom, flexibility, and excitement that comes with a high-paying tech job like this. They get to have a first-hand look at how AI is changing our world while getting to see their work make a real impact.
Plus, they often get to work remotely, independently, and their expertise is continually growing in demand, making it one of the highest-paying jobs of the future.
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Required education: Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree in computer science or data science is preferred, but there are alternative ways to break in with courses, certifications, and putting together a portfolio. We interviewed a data scientist who makes $100,000 a year and got started with a few college courses.
Learn the skills for this job: Foundations of Data Science
Read more: How to Break Into Tech and IT (With Tips From Real Tech Workers)
4. Education Administrator
Median salary: $103,960
Highest salary recorded in our Salary Database: $100,000
Job growth (2024-2034): 2%
Education administrators help manage and run schools and school districts. They may plan class schedules, hire teachers, and even work with the community to get support for schools. They also do a ton of other things like organizing events and making sure the school follows laws and education rules. It’s a lot of responsibility but it’s also very satisfying when they get to see the impact they’re making in their community.
We interviewed an educational administrator who makes $80,000 a year. When asked if he thought he was being fairly compensated, he expressed that $120,000/$130,000 would be closer to the market rate because of the knowledge and future career help you’re providing students. We agree! Educators are severely undervalued and should be paid more!
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Required education: Master’s degree in educational administration is required.
Learn the skills for this job: Transforming Education in an Interconnected World Specialization
5. Physical Therapist
Median salary: $101,020
Highest salary recorded in our Salary Database: $200,000
Job growth (2024-2034): 11%
Physical therapists are the doctors you go to when you’re recovering from an injury or procedure and need help getting back to your normal physical activities. Physical therapists safely guide you through physical training, stretching, and other activities to help you fully heal and get to your goals.
Payscale found that 79% of physical therapists reported high employee satisfaction and 90% reported high job meaning. We interviewed a physical therapist who makes $80,000 a year and she says the best part of her job is helping people and getting them back to doing what they love to do. Of course, dealing with people can be a challenge, but she loves it overall.
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Required education: Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) is required. The physical therapist we interviewed spent 7 years in school: 4 years of undergrad and 3 years of physical therapy school.
Learn the skills for this job: Science of Exercise
6. Civil Engineer
Median salary: $99,590
Highest salary recorded in our Salary Database: $500,000
Job growth (2024-2034): 5%
Imagine being able to build the real world around you, not just in video games. That’s essentially what a civil engineer does. They do all the things behind the scenes of what we see everyday in a stable and functioning city or town. They may design buildings and structures with sustainability in mind and plan roads to handle the volume of their population. They may also find ways to use water and land resources more safely.
Career.io ranked this job as their 4th high-paid job with the highest job satisfaction rate (3.95 out of 5). It’s a very cool job with a lot of freedom and flexibility, and not to mention, a good-looking paycheck too.
Required education: Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering is required.
Learn the skills for this job: The Engineering of Structures Around Us
7. Real Estate Agent or Broker
Median salary: $72,280
Highest salary recorded in our Salary Database: $400,000
Job growth (2024-2034): 4%
Career.io found that real estate agents have the highest job satisfaction rate across the board with an average rating of 4.2 out of 5. Real estate agents and brokers both work with people to buy or sell their home, and neither one needs a college degree to do it. The big difference between them is that agents must work under a broker. A real estate broker needs a broker license and can either work independently or for their own firm.
Real estate agents get paid in commission, which is the percentage they get after the house sells to account for the work spent helping the transaction go through. We had a few realtors sit down and talk about what they do in their roles, and they stressed that even though there is flexibility, there are times where they have to be available all of the time. They all stressed that their favorite part of their job is the people aspect.
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Required education: High school diploma or GED. Real estate brokers need a broker license.
