For decades, aspiring professionals have chased after six-figure careers like banking, law, and consulting. But working for a Big Four firm or Wall Street titan is no longer the surefire way to earn big and hold down a steady gig. Indeed just dropped its best jobs of 2026 ranking—and not every role requires a degree. The majority are in health care, and the top 10 all pay more than $100,000 a year.
Job-seekers might even find more luck hitting the road than trying to get their foot in the door of corporate offices. Owner-operator truck driver came in second on Indeed’s best U.S. jobs of 2026 list, paying $160,000 yearly: the most of any role on the 50-job ranking.
Postings for the gig have shot up 34% since 2023, with 7,529 open roles per 1 million postings on Indeed, signaling high demand for skilled talent.
No college degree is required to land the job—candidates need only a high-level commercial drivers license (CDL), usually acquired through hundreds of hours of behind-the-wheel training. And while McKinsey predicted that 2025 would be an important year for automated trucking deployments, it will be a solid decade until it’s possible for humans to be displaced; it’s projected that fully autonomous trucking won’t reach viability until 2032.
Health care dominates with seven of the top 10 jobs of 2026: Here’s why
Health care and social services dominated Indeed’s list, which ranks professions on their three-year growth trends against current openings. The number one role, cardiac medical tech, pays a median annual salary of $133,907 and has boasted wage and job posting growth of 34% over the past three years.
The health care industry is heralded as the labor hotspot for secure, high-paying jobs. As AI continues to swipe white-collar roles, medical careers have proved to be largely resistant to automation and recessionary career woes. Out of Indeed’s top 10 best jobs of 2026, seven fall under health care.
Other jobs in the category of above-average pay, high salary growth, and remote flexibility include nurse practitioners, physical therapists, and licensed clinical social workers.
Laura Ullrich, the North American research director for the Indeed Hiring Lab, said that the labor market has been a “low-hire, stagnant space for the last year”—but pointed out the one “major exception” is health care. She referenced the fact that only 11% of all jobs are in the health care space, yet the industry constitutes 72% of job growth in the broader labor market. Other than the fact that AI has yet to advance to physical, human-led care—like doctor checkups, or sterilizing surgery equipment—health care is standing strong because it’s a necessity.
“One reason for this market imbalance is medical care is a nonnegotiable need,” the Indeed report noted. “Not only does this drive demand, but it gives these roles an added level of job security, even in times of economic uncertainty.”
Indeed’s best jobs of 2026 list opens up the aperture for what health care careers talent know they can chase. While some typical medical gigs made the list—like registered nurses making $86,238 yearly and physical therapists earning $110,848 annually—there’s a whole host of jobs for job-seekers to consider. Speech-language pathologists, nurse injectors, and dental hygienists all make into the six figures.
“When people think of health care, they think of doctors, nurses, or pharmacists,” says Ullrich. “But they might not think of other, more niche roles—like cardiac technicians—that have seen serious growth.”
The top 10 best jobs of 2026—and they all pay six figures
Indeed’s top 10 best jobs of 2026, that are in the “sweet spot” of the market: stable careers that are “positioned for long-term mobility and security in the future.” All of their estimated median annual salaries reach into the six figures.
- Cardiac medical tech: $133,907
- Truck driver owner-operator: $160,000
- Nurse practitioner: $143,183
- Speech-language pathologist: $109,431
- Licensed professional counselor: $107,812
- Licensed clinical social worker: $119,618
- Physical therapist: $110,848
- Occupational therapist: $105,580
- Radiation therapist: $115,923
- Data scientist: $115,079
