Pharmacist Tops Forbes' List of Best Health Care Jobs in 2015

Pharmacists reigned supreme in Forbes’ list of best health care jobs in 2015.

CareerCast—a job search website based in California—produced a list of the top 10 health care jobs, and Forbes placed pharmacists, earning an average annual salary of $116,670, at the No. 1 spot because they had the highest wages among the group, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data. The growth rate for pharmacists is 14% by 2022, as well, according to the BLS.

CareerCast’s publisher Tony Lee analyzed data from an annual study he used to compile for The Wall Street Journal beginning 17 years ago, and he has continued to add data to the study each year, according to Forbes. CareerCast employees and 2 university academics ranked 200 jobs using information from the BLS, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the American Dental Hygienist’s Association. Other criteria they considered included hazards, physical demands, and stress. Jobs with a good income, positive hiring outlooks, low stress, and modest physical demands garnered high scores.

Lee complimented the pharmacy industry’s freedom and flexibility on the job, plus the satisfaction earned from helping patients, in the Forbes article. According to Lee, fewer people are studying to become pharmacists, so there will be more job opportunities in the field, too.

He argued that high-demand jobs create less stress because the employer works to create an atmosphere where the employee does not want to leave.

In the No. 2 spot on Forbes’ list is podiatrist, a profession that is expected to grow by 23% by 2022. Physical therapist took the third spot with a growth rate of 36%—the highest on the list.

The BLS predicts the health care and social assistance industries will create 1 in 3 new jobs in the nation between 2012 and 2022. Health care jobs will see growth because of the aging population and more people with insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act, Forbes noted. The BLS predicts 5 million new jobs will be created in the sector by 2022.