The Least Stressful Jobs of 2018

The truth is, no job is every going to be free from stress. With 2017 studies by the American Psychological Association showing that Americans are more stressed than at any time in the previous decade, reducing stressors as much as possible may be more important now than ever before.

Individual circumstances can dictate how different people deal with stress. The CareerCast.com Jobs Rated Job Stress report endeavors to present that best baseline understanding of workplace stress, applying these 11 factors:

• Travel
• Career Growth Potential
• Physical Demands
• Environmental Conditions
• Hazards Encountered
• Meeting the Public
• Competition
• Risk of Death or Grievous Injury
• Immediate Risk of Another's Life
• Deadlines
• Working in the Public Eye

Some of the least stressful jobs of 2018 according to these core criteria obviously still face stressors. However, the nature of these jobs differs from other tracked by the Jobs Rated reports in fundamental ways.

For example, a Diagnostic Medical Sonographer, No. 1 among the least stressful jobs of 2018, does not work in the public eye, face imminent risk of bodily harm to oneself or one's patient, and will not typically deal with high travel or workplace hazards. However, their day may include the task of cancer screenings, not just ultrasound in pregrancy. A Hair Stylist, which checks in at No. 2, is beholden to the demands of clientele. However, the main stress criteria that can be universally applied to all careers are lower stress than in comparison to jobs that ranked in our 10 most stressful of 2018.

However, when searching for a profession with low stress, it's important to keep in mind the job's growth outlook. While Jeweler is a low-stress profession, it has a negative growth outlook of -3%. On the other hand, Operations Research Analyst, which comes in as the 9th least stressful job, has a 27% growth outlook.

The following are the 10 least stressful jobs of 2018, based on CareerCast.com Jobs Rated criteria. Wages and growth outlook are via the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Growth projections are per estimates to 2026.