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Want a great work-life balance? Consider one of these 25 careers

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If being able to leave your work at work (or do your work from home) is key to your professional satisfaction, you may want to consider a career on Glassdoor’s list of 25 Best Jobs For Work-Life Balance. Recognizing that this rather nebulous term can mean different things to different people, the career website makes no effort to define the virtue — rather, it simply asks its users to rank their satisfaction with their ability to balance the professional and the personal while handling the jobs they have. And today, the rankings have been revealed.

In collecting their data, Glassdoor asked respondents to describe their satisfaction with their job’s work-life balance on a scale of 1 to 5, where a rating of “1” would suggest that the respondent is very dissatisfied, a “3” means the balance is alright, and a “5” translates to very satisfied. On average, Glassdoor users in 2015 seem less satisfied overall than they have in years past — whereas workers averaged a 3.5 in 2009 and a 3.4 in 2012, thus far, the average score is a 3.2.

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But rising above the rest are the following 25 jobs, many of which are, unsurprisingly, in the tech sector.

1. Data Scientist

  • Work-Life Balance Rating: 4.2
  • Salary: $114,808
  • Number of Job Openings: 1,315

2. SEO Manager

  • Work-Life Balance Rating: 4.1
  • Salary: $45,720
  • Number of Job Openings: 338

3. Talent Acquisition Specialist

  • Work-Life Balance Rating: 4.0
  • Salary: $63,504
  • Number of Job Openings: 1,171

4. Social Media Manager

  • Work-Life Balance Rating: 4.0
  • Salary: $40,000
  • Number of Job Openings: 661

5. Substitute Teacher

  • Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.9
  • Salary: $24,380
  • Number of Job Openings: 590

6. Recruiting Coordinator

  • Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.9
  • Salary: $44,700
  • Number of Job Openings: 446

7. UX Designer

  • Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.9
  • Salary: $91,440
  • Number of Job Openings: 338

8. Digital Marketing Manager

  • Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.9
  • Salary: $70,052
  • Number of Job Openings: 640

9. Marketing Assistant

  • Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.8
  • Salary: $32,512
  • Number of Job Openings: 384

10. Web Developer

  • Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.8
  • Salary: $66,040
  • Number of Job Openings: 2,117

11. Risk Analyst

  • Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.8
  • Salary: $69,088
  • Number of Job Openings: 208

12. Civil Engineer

  • Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.8
  • Salary: $65,532
  • Number of Job Openings: 809

13. Client Manager

  • Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.8
  • Salary: $71,120
  • Number of Job Openings: 503

14. Instructional Designer

  • Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.8
  • Salary: $66,040
  • Number of Job Openings: 782

15. Marketing Analyst

  • Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.8
  • Salary: $60,000
  • Number of Job Openings: 341

16. Software QA Engineer

  • Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.8
  • Salary: $91,440
  • Number of Job Openings: 457

17. Web Designer

  • Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.8
  • Salary: $53,848
  • Number of Job Openings: 500

18. Research Technician

  • Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.8
  • Salary: $36,525
  • Number of Job Openings: 299

19. Program Analyst

  • Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.7
  • Salary: $71,120
  • Number of Job Openings: 524

20. Data Analyst

  • Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.7
  • Salary: $58,928
  • Number of Job Openings: 1,954

21. Content Manager

  • Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.7
  • Salary: $60,960
  • Number of Job Openings: 409

22. Solutions Engineer

  • Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.7
  • Salary: $92,456
  • Number of Job Openings: 652

23. Lab Assistant

  • Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.7
  • Salary: $27,550
  • Number of Job Openings: 779

24. Software Developer

  • Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.7
  • Salary: $80,000
  • Number of Job Openings: 3,330

25. Front End Developer

  • Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.7
  • Salary: $75,000
  • Number of Job Openings: 1337

The prevalence of technology on the list may be due to the laid-back culture of the startup and technology work scene, as well as the generally high pay, flexible hours, and standard free lunch that comes with the package in many of the Silicon Valley and Silicon Alley jobs. But it’s certainly worth noting that work-life balance doesn’t necessarily correlate with a higher salary — seven out of the 25 jobs listed have an average salary of under $50,000, suggesting that money really can’t buy happiness.

In any case, if you’re looking to get out of long hours or a miserable environment, this list may be a good place to start your new search (and find your next job).

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Lulu Chang
Lulu Chang
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