---
title: "The Most Dangerous Jobs in America"
description: "Fatal injury rates and pay for 45 occupations, BLS CFOI 2024."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/most-dangerous-jobs"
last-updated: "2026-10-15T08:19:32.066Z"
---

# The most dangerous jobs in America

5,070 people died from work injuries in the US in 2024, a rate of 3.3 per 100,000 full-time-equivalent workers (BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries). Occupations ranked by fatal injury rate; pay is the employment-weighted average of BLS OEWS medians for the occupations each row covers (NueCareer calculation).

| Rank | Occupation | Rate per 100k | Deaths | Typical pay |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | [Logging workers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/logging-equipment-operator) | 110.4 | 51 | $49,630 |
| 2 | Fishing and hunting workers | 88.8 | 24 | Not published by BLS |
| 3 | [Roofers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/roofer) | 48.7 | 104 | $55,440 |
| 4 | [Structural iron and steel workers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/structural-iron-and-steel-worker) | 37.8 | 14 | $62,780 |
| 5 | [Refuse and recyclable material collectors](https://nuecareer.com/careers/refuse-and-recyclable-material-collector) | 37.4 | 36 | $49,690 |
| 6 | [Aircraft pilots and flight engineers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/airline-pilot) | 36.7 | 73 | $197,830 |
| 7 | [Helpers, construction trades](https://nuecareer.com/careers/helpers-electrician) | 35.8 | 18 | $43,130 |
| 8 | [Underground mining machine operators](https://nuecareer.com/careers/continuous-mining-machine-operator) | 35.6 | 12 | $66,850 |
| 9 | [Driver/sales workers and truck drivers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/truck-driver) | 25.7 | 950 | $52,360 |
| 10 | [Grounds maintenance workers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/landscaping-and-groundskeeping-worker) | 20.9 | 239 | $39,970 |
| 11 | [Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/farmer-or-agricultural-manager) | 19.4 | 175 | $89,900 |
| 12 | [Miscellaneous agricultural workers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/farmworker-and-laborer-crop-nursery-and-greenhouse) | 19 | 147 | $36,290 |
| 13 | [Construction laborers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/construction-laborer) | 15.8 | 334 | $47,120 |
| 14 | [Electrical power-line installers and repairers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-power-line-installer-and-repairer) | 13.8 | 21 | $95,320 |
| 15 | [First-line supervisors of mechanics, installers, and repairers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/first-line-supervisor-of-mechanics-installers-and-repairers) | 13.1 | 38 | $79,860 |
| 16 | [First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/first-line-supervisor-of-construction-trades-and-extraction-workers) | 12.8 | 105 | $79,920 |
| 17 | [First-line supervisors of landscaping, lawn service, and groundskeeping workers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/first-line-supervisor-of-landscaping-lawn-service-and-groundskeeping-workers) | 12.3 | 33 | $58,430 |
| 18 | [Construction equipment operators](https://nuecareer.com/careers/operating-engineer-and-other-construction-equipment-operator) | 11.7 | 49 | $59,390 |
| 19 | [Telecommunications line installers and repairers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/telecommunications-line-installer-and-repairer) | 11.5 | 15 | $74,330 |
| 20 | [Maintenance and repair workers, general](https://nuecareer.com/careers/maintenance-and-repair-worker-general) | 10.8 | 76 | $49,590 |
| 21 | [Bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists](https://nuecareer.com/careers/bus-and-truck-mechanic-and-diesel-engine-specialist) | 8.6 | 29 | $61,770 |
| 22 | [Security guards and gambling surveillance officers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/security-guard) | 7.7 | 64 | $38,060 |
| 23 | [Carpenters](https://nuecareer.com/careers/carpenter) | 7.5 | 89 | $60,580 |
| 24 | [Industrial machinery installation, repair, and maintenance workers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/industrial-machinery-mechanic) | 7 | 33 | $64,190 |
| 25 | [Pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters](https://nuecareer.com/careers/plumber) | 6.9 | 47 | $62,820 |
| 26 | [Welding, soldering, and brazing workers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/welder) | 6.9 | 42 | $53,340 |
| 27 | [Heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/heating-air-conditioning-and-refrigeration-mechanic-and-installer) | 6.7 | 33 | $61,010 |
| 28 | [Painters and paperhangers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/painter-construction-and-maintenance) | 6.6 | 32 | $49,420 |
| 29 | [Automotive service technicians and mechanics](https://nuecareer.com/careers/automotive-service-technician-and-mechanic) | 6.3 | 57 | $50,620 |
| 30 | [Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand](https://nuecareer.com/careers/laborer-and-freight-stock-and-material-mover-hand) | 5.4 | 110 | $40,240 |
| 31 | [Electricians](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrician) | 5.3 | 53 | $63,190 |
| 32 | [Industrial truck and tractor operators](https://nuecareer.com/careers/industrial-truck-and-tractor-operator) | 5 | 30 | $46,420 |
| 33 | [Firefighters](https://nuecareer.com/careers/firefighter) | 4 | 26 | $59,280 |
| 34 | [Athletes, coaches, umpires, and related workers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/coach-and-scout) | 3.5 | 11 | $47,990 |
| 35 | [Emergency medical technicians and paramedics](https://nuecareer.com/careers/emergency-medical-technician) | 3.3 | 11 | $50,240 |
| 36 | [Cashiers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cashier) | 3.1 | 54 | $32,900 |
| 37 | [Supervisors of food preparation and serving workers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/first-line-supervisor-of-food-preparation-and-serving-workers) | 2.9 | 28 | $46,660 |
| 38 | [Retail salespersons](https://nuecareer.com/careers/retail-salesperson) | 2.4 | 53 | $35,410 |
| 39 | [Property, real estate, and community association managers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/property-real-estate-and-community-association-manager) | 2 | 14 | $69,990 |
| 40 | [First-line supervisors of production and operating workers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/first-line-supervisor-of-production-and-operating-workers) | 1.9 | 15 | $74,450 |
| 41 | [Food service managers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/food-service-manager) | 1.4 | 17 | $69,390 |
| 42 | [First-line supervisors of retail sales workers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/first-line-supervisor-of-retail-sales-workers) | 1.4 | 42 | $48,520 |
| 43 | [Construction managers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/construction-manager) | 1.2 | 15 | $114,990 |
| 44 | [First-line supervisors of non-retail sales workers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/first-line-supervisor-of-non-retail-sales-workers) | 0.6 | 7 | $87,520 |
| 45 | [Registered nurses](https://nuecareer.com/careers/registered-nurse) | 0.4 | 13 | $97,550 |

BLS publishes a rate only where there were at least 5 deaths and 40 million hours worked. Sources: https://www.bls.gov/iif/fatal-injuries-tables/fatal-occupational-injuries-hours-based-rates-2024.xlsx and https://www.bls.gov/iif/fatal-injuries-tables/fatal-occupational-injuries-table-a-5-2024.xlsx.

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology