“Optometrist” makes CNNMoney’s 100 Best Jobs in America

November 12, 2012

Contact:
Kimberly O’Sullivan
Director, Communications
Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry
(301) 231-5944 ext. 3019
kosullivan@opted.org

Optometrist Ranks Near the Top 
of CNNMoney’s List of Best Jobs in America

ROCKVILLE, MD, Nov. 12, 2012 — CNNMoney has ranked optometrist No. 12 on its recently released “100 Best Jobs in America” list. Highlighting what makes the job “great,” the list includes “Good pay without the frequent long hours and middle-of-the-night emergency calls doctors expect” and “Patients typically aren’t in pain or afraid, so visits tend to be low-key, and many stay with the same optometrist for years.” The researchers responsible for the list cite the median pay for an experienced optometrist as $105,000 and top pay as $149,000. They predict 33.1% job growth during years 2010-2020.

To compile the list, CNNMoney and compensation experts PayScale.com began with more than 9,000 job titles and identified those that require at least a bachelor’s degree. They focused on professions that offer favorable growth opportunities based on Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts. They considered a variety of other information, including data from a PayScale.com survey of more than 120,000 workers who ranked their jobs on quality-of-life factors such as stress, flexibility, satisfaction and how they feel their job affects the world. The full “100 Best Jobs in America” report can be found at http://money.cnn.com/pf/best-jobs/2012/snapshots/12.html.

This is not the first time optometry has been lauded as a desirable career choice. For example, it appeared on the CNNMoney list in 2010, was among Kiplinger’s 13 Best Careers in 2010, and was rated “excellent” in a 2007 U.S. News and World Report guide to careers.

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The Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry (ASCO) is a non-profit association representing the interests of optometric education. Founded in 1941 and headquartered in Rockville, Md., ASCO is committed to achieving excellence in optometric education and to helping its member institutions prepare well-qualified graduates for entrance into the profession of optometry. Its membership encompasses the schools and colleges of optometry in the United States and Puerto Rico. A number of optometry schools outside the United States are affiliate members.