According to a report out Thursday by CareerCast, a job search portal created by Adicio, some of the most dangerous professions in America are also some of the lowest paid, while workers in many "safe" professions make considerably more.
Of the 200 jobs that CareerCast tracks, the portal selected 10 of the most dangerous and 10 of the safest, based on data that measured lost work due to injury and illness as well as fatalities. CareerCast used data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Center for Disease Control, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and other organizations for the report.
Kyle Kensing, CareerCast's online content editor, said that while some of the jobs on the portal's most-dangerous list -- such as firefighters --have low salaries due to the level of education required to obtain the position, they have huge positive impacts on the community at large.
"For some people, it's just how they're wired," Kensing said. "For some people a job where you're spending all your time in an office at a computer probably sounds a lot worse than putting yourself [in danger] to help somebody else."
The risk of a fatality is an ever-present concern in high-risk jobs. In 2014, 4,821 workers died on the job, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries.
Other jobs on CareerCast's list, such as nursing assistant, may be dangerous and low paid, but they can be a gateway into a sector -- in this case health care -- where there is significant opportunity and strong long-term job growth prospects, he said.
And then there are some professions, such as veterinarian, that are just plain surprising to see on a list of dangerous jobs. The salary of a vet might be relatively high, but not all vets work in an office treating puppies and kittens. Many, especially in more rural areas, deal with large animals and livestock, while others work in zoos, treating wild animals, therefore making the job more dangerous.
Here are the 10 most dangerous jobs in the U.S., according to CareerCast. Note that the BLS data on fatalities and injuries and illness is through 2014; the BLS will release data for 2015 in September.
Be sure to also check out the 10 safest jobs in the U.S.
