May 7, 2025 — Construction workers, firefighters, military personnel and doctors — these are the “toughest jobs in America,” according to a new survey.
The poll included 2,000 Americans (1,000 of whom are trade workers), asking respondents what they believe the “toughest” jobs are and what comes to mind when they think of “tough jobs.”
While some listed unique professions, others shared descriptors of what makes a job challenging, like “solving other people's problems all day with little to no help,” “constantly making quick decisions and being stuck in stressful situations daily” or “something that pushes my physical and mental limits.”
Commissioned by Bosch Power Tools and conducted by Talker Research, the survey revealed that, whether or not they fit into those specific categories, 40% of employed Americans believe their job is hard. Trade workers were more than twice as likely to grade their job as difficult (50% vs. 21%).
One in 5 employed respondents — both within and outside of the trades — emphasized the grit that goes into their daily responsibilities, believing that you need to be “extremely tough” to do their job.
A majority of respondents believe that trade workers are, on average, tougher than non-trade workers (72%), and 81% of all surveyed don’t think trade workers get enough credit for the work that they do.
Nearly half (49%) of the non-trade respondents said that they would be open to doing trade work as a career and 68% of respondents who didn’t have access to trade skills courses (wood shop, mechanics, etc.) in high school said they would have enrolled if given the option. Additionally, the results found that 43% of those who are not currently in trade work have done it in the past and would do it again (70%).
As trade work continues to grow in popularity, 9 in 10 respondents would encourage younger Americans to consider a trade job for a career opportunity (88%).
From their time on the job, trade workers agree that jobsite safety is of the utmost importance. Trade workers want to see more support from their employers to improve jobsite safety, including making sure everyone knows how to use equipment (32%), receives safety training (29%) and emergency training for when the unexpected happens on-site (27%).
In fact, over half of trade workers have had up to four “close calls” while on the job in the past year (57%).
Of those who have experienced a close call in the past year, 31% of trade workers have prioritized their well-being and left a job or worksite because it felt unsafe.
As a result, risk assessment (27%) and promoting a culture of safety (26%) are also areas that trade workers would want to see improvement from their employers.
The survey respondents ranked these as the toughest jobs in the U.S.:
- Firefighter (48%)
- Construction worker (44%)
- Military (38%)
- Doctor (38%)
- Police officer (37%)
- EMT or paramedic (35%)
- Astronaut (32%)
- Farmer (29%)
- Air traffic controller (29%)
- Oil worker (25%)
- Nurse (18%)
- Roofer (16%)
- Electrician (16%) [TIED]
- Homebuilder (16%) [TIED]
- Engineer (15%)
- Pilot (14%) [TIED]
- Teacher (14%) [TIED]
- Lawyer (13%)
- Carpenter, woodworker or cabinet maker (12%)
- Drywall/plaster installer (12%)
Survey methodology: Talker Research surveyed 1,000 general population Americans and 1,000 American trade workers; the survey was commissioned by Bosch Power Tools and administered and conducted online by Talker Research between April 8 and April 17, 2025.