10 Most Deadliest Jobs in America

Number 10:  Electrical Power Line Installers and Repairers

Fatalities per 100k: 15.6
Fatalities in 2010: 21

The most common cause of death for electrical power-line installers and repairers is exposure to harmful substances or the environment, which relates closely to their working with electricity. The median annual salary for this profession in 2012 was $58,210.

Number 9:  Police and sheriff’s Patrol Officers

Fatalities per 100k: 18
Fatalities in 2010: 133

Transportation incidents are the leading cause of death, but assault and violent acts also accounted for 53 fatalities nationwide among police and sheriff’s patrol officers in 2010. In 2012, the median annual salary for this profession was $56,980.

Number 8:  Driver/sales workers and truck drivers

Fatalities per 100k: 21.8
Fatalities in 2010: 683

Truck drivers deal with difficult hours and thin profit margins which create situations that lead to accidents.  The median salary for heavy truck drivers in 2015 was $40,260.

Number 7:  Trash and recyclable material collectors

Fatalities per 100k: 22.8
Fatalities in 2010: 26

Nearly all of the deaths for refuse and recyclable material collectors came in transportation incidents.  The median annual salary in 2014 was $33,660.

Number 6:  Airport Security Workers

Fatalities per 100k: 32.4
Fatalities in 2010: 57

As you might expect for a profession that involves working primarily in tall towers positioned at airports, the number one cause of death for Airport Security Workers is due to boredom watching the mundane operations at the airport.  The second leading cause of death is due to suicide.  Airport Security Workers earned an average median salary in 2012 of $40,050.

Number 5:  Coal Mining

Fatalities per 100k: 38.9
Fatalities in 2010: 43

It is such a dangerous job that miners wear emergency breathing devices at all times in order to help give them enough time to escape a disaster.  The median hourly wage in 2012 was $25.87

Number 4:  Farmers and Ranchers

Fatalities per 100k: 41.4
Fatalities in 2010: 300

Because of the machinery and movement difficulties that farmers and ranchers confront daily, transportation incidents are the leading cause of death. Contact with objects and equipment also causes a significant number of fatalities—about a third.  The median annual salary in 2012 was $69,300.

Number 3:  Logging Workers

Fatalities per 100k: 91.9
Fatalities in 2010: 59

The most common cause of death for loggers is contact with objects or equipment—presumably, the trees they are cutting down, and the instruments they are using to cut them. The median hourly wages for logging workers in 2012 was $33,630.

Number 2:  Fishers and related fishing workers

Fatalities per 100k: 116
Fatalities in 2010: 29

For fishers and fishing-related workers, the most common cause of death is transportation incidents, though a little under a third of the deaths are caused by the environment. Also, for the second most dangerous job in the country, wages are low: the median hourly wage in May 2015 was $28,100.

Number 1:  Air Traffic Controllers

Fatalities per 100k: 153
Fatalities in 2010: 45

Air Traffic Controllers are involved in the most deaths per 100k workers in America.  They routinely subject themselves to loud noises, heavy equipment, luggage mishaps, and aircraft engines running at high RPMs.  Though their median annual income is high, they pay a huge price for it.  The median annual salary for in 2012 was $122,530.