Jobseekers are in a tough spot to start 2026, with an uncertain economy slowing hiring. U.S. News and World Report’s new ranking of the best jobs makes it clear which sectors are growing, and what skills hiring managers are looking for.
Jobs in health care and technology top the publication’s list, and in a world where the use of artificial intelligence is surging, the most desired skills are those that can’t be replicated by a machine.
The new rankings judged careers based on the amount of sustained growth, how well they pay, supply and demand of skilled workers in those fields, the safety, well-being and security of those jobs, and work-life balance that comes with them.
Topping the list, for the third year in a row, was nurse practitioner, a job that won’t pay as well as being a doctor, but also doesn’t require the same amount of time and education to attain the job.
Rounding out the top 10 was, in order, financial manager, IT manager, information security analyst, physician assistant, medical and health services manager, software developer, data scientist, speech-language pathologist and pilot.
“I think it’s interesting to see that three of the titles in our top 10 list have the word manager at the end,” said Carly Chase, vice president and general manager of careers at U.S. News. “Because I do think that decision making skill, that skill of being able to insert your judgment … will continue to be prescient even as we transition AI into the jobs that we all do.”
It reinforces the notion that to AI-proof your career, accentuating creativity, leadership and judgment will go a long way.
“Honestly, the easiest way to talk about it is like … humans have to be better at being humans,” Chase said. “We have to be great communicators. We have to have good judgment. We have to be creative. I think that’s really what we bring as humans to the table.”
More than 20% of the top jobs also don’t require a college degree.
“So something like aircraft mechanic is our best paying job without a college degree,” Chase said. “And then other types of sales and customer-oriented, again, those jobs that don’t require a lot of technical skills, but require a lot of human skills, like flight attendant, sales rep — just dealing with people.”
So anyone seeking a job or looking to grow in their career, Chase said, can take something away from the insights in the list.
“If I were thinking about, sort of, ‘How do I want to grow in my job, and how do I want to AI-proof myself?’ really focusing on those durable and soft skills, I think, is definitely a thing that everybody should be thinking about,” she said.