The 5 Fastest-Growing Dangerous Jobs of 2016

Every year, CareerCast releases a list of the most dangerous jobs in the U.S., compiled by cross-referencing data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Centers for Disease Control, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Some of the jobs are what you’d expect: Firefighter makes the list, as does Police Officer and Emergency Medical Technician. Others, like Veterinarian or Farmer, might come as a surprise. All are essential to the health and safety of those of us who don’t brave heights, dangerous roadways, or actual fire in order to do our jobs.

These are the five fastest-growing dangerous jobs on CareerCast’s list, together with PayScale data on median earnings and Bureau of Labor Statistics data on occupational outlook for each:

1. Emergency Medical Technician: The fastest-growing occupation on this list, EMT comes with a host of job-related hazards, from traffic accidents to infection risks.

Median Annual Income: $36,342

Occupational Outlook: 24 percent

2. Nursing Assistant: Nursing Assistants risk infection and injury in the course of their job. It’s also a physically grueling occupation, even on the best of days.

Median Annual Income: $29,777

Occupational Outlook: 17 percent

3. Construction Laborer: Formal education beyond high school typically isn’t required to become a construction laborer, although those who work with hazardous materials might be required to obtain special training and licensure. Other on-the-job hazards include heights and injuries related to the use of job-specific equipment.

Median Annual Income: $38,576

Occupational Outlook: 13 percent

4. Taxi Driver: Fatalities have fallen for taxi drivers since the 1990s, according to CareerCast, but this is still a dangerous job, with risks including robbery and assault.

Median Annual Income: $24,820

Occupational Outlook: 13 percent

5. Veterinarian: The highest earning and perhaps most unexpected entry in CareerCast’s list, Veterinarians make the ranking due to the risks of working with animals, who are unpredictable even when they’re not ill.

Median Annual Income: $72,709

Occupational Outlook: 9 percent

Read CareerCast’s full list of the most dangerous jobs of 2016. Want to see the safest jobs, instead? Check out that list, here.

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