Anxiety is a debilitating mental health disorder that affects nearly 20% of the adult US population. In fact, globally it’s one of the most common psychological conditions that people struggle with.
People who suffer from anxiety may have difficulty completing daily tasks, among other things. Even the easiest and smallest of situations can become stress-inducing and cause anywhere from mild to severe anxiety symptoms. That includes work, making it difficult for anxious people to find a job which meets their low-stress requirements.
The good news is that if you do suffer from anxiety, there are plenty of jobs out there that provide a low-stress work environment while also earning good money. Let’s take a look at a few of the best jobs for people with anxiety below!
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Keep Calm and Work: What is Anxiety Disorder?
Before we dive into the best jobs for people with anxiety, let’s take a look at what anxiety disorder actually is. Anxiety disorder is a mental health condition that’s characterized by excessive or lasting worry. These worries interfere with a person’s daily life.
There are several main types of anxiety disorders. Each disorder comes with additional symptoms but remains a struggle with excessive worry or fear that interferes with a person’s life.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
Generalized anxiety disorder, also known by its abbreviation GAD, is characterized by persistent or chronic anxiety, elevated levels of tension, and heightened, long-lasting worry, without something necessarily triggering it.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
OCD, or obsessive-compulsive disorder, is a type of anxiety disorder in which a person has unwanted and obsessive thoughts paired with compulsive behaviors. A person will perform ritual acts, such as hand washing, to relieve the anxiety caused by their obsessive thoughts.
Panic Attack Disorder
People who suffer from panic attack disorder (or just “panic disorder”) are affected by sudden and repeated episodes of intense fear. These usually involve a racing heart, sweating, dizziness, shortness of breath, and other physical symptoms.
Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD)
Social anxiety disorder, or SAD, is a type of social phobia that’s marked by overwhelming stress and self-consciousness around others. With a social anxiety disorder, the anxiety is so intense that a person cannot interact with people during their daily lives without feeling some anxiety.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
PTSD, or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, is a type of anxiety disorder that develops after a person goes through a traumatic event. This disorder is most commonly associated with military veterans who’ve seen combat, but it can happen to anybody due to terrifying situations. For example, victims of sexual or physical assault may experience PTSD and other mental health issues.
Related Read: Career Glossary of Job Terms, HR Vocabulary & Employment Words to Know
Best Low-Stress Jobs for People With Anxiety
So, now we understand anxiety disorders a bit better and what makes them different from simply feeling anxious.
Let’s take a look at a few different career options and jobs that people who struggle with anxiety can perform.
1. Groundskeeper or Maintenance Worker
Becoming a groundskeeper is one of the best jobs for people with social anxiety because it involves fairly limited human interaction. For most of the day, you’ll be working on your own to take care of the gardens or outdoor spaces at a museum or large home. And, even when you work around people, say for community college employees, you don’t really need to interact with them on a daily basis.
Groundskeepers trim hedges, keep paths clean, and care for the plants and trees on the grounds of large buildings or campuses. It sometimes involves long days spent in the sun, making it ideal for people who love being outside.
Not only is this a soothing environment to work in that involves little human interaction, but you also don’t need a degree to perform this job. As long as you’ve completed high school, you’re typically able to get a job as a groundskeeper or maintenance worker. This minimal-anxiety gig could earn you as $30,000 a year and up, especially at better-funded institutions, like universities and community colleges.
2. Librarian
If you love quiet, soothing spaces, there are few locations that compare with the peace and quiet of a library. In fact, in libraries, loud talking is discouraged so that people have a quiet space to read, study, and work.
As a librarian, you’ll help people check books in and out of the library. You will also assist with cataloging and organizing the books in the library, managing returns and book requests, and sometimes organizing small events, like book clubs or children’s readings.
You will need to get a college degree in order to become a librarian. However, once you have your degree, you can expect to earn upwards of $50,000 for your peaceful and stress-free career as a professional bookworm.
Related Read: Best Work-Life Balance Quotes for Happiness & Success
3. Graphic Designer
For people who are more creative, becoming a graphic designer can be a great choice. This job involves little human interaction and focuses on using software to create logos, graphics, promotions, webpages, and other marketing materials. Definitely a great job for someone with social anxiety!
While you typically need a degree for this job as a career, it’s not necessarily required, particularly if you go the flex jobs way and do contract or freelance work. Some employers will consider candidates as long as they have a strong portfolio of work.
From there, they can start a successful career and earn as much as $52,000 a year. Plus, this is one of the jobs of the future that is likely to keep seeing growth and opportunity even as other, more stressful jobs are made redundant due to technology.
4. Computer Programmer
As technology advances, so does the need for people who understand how to use and program it. That makes the demand for computer programmers and technical support agents critical.
A computer programmer spends most of their day writing and maintaining code. They also need to check in on current systems and programs to make sure that everything is running correctly.
You can choose to study computer programming at a university or to use online courses to obtain certifications. Once you’ve landed a computer programming job, you can expect to earn roughly $87,000 a year, meaning that if earning a good salary is one of your anxiety triggers, this tech job will certainly ease your mind!
Related Read: Best Side Jobs for College Students & Young Professionals
5. Writer
One of the more popular jobs at the moment is becoming a writer. This is because it can typically be done remotely, giving you the opportunity to travel while you work, if the digital nomad lifestyle is something you’re interested in.
You can choose to either become a writer that creates blogs and online content, or you can explore your creative side and write novels. You could do technical writing, go the journalism route, or become a ghostwriter. In many cases, writing is often a career with plenty of peace and quiet, low levels of work stress, and without much interruption from other people.
As a writer, you can earn as much as $60,000 a year, making it a more profitable career choice. And, while you may benefit from a university degree, it’s probably not required in order to get started. Finally, if you feel more creative after the sun goes down, writing makes great night shift jobs!
6. Accountant
Accountants are really only required to have minimal interaction with coworkers and clients. They’ll spend much of their day working independently in their office, doing their tax, number-crunching, and bookkeeping jobs. A typical day in the life of an accountant involves reconciling records, researching transactions, and completing calculations.
You can choose to either simply complete your bachelor’s degree or you can take several exams and become a CPA, or a certified public accountant. The average salary for an accountant is around $72,000 per year, with more for certification.
For people with anxiety, especially those with social anxiety, an accounting job may be a good choice because you don’t need to interact with many people. Even when you do have to interact with others, it’s typically in a limited capacity. However, consider each accounting job and every specific bookkeeping job application process thoroughly, as you could end up with a high-stress job that tests the limits of your heart rate and patience if you’re not careful!
Related Read: How to Choose a Career You’ll Love
7. Plumber
If you’re wanting a low-stress job that really leaves you alone with your thoughts, becoming a plumber is a good choice. Plumbers often don’t have to worry about working with other coworkers, and they won’t typically have clients who want to hang out and chat with them while they work.
This makes being a plumber quite a popular career choice for those looking at great jobs for introverts, the socially anxious, and those with generalized anxiety disorders (GAD). When you do work with team members, your team is usually quite small.
Becoming a plumber involves attending either a trade school after earning a high school diploma or completing an apprenticeship with on-the-job training, but usually no bachelor’s degree. Either way, once you’re trained and ready to get to work, this low-stress job can net you a salary of around $55,000 a year.
8. Data Entry Specialist
One of the least stressful jobs that people can take is becoming a data entry specialist. Data entry specialists take information from one location and put it into an organized computer database.
The work can be a bit tedious and monotonous, but it can be an extremely rewarding job once it’s completed. On top of that, data entry specialists work alone and in low-stress, quiet rooms.
You usually don’t need any kind of college degree to get started as a data entry specialist. As long as you have a high school diploma, you can start out earning $34,000 a year, with an even higher salary for those who’ve earned a bachelor’s degree or some kind of specialized certification.
