If you’re looking for work that helps to make a difference in the world, PayScale.com revealed a list of jobs where you can make a difference. From June 2013 – June 2015, data was collected from 2.7 million people who took the PayScale survey. Here’s a snapshot of the list PayScale compiled.
[Related: Ready for a Career Change? 5 Great Websites for Career Switchers]
Clergy
98% Find Job Meaningful
Median Pay: $46,600
Is it any surprise clergy members are the most likely workers to say that their jobs make the world a better place? While dedicating your career (and most of your life) to the service of a religious institution won’t make you rich, it will reward you in other ways.
English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary
96% Find Job Meaningful
Median Pay: $43,600
English majors get a bad rap, but if you love literature enough to make it through a Ph.D. (which can easily take upwards of seven years of graduate school) and get yourself a college teaching job, you’re likely to feel pretty good about your work despite low pay.
Directors, Religious Activities, and Education
96% Find Job Meaningful
Median Pay: $37,600
Another religious job rests at the top of PayScale’s list of most meaningful jobs. Directors of religious activities and education aren’t ordained clergy, but they oversee programs for congregation members. These workers only earn a typical salary of $37,600, so it’s definitely not done for a love of money. But since 96% of these workers say their job makes the world a better place, they definitely seem to get something out of it.
Surgeons
96% Find Job Meaningful
Median Pay: $304,000
It takes a lot of time, hard work, and money to become a surgeon, but the rewards are extremely rich in more ways than one. 96% of surgeons say their work is extremely meaningful, and they certainly earn the highest salary on this list — over $300,000 per year!
Education Administrators, Elementary and Secondary School
95% Find Job Meaningful
Median Pay: $76,700
Here’s another statistic that proves that education is meaningful work: 95% of education administrators at the elementary and secondary school level say that their work makes the world a better place. However, the sentiment clearly changes when you get to the college level — only 76% of post-secondary education administrators say the same.
Psychiatrists
92% Find Job Meaningful
Median Pay: $197,000
Psychiatrists do important work, using a combination of therapy and medicine to help people deal with stress, trauma, and mental illness. It’s definitely not easy (and most certainly stressful), but they are rewarded with high salaries (nearly $200,000 per year) and a high sense of job meaning.