There seems to be a general idea that most people hate the following things: work, traffic, and taxes. Taxes are unfortunately never going to disappear, and traffic is sporadic. Work, however, can be swayed by the common man. Those of us who are greatly dissatisfied with our jobs have either stuck to them because of the high pay, or have nowhere else to go. But according to a survey conducted at the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago in 2006—one of a random sample size of 27,000—the “best jobs” with the highest pay and comfort are not necessarily the “most satisfying” ones.

Because work takes up a large part of most people’s livelihoods, it does become interesting which of those workers are truly happy with their careers. For the most part, the list of the “most satisfying jobs” in the United States consists of careers that bring about some sort of personal gratification after a job well done. Some of them even enable the individual to work independently of others.

So which are the top jobs with a high percentage of satisfaction?

1. Clergy – Clergymen lead congregations through spiritual means by providing moral guidance to community members. Of those who have been surveyed in this profession, 87% have replied that they were fairly happy being part of the clergy.
2. Firefighter – Firefighters help to protect and save lives from fire damage. While firefighters ultimately take up huge risk factors in their profession, a good 80% have replied that the job is well worth the risk.
3. Physical therapy – Physical therapists help their disabled clients—usually those who have encountered injury or is disease—to ease the pain and improve mobility. The physical therapists also ranked high in the satisfactory list, with 78% stating that they are happy with their job.
4. Author – Authors either work with editors on assignments or independently write books that ultimately get published later on. It is no surprise that most authors are happy with their position, 74% have replied that their profession is satisfying.
5. Teacher – Teachers provide students the concepts of mathematics, science, history, and language from as young as preschool up to the end of high school. Teachers are largely satisfied, 69% of them are happy with their career.
6. Education administration – Education administrators are the school principals and staff who oversee the educational curricula and activities in their respective schools. For the most part, 68% who work as principals and school administrators are relatively happy.
7. Art – Artists—such as painters and sculptors—usually don’t bring in as much money as the high-paying jobs in the United States, but they produce creative artwork independently. Of those surveyed from this profession, 67% have stated that they liked their job.
8. Psychology – Psychologists provides counseling and therapy for troubled—or even sometimes untroubled—individuals. They study the human’s emotional, behavioral, and mental processes. Of the total psychologists in the survey, 67% have replied positively to their profession.
9. Security and financial services – Security and financial services salespersons provide products to clients, including insurance policies. Of those who work in this profession, 65% have replied that they were happy.
10. Operating engineer – These engineers tend to work and operate machinery largely related to construction work. Surprisingly, of those surveyed, 64% replied that they were satisfied with their career.