Related Read: Best Online Jobs for College Students
9. Other Great Low-Stress Jobs for People With Anxiety
Here are other low-stress job opportunities and ideas for someone with anxiety:
- Fitness trainer
- Massage therapist
- Video editor
- Dog / cat / pet groomer
- Mobile app developer
- Social media manager
- Book store assistant / book store cashier
- Freelance editor
- Blog manager
- Interior decorator or landscape designer
- Dog / cat / animal trainer
- Software developer / software engineer
- Remote IT specialist
- Plant nursery attendant
- Store or warehouse stocking jobs
- School bus driver
- Restaurant or fast food preparation worker
- National park or forest ranger
- Pharmacy technician
- Web developer
- Medical proofreader transcriptionist
Depending on your chosen career path, your college education requirements may vary; some jobs we’ve listed may require a master’s degree, while others might only require a high school diploma or certificate programs.
Related Read: 10 Important Skills Employers Look For & Will Want In 2022 & Beyond
Apply for One of the Best Jobs for People With Anxiety
Remember, this isn’t an exhaustive list, and there may be other jobs that work for you. You also need to consider where you are professionally, like whether you’re looking for entry-level jobs or jobs for those with extensive experience.
What’s more, with mental health counseling and medication, you can live a normal life. While these jobs may still be a good fit, with the right care and treatment, anything is possible when you put your mind to it.
If you struggle with anxiety and have been looking for a job that can support you, hopefully this list of the best jobs for people with anxiety helps. Apply for any one of these jobs above with the peace of mind that it won’t massively interfere with your mental health or cause you unnecessary stress.
Want more career tips and advice for improving your work, life, and work-life balance? Be sure to check out the rest of our articles here on the Goodwall Blog. And, if you have any questions or other great careers for people with stress and anxiety, let us know below in the comments!
Related Read: Best LinkedIn Profile Tips & Advice to Stand Out as a Job Candidate
Writing is not a low stress job. I have a friend who is a writer and she’s ready to yeet herself off a cliff because of how demanding it is. You have to spend LONG years to get good and even if you write like God himself there are no guarantees that you’ll make a single dime because everyone on the planet has suddenly decided they have the writing chops to make it big (most don’t and never will, sorry not sorry, lol). Save your time, don’t become a writer. Try for something that’s easier to get success at, like climbing Mt. Everest.
All of these are stressful jobs I’ve tried and caused Mt anxiety to get worse. Should of just titled it most stressful jobs
For everyone googling low stress jobs and coming to this article for clarity, you are in the wrong place. These claims just aren’t true. Have a friend making 300k as a senior software developer, the dude is in triage from stress on the weekends. I can personally attest to half of these jobs being high stress. Know a vet tech, the stress they deal with us on another level, animal lives are at stake. Have you ever met a chill fitness trainer? Super stressful sales and positivity job. I think everyone knows resturants are stressful. The entire list is crap. Wish they would actually back this article up with medical/scientific research instead of bullshitting. Whatever career you decide there will be stress, just pick something you like and it will be bearable.
I’m a librarian and I can tell you that this description is not true. You have to have a Masters degree, not just a college degree. You can expect to make $14-21 an hour at a public library where you will have to deal with people of all sorts. Sometimes irate people. You probably won’t be doing the tasks listed as that is what a clerk does. They take about $9-12. You will have to work weekends and evenings and spend your time monitoring computers and teens. If you work in a school you will deal with difficult behavior issues and be asked to take on tasks like bus duty. It’s hardly every quiet and it’s actually very stressful.
Personally, I think a school bus driver is the worst for “stress free work” kids are bad now a days. I have 4 kids and live in an apartment complex with nothing but bad kids. I see what those bus drivers go through. I feel for them.
I love this blog! I have anxiety and I’m always looking for ways to reduce my stress levels. This list of low-stress jobs is perfect for me!
I love this blog! I have anxiety and I’m always looking for ways to reduce my stress levels. This list of low-stress jobs is perfect for me!
I love this blog! I have anxiety and I’m always looking for ways to reduce my stress levels. This list of low-stress jobs is perfect for me!
