Deputy sheriff
- Median pay: $45,715
- % who say their job is stressful: 86.7%
Law enforcement jobs in general come with plenty of stress. But if you're a deputy in a county sheriff's department it can be especially hard.
An erratic 24/7 schedule can disturb eating and sleeping patterns and make it hard to have a normal family life. Meanwhile, deputies deal with accidents and crimes -- often by themselves.
"You have to make split second decisions on legal matters and use of force," said Mike Willis, executive director of the United States Deputy Sheriff's Association and a deputy sheriff for eight years in Harvey County, Kan.
"You're [also] under public scrutiny. Many times, observers will take out their cell phones before they'll lift a hand to help," he said.
Pay varies widely. Even at a median of nearly $46,000, the pay may not correspond to the responsibilities deputies take on. And since most deputies are county employees, income can be quite low in poorer areas.
Do you have a stressful job that pays badly? Let us know or share it on Twitter at #stressfuljob.
Methodology: Starting from a database of more than 9,000 jobs, PayScale used data from over 120,000 respondents who rated their jobs for quality of life factors. The 15 were selected based on the national median pay for workers with at least five or seven years' experience and the percent of workers surveyed who said their jobs were "fairly stressful" or "extremely stressful." Only one job per "job family" was included. PayScale conducted the survey between August 2011 and August 2013.
