The 10 best-paying jobs for millennials revealed in US News ranking
When Long Dang graduated from college in 2015, he looked for jobs that would allow him to give back to society. He spent one year working for the nonprofit City Year, teaching fifth graders in Washington, D.C., and another for the nonprofit Bottom Line, helping Boston teenagers apply to college.
He believed in the missions of these organizations and enjoyed working with students. But Dang, now 25, is making a career shift: He recently accepted a job at a Boston software startup.
"It was just financially unsustainable," he says of his nonprofit work. "Giving back isn't necessarily congruent with the idea of prospering financially. For me to be able to make decisions, make a significant impact in any type of way, I need to be financially OK myself."
Salary is the No. 1 career priority for millennials, according to the U.S. News 2017 Best-Paying Jobs for Millennials rankings, which identify the most lucrative jobs that align with the interests of today's young professionals. Among the best-paying positions: financial advisor, actuary and software developer.
Even though many millennials (people ages 20 through 34) entered the workforce determined to start careers that improve the world, more and more are recognizing the appeal of practical jobs that pay the bills, says Dan Schawbel, research director at Future Workplace, an executive development firm. "Overall what we're seeing is young people are trying to work for more stable companies and industries," he explains.
[See: The 8 Stages of a Winning Job Search.]
Salary Rises to the Top
To determine what career characteristics matter most to millennials, U.S. News sent a survey asking people ages 20 to 34 to rank nine job traits. Salary topped the list for the more than 1,000 respondents, followed by work-life balance and stress level.
That makes sense for a generation that came of age amid economic uncertainty. Most millennials entered the workforce during or in the wake of the Great Recession of 2007 through 2009, which forced them to build the foundations of their careers on shaky ground.
Additionally, education debt has skyrocketed. Sixty-eight percent of the people who graduated college in 2015 have student loans, at an average amount of $30,100, according to the Project on Student Debt at The Institute for College Access & Success.
"The economy has absolutely shaped this generation because of the recession and student loan debt," Schawbel says. "More are saying they want stable jobs and are looking to save money, get out of their parents' basements and be more financially stable."
U.S. News used the results of the survey to weight 2015 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the 2017 U.S. News Best Jobs rankings. The new list identifies jobs with average salaries of above $75,000 that reflect the priorities of good work-life balance and low stress level. The rankings also take into account the percentage of people ages 20 through 34 who work in the field and the degree to which each job offers upward mobility to young professionals. None of the jobs requires more than a bachelor's degree. But they all are STEM careers that require training in science, technology, engineering and math – and sometimes all four.
[See: The 25 Best Jobs of 2017.]