Computer programmer? Web developer? Those are both ridiculous. You are under deadlines to push code live you have a good chance of having a bug that will show for thousands of people, and could potentially screw up god knows how much data that would need to be fixed. In the meantime, you’ll have to work on new code and hope that goes well. Super low stress. This doesn’t factor in the management factor or other personality conflicts with coders. Clearly, you’ve never even met a developer
Pharmacy Technician is absolutely not low stress. It is the reason I’m looking to move to something completely different. Been doing it way too long now and I cant get out of it soon enough. If its retail pharmacy, you’ll be working with the public everyday and that’s hard in itself. Not to mention not messing up anything while typing it dispensing and knowing all the state laws and ensuring you meet all management’s expectations. I’ve never been more anxious in my life doing this
Restaurant or fast food preparation worker are not low stress either. I guess it depend on the person. As someone who has worked in restaurants her whole life, it is very stressful and definitely a job not every one I’d capable of doing.
Definitely agree with you. I worked in the food business for a few years and nothing about it was calm. I’m looking for a career change, but almost nothing seems feasible. I have GAD and I feel like it’s just getting worse as I age.
I am an academic librarian. Being a librarian is NOT a low stress job, in any capacity. It is mountains of responsibilities and tasks on top of interacting with the public, creating new content, and keeping up with communication. I need to work 60 hours a week just to complete all of the things I need to get done and I’m still behind constantly. If you’re looking for a low stress job, do not take on the absurd amount of debt it requires to obtain an MLS. It’s not worth it if what you’re looking for is peace and quiet.
Interior decorator or designer is very high stress especially because they are usually perfectionists. It’s a lot of work considering trying to please clients and working with their needs can be stressful.
I know that Librarian seems like a quiet low stress job, but I wouldn’t advise it in an elementary school. There is A LOT of teaching required with large groups of students ALL DAY LONG. So, if you aren’t interested in interacting THAT much and being in charge of a large group, I would not advise Librarian in an Elementary School setting.
Having anxiety and seeing you mention warehouse jobs makes me baffled… those jobs involve high tempo, and it is not ideal for being with anxiety.
Being a pharmacy technician is more high stress than a lot of people realize, especially in the retail setting. I’ve worked as a pharmacy tech for 7 years, and I’ve been more anxious over aggressive customers demanding cheap meds and overbearing upper management demanding to meet certain numbers for script sale counts and immunization goals.
Working as a pharmacy tech on the inpatient side of a hospital pharmacy can be lower stress, depending on the setting. A friend does that, and has limited contact with either patients or management.
As a veterinary technician of over 10 years, I can tell you right now that veterinarian and vet tech jobs are absolutely NOT low stress. In fact, veterinarians and veterinary professionals have one of the highest suicide rates of any profession. Maybe educate your contributors about NOMV?! Listing a profession with the kind of stress, depression, and suicide statistics that our field has on a “low stress/low anxiety” job list is extremely insensitive and very much downplays the reality of what we as veterinary professionals do and deal with on a daily basis.
Thanks for your comment, Brittney, and we apologize for adding veterinary technician jobs as low-stress jobs. We’ve updated the post, and we do really appreciate you informing us of how anxiety inducing it can be! Thanks so much, and we wish you low anxiety and stress in your vocational future!
Ha, any kind of career in Veterinary science is very high stress…
After 5 years in Veterinary medicine I can tell you it is not a low stress job. Matter of fact, my anxiety has only gotten worse since I started in this field.
It’s not all puppies and kittens, neither is being a dog trainer or groomer and for anyone to say otherwise is patently untrue.
Our profession actually has an extremely high suicide rate, our pay is terrible and we are often subjected to verbal abuse.
Actually the abuse has skyrocketed over the course of the pandemic.
The job is about doing your best under often extreme pressure and pushing yourself to the limit for your patients…
Side note, your patients will not be pleased with you and will often express their displeasure with teeth.
The person who wrote this article needs to do a much better job researching the fields they have listed here.
U need to chill out and quit raggin so hard
Thanks for your comment, and we apologize for adding veterinarian jobs as a low-stress job. We’ve updated the post, and we do really appreciate you informing us of how stressful it can be! Thanks so much, and we wish you low anxiety and stress in your future!