Quiet jobs

"Quiet job" can mean two things: a quiet place to work, or a job without much talking. This page covers the first. O*NET asks workers how often they are exposed to sounds or noise levels that are distracting or uncomfortable, from never to every day. It is a rating of how often noise bothers people, not a decibel measurement.

We sorted 743 occupations by that rating and kept the 40 with the least noise. Because a quiet room can still be full of people, the table also shows how much contact with others each job involves. For the other meaning, see our list of jobs that don't require talking to people.

What the data shows

Software Developers have the lowest noise rating: 1.1 out of 5, closest to "never".
In all 40, at least half of workers say distracting noise never happens at work.
30 of the 40 still involve contact with others most of the time or more, so a quiet workplace is not always a solitary one.
Of the 40, writers and authors combine low noise with the least contact (3.1 out of 5).
80% of these 40 jobs pay more than the US median wage of $50,980.
5 of the 40 typically need no more than a high school diploma to start.
7 of the 40 are projected to shrink between 2025 and 2035.

The ranking

Click a column heading to sort. Ratings are O*NET averages on a 1 to 5 scale; hover a heading for what it measures. Pay is the national median annual wage. Growth is the projected change in employment from 2025 to 2035.

#	Occupation	Noise	Contact	Median pay	Typical entry education	Growth 2025-35	Projected openings a year
1	Software Developers	1.1	3.9	$135,980	Bachelor's degree	+10.2%	95,300
2	Family Medicine Physicians	1.2	5.0	$244,180	Doctoral or professional degree	+3.3%	2,900
3	Chiropractors	1.2	4.7	$79,200	Doctoral or professional degree	+8.7%	2,600
4	Ophthalmic Medical Technicians	1.2	4.9	$45,570	Postsecondary nondegree award	+21.4%	11,800
5	Manicurists and Pedicurists	1.3	4.5	$35,760	Postsecondary nondegree award	+9.2%	21,900
6	Personal Financial Advisors	1.3	3.9	$105,070	Bachelor's degree	+1.4%	17,100
7	Food Preparation Workers	1.4	4.2	$35,320	No formal educational credential	-3.0%	135,700
8	Directors, Religious Activities and Education	1.4	4.1	$52,100	Bachelor's degree	+3.3%	13,000
9	Respiratory Therapists	1.4	4.0	$82,280	Associate's degree	+8.5%	8,600
10	Fundraising Managers	1.4	5.0	$125,470	Bachelor's degree	+5.4%	3,700
11	Computer User Support Specialists	1.4	4.4	$61,860	Some college, no degree	-3.5%	39,700
12	Obstetricians and Gynecologists	1.4	5.0	$292,910	Doctoral or professional degree	+1.7%	500
13	Philosophy and Religion Teachers, Postsecondary	1.5	4.3	$80,260	Doctoral or professional degree	+2.0%	1,800
14	Skincare Specialists	1.5	5.0	$45,330	Postsecondary nondegree award	+8.8%	14,200
15	Astronomers	1.5	3.6	$128,820	Doctoral or professional degree	+7.8%	100
16	Optometrists	1.5	4.8	$136,570	Doctoral or professional degree	+9.5%	2,000
17	Law Teachers, Postsecondary	1.5	3.6	$128,500	Doctoral or professional degree	+2.6%	1,800
18	Shampooers	1.5	4.9	$32,600	No formal educational credential	+5.6%	2,200
19	Audiologists	1.6	4.7	$95,780	Doctoral or professional degree	+11.0%	600
20	Web and Digital Interface Designers	1.6	4.2	$104,000	Bachelor's degree	+6.0%	8,300
21	Funeral Attendants	1.6	4.2	$35,680	High school diploma or equivalent	+2.6%	5,400
22	Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary	1.6	4.1	$98,070	Doctoral or professional degree	+2.5%	1,500
23	Graphic Designers	1.6	4.3	$62,960	Bachelor's degree	-1.7%	16,000
24	Paralegals and Legal Assistants	1.6	4.5	$62,890	Associate's degree	-0.3%	40,800
25	First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers	1.6	4.6	$44,080	High school diploma or equivalent	+5.4%	171,500
26	Operations Research Analysts	1.6	3.6	$88,940	Bachelor's degree	+11.9%	7,500
27	Industrial-Organizational Psychologists	1.6	4.2	$193,950	Master's degree	+6.5%	300
28	Historians	1.6	4.0	$76,750	Master's degree	+3.0%	300
29	Economics Teachers, Postsecondary	1.6	4.2	$123,920	Doctoral or professional degree	+2.4%	1,000
30	Physical Scientists, All Other	1.6	3.6	$122,570	Bachelor's degree	+2.1%	1,400
31	Actuaries	1.6	3.6	$130,000	Bachelor's degree	+9.2%	1,500
32	Survey Researchers	1.6	3.9	$69,460	Master's degree	-4.8%	600
33	Radiologists	1.7	4.0	$420,860	Doctoral or professional degree	+3.4%	700
34	Acupuncturists	1.7	4.6	$76,040	Master's degree	+8.6%	800
35	Writers and Authors	1.7	3.1	$76,910	Bachelor's degree	-0.3%	11,900
36	English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary	1.7	4.4	$78,760	Doctoral or professional degree	0.0%	4,500
37	Data Scientists	1.7	3.5	$120,230	Bachelor's degree	+34.6%	24,800
38	Epidemiologists	1.7	4.2	$87,220	Master's degree	+18.7%	800
39	Credit Counselors	1.7	4.4	$52,230	Bachelor's degree	+3.3%	2,000
40	Models	1.7	4.7	$48,470	No formal educational credential	-2.1%	700

What to keep in mind

The noise rating reflects how often workers find sound distracting or uncomfortable. It does not measure loudness, and a shared office can be rated quiet.
O*NET ratings are averages of worker answers on a 1 to 5 scale. Some questions ask how much (contact), some how often (face-to-face, phone, public speaking, conflict, noise) and some how important (teamwork, customers). They are shown on their own scales.
The ratings describe what the job asks of workers. They do not measure personality, and they are not medical or psychological advice.
Pay