This Map Shows The Most Popular Job In America

Using data compiled since 1978, they were able to put together a series of maps that tracked and traced what sorts of jobs the average American had for every four years until 2014.

In order to represent all the info and data as accurately as possible, NPR used Census Bureau results to eliminate ambiguous categories. For example, undeterminable branches of salespeople and managers were booked under “managers not elsewhere classified” and “salespersons not elsewhere classified.” Make sense?

Most common job? Drum roll please… The award goes to: the truck drivers!

Don’t lie, you honestly thought it would be jobs like ‘teacher’, ‘secretary’ and ‘manager’. Whilst jobs like secretaries were big back in the day, their commonality gradually faded because of the rise of technology and the personal computer.

So, why aren’t truck drivers affected in the same way? According to the results, truck drivers aren’t affected by automation (robotics and computer technology) and globalisation like in other industries and professions. The reason is quite obvious, until the end of time, goods will always need to be transported from A to B, and lucky for us, employers and governments still entrust us humans to do this – for now, anyway.

To keep track, check out the cool little interactive slider NPR made to track these changes.

But before that, take a look at the most common jobs since 1978 in the maps below.

Just one more year to wait for the next one! We’re taking bets it’s still going to be ‘truck driver’. Thoughts?
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