Best job of them all? Survey says...ACTUARY

Careercast.com has put out a new survey ranking 200 occupations by pay and other criteria. The study concludes that the best job of them all is to be an actuary.

"Great work environment, few tight deadlines, low stress," the study says. (And here's the full ranking.)

The Wall Street Journal wrote about the study, leading with a California insurance actuary who says that throughout the recession, he's been felt out by headhunters at least twice a month. And the pay's not bad, either: a related Wall Street Journal chart shows that actuaries earn $49-$161k a year.

Math majors should be happy with the results. Mathmaticians, statisticians and accountants all ranked as excellent jobs, as did software engineers and computer systems analysts.

And the worst jobs? Oil-rig roustabout, lumberjack, ironworker, dairy farmer, welder, garbage collector and taxi driver. Also ranking low: butchers, photojournalists, newspaper reporters and choreographers.