Learn the skills for this job: The Principles of Real Estate
8. Interior Designer
Median salary: $63,490
Highest salary recorded in our Salary Database: $120,000
Job growth (2024-2034): 3%
Interior designers focus on either residential or commercial design and work with contractors to bring build plans to life. They may draw basic construction documents, plan how rooms are arranged, or pick the colors so everything goes well together. It’s a fun and great-paying creative job with good work-life balance and high job satisfaction. In fact, Payscale reports a 3.9 out of 5 job satisfaction based on 1,364 survey responses.
We interviewed an interior designer in Boston who makes $60,000 a year after doing it for 2 years, and she says that it’s perfect for those who are good with people and have an eye for design. She also says the pay could be a little better though 😉.
Required education: Bachelor’s degree in interior design is preferred, but it’s possible to break in with an Associate’s degree or internships and a strong portfolio.
Learn the skills for this job: MAYA Architecture - Setting Up Interior Floor Map
9. Firefighter
Median salary: $62,290
Highest salary recorded in our Salary Database: $402,000
Job growth (2024-2034): 3%
Career.io gives firefighters a high job satisfaction rating of 3.78 out of 5, even with how dangerous their job is. They put their life on the line to get up close and personal with wildfires, building fires, chemical fires, you name it. Putting them out and rescuing those in danger is no easy feat.
Obviously, the pay could be better, but firefighting is also a union job and comes with great benefits, like healthcare coverage and overtime pay. Firefighters are a part of the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF) labor union who negotiates wages and benefits on behalf of its members. Unions are also common with many trade jobs.
We interviewed a firefighter who makes $92,000 a year after working for 3 years. They say they feel well compensated and the best part of their job is constantly being able to help people and work with a tight brotherhood and sisterhood. The job is definitely tough, but he says the guys and girls around you get you through it.
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Required education: High school degree and on-the-job paid apprenticeship with the IAFF.
How to Find a Job You’ll Love
Looking for a job you’ll absolutely love may take some trial and error. Talk to people that are doing the things you’re curious about. Ask them what they love and don’t love about their jobs, and don’t be afraid to ask about the pay. You can always tell them Salary Transparent Street told you to for your market rate research!
Start with the folks closest to you: your friends, family, work colleagues, and the people you’ve worked with in the past. Then get on LinkedIn and follow and connect with people that are doing the things you’d like to get into and look at their career paths they took. Look at what they post to see what their attitude is about the line of work they’re in. This is a tell-tale sign of how much they love or don’t love their job. Glassdoor reviews can also help in a similar way.
Also look up companies on LinkedIn that you’d like to work for and follow them (including us!). This is a little known trick that will help recruiters find you faster. People who follow the recruiter’s company come up first in their searches (which looks different than the search function we have on the normal side of LinkedIn).
For a little more help finding your career happiness, browse any of our free guides:
- How to Get Into a Trade
- How to Break Into Tech
- Healthcare Career Guide
- How to Start a Career in Dentistry
- How to Start a Creative Career (or Pivot to One)
When you’re ready to start applying to jobs, use our free Transparent Job Board that shows salaries and salary ranges for each job listing, regardless of the pay transparency laws in your state. Meaning that even if it isn’t required in your state, we list those salaries on our job board anyway.
The job search process may take a little longer than normal, but this is where your network comes in. When you can’t get your resume to the top of the stack because AI sifts it out, go back to the humans. See who works at the company that you could reach out to. Work with recruiters who work to place people at different companies. Join online career groups like those on LinkedIn so you have people to talk to about the jobs they’re posting.
You might have to get a little creative, but we know you’ll do great!
Author note: I’m Daniella Flores, a former software engineer who writes about tech, money, and careers, a current member of the CNET Money Expert Review Board, and career researcher that’s appeared in TIME, CNBC, and Investopedia (among many others). I’m extremely passionate about workers' rights and financial freedom, so it’s a pleasure to be able to bring you this type of content through the Salary Transparent Street blog (thank you for the opportunity, Hannah!) If you want to connect, follow me on Linkedin. Chat soon!
If this guide helps you land your dream job, let us know! Send us an email ➡️ hello@salarytransparentstreet.com
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