U.S. News’ Best Jobs of 2024 rankings seek to help consumers make the best career decisions by providing information about salary, prospective job growth and other factors for a variety of occupations.

U.S. News introduced several new factors into its ranking methodology this year, using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Stress level and work-life balance, metrics that in previous years were evaluated by editorial staff based on research and interviews with professionals in various occupations, have been replaced with statistical data from the BLS. The new methodology considers factors such as workplace conditions, work pace and whether telework is available in a given occupation. Read more about our methodology in ranking the best jobs.

Jobs in the medical and STEM, which stands for science, technology, engineering and math, fields performed well in this year’s rankings, as they typically do. Nurse practitioner took the top spot in this year’s ranking of the 100 Best Jobs, up one spot from the 2023 rankings. That top ranking is partially due to its projected explosive growth and median six-figure salary. Additionally, three occupations in this year’s top 10 – data scientist, actuary and speech-language pathologist – did not crack the top 10 in the 2023 rankings. They benefited from this year’s methodology changes. Read more about why nurse practitioner is the best job of 2024.

The 10 Best Jobs in America in 2024:

Nurse practitioner also garnered the No. 1 spot in the Best Health Care Jobs and Best STEM Jobs rankings. Financial manager is ranked No. 1 in the Best Business Jobs ranking and software developer took the top spot in the Best Technology Jobs ranking.

The 10 Best Careers With the Most Job Security: