Most Popular Dream Jobs in the United States

Many people across the United States have an idea of what their ‘dream’ career would be — whether it’s fighting fires, flying planes, or foiling crimes — but only slightly over a quarter (28%) of employed Americans say they love their job, with financial pressures and qualification gaps often meaning that a dream role can seem out of reach for people.

But what if these barriers didn’t exist? While attaining your ideal job requires persistence and more than a little dedication, not all dream jobs require college degrees or several years of training. In fact, a dream job might be more achievable than many Americans realise.

Following our study of dream jobs around the world, we’ve analysed search volume in the United States (a country characterised by its unique working culture and state-wide identity) to discover which careers most Americans aspire to in 2024 — as well as drilling into state-by-state data to understand how job aspirations differ between the 50 U.S. states.

What is the ‘American dream’ when it comes to jobs? Let’s find out.

What is the most popular job in the United States?

Starting with a seed list of 36 jobs most commonly associated with a dream career, we ranked each role by U.S. search volume to discover the most searched-for dream jobs across the United States. The data reveals a broad spectrum of dream roles, with law enforcement and aviation being particularly desirable sectors among Americans.

Key findings:

• Travel and aviation are obvious themes, with flight attendant revealed as the most popular dream career and pilot in third place.
• A desire to serve the public is also prevalent, with roles such as firefighter, police officer, judge, detective, and lawyer all featuring in the top 10.
• While it only ranked at 28 overall, attorney saw the biggest year-on-year rise (+60%) in popularity. Blogger (-45%) saw the most significant drop in interest, perhaps due to AI changing the landscape of some more traditional blogging careers
• The popularity of dream jobs doesn’t necessarily correlate with pay — popular roles such as flight attendant ($39,440) and firefighter ($55,040) have relatively modest average salaries according to Indeed compared to many of the careers analysed.

Showcasing Americans’ sky-high aspirations, flight attendant is the number one dream job in the United States. A varied career that offers the opportunity to travel, a job as a flight attendant certainly flies in the face of the typical office-based 9-to-5 — but it does require adaptability, resilience, and the willingness to deal with variable shifts and time zones.

While firefighter is the second most desired role in the United States — a demanding, potentially dangerous but rewarding career choice — Americans’ penchant for the mile-high life is clear, with pilot coming just behind in third. A career that requires extensive training but offers exciting travel opportunities, pilot was revealed to be the world’s most popular dream job in our global study.

Law enforcement also features heavily in Americans’ career dreams, with police officer, judge, detective, and lawyer taking spots four to seven. This showcases a strong desire among Americans to serve their communities and make a positive impact on society, with these careers often offering personal fulfilment and a strong sense of prestige and responsibility.

Rounding out a varied top 10 are model, psychologist, and professor. Dealing with a different kind of runway to pilots and flight attendants, models often enjoy a glamorous lifestyle, but modelling can be a cutthroat competitive profession that requires dedication and resilience. 

Psychology is quite a diverse niche, with specialisms including clinical psychology, forensic psychology, and counselling. Professors usually work in an educational setting (the United States is known for its prestigious universities such as Harvard, Yale, and Stanford), often specialising in a particular subject like science, literature, music or history. 

Of the 36 jobs analysed, doctor is the most well paid — doctors earn $194,306 per year on average — but not necessarily the most popular, ranking in 13th place. Pilot, the third most desirable job overall, also tends to be highly paid, with pilots earning an average salary of $110,816. Attorney is the fastest-growing dream job in the list, and is also one of the most lucrative; it’s the third highest-paid job with an average salary of $108,155.

Dream jobs by U.S. state

To discover the most popular dream job in each state, we delved deeper into the regional search demand for the 36 jobs analysed. The findings uncovered a real variety of desired careers between different states, with some clear variations between the country-wide study and the state-level data.

Interestingly, despite flight attendant being the most popular dream career overall in America, it’s the number one choice in just two states — Hawaii and Montana. Firefighter is the most popular in Colorado and Idaho, while only Alaskans see pilot as a dream job. 

Perhaps linked to its status as the fastest-growing dream job, attorney is considered a dream career in the highest number of states — twelve in total, including California, Florida, Kentucky, Minnesota, New York, and Texas.

Law enforcement careers are a clear theme across the state-level study, with lawyer revealed as a dream job in five states — Kansas, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, and Vermont. Police officer features in Arkansas, Idaho and Oregon, while detective is the number one dream job in West Virginia and judge takes the top spot in Delaware.

Some of the U.S. states we studied have multiple dream jobs, with Georgia, for example, having varied preferences: DJ, YouTuber, attorney, and entrepreneur were all popular here. Oklahoma also has four equally popular dream jobs, while Arizona, Delaware, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, and Utah all have three each.

Why does the regional picture look so different from the national one? 

One of America’s defining characteristics as a nation is that each of its 50 states has its own unique identity — and this is reflected in the differing values and aspirations revealed by our study. Of course, the dream careers of many states may be influenced by their most prominent industries and cultural touchstones, too.

Oklahoma’s reputation as a creative state, for example, is surely a factor in its most popular dream jobs of dancer, fashion designer, musician, and author, while it’s no surprise to see professor as the number one choice in Massachusetts given the state is home to some of the country’s top-rated universities, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard.

Interestingly, many less ‘traditional’ dream careers fared better in the state-level rankings than they did in the overall table, including DJ (the top dream career in four states), game tester (the number one choice in three states) and YouTuber, which features among the top dream jobs in five states. This just serves to highlight that a dream job can mean something very different to one person than another, particularly across cultural divides.

What does a ‘dream job’ mean to people around the world?

While there are many similarities between our global study into dream jobs and our U.S.-specific version — pilot and flight attendant feature in the top three in both, for example — there are also many variations, highlighting the different attitudes to the idea of a dream job not just between U.S. states but across the globe.

But what is a dream job? Well, a dream job is often considered a vocation — a career that you’re especially suited to or qualified for based on your passions, interests and skills. However, there can be many other factors that determine whether a career might be seen as a vocation or merely a steady gig that offers a consistent paycheck.

For example, a dream job might provide a good work-life balance and enable you to spend time doing the things you love; it might be intellectually challenging and offer the opportunity for personal growth; or, it might foster a sense of reward by enabling you to make a genuine difference to the world.

“Your dream job is more than just a title,” says David Overmars, a digital leader at Jobseeker. “It’s a reflection of your values, your passions, and your goals. With this survey, we aim to demonstrate that a dream job can mean many different things to many people — in the U.S. and all over the world — and is often a reflection of our cultural identity.”

“Finding your dream job is about discovering what motivates you, leveraging your passions and strengths, and being prepared to continuously learn. It also requires being adaptable, and that includes tailoring your resume and cover letter to highlight your relevant experience as well as your direct and transferable skills.”

Looking to secure your dream job? Find out how our resume templates can help you create a CV tailored to your dream role, and take inspiration from these great cover letter examples.

Hoping to get hired in your dream industry but lacking experience? Check out our guide to writing a cover letter with no experience.

Methodology 

To explore America’s top dream jobs nationally and at a state level, we started by compiling a seed list of the most popular dream jobs, combining lists from around the careers market and choosing 36 jobs most commonly associated with a dream career. 

To find the top most popular dream jobs at a national level, the seed list was uploaded to Google Keyword Planner and ranked by total U.S. search volume, using the search template “how to become a [JOB TITLE]”. 

To reveal the most popular dream job in each state, Google search data (Google Trends) was used to obtain regional data for all 50 U.S. states. The dream jobs list was uploaded to Google Trends using the search template “how to become a [JOB TITLE]”, where search demand for each job was ranked by relative popularity for each U.S. state over a 12 month period. 

Data recorded: July 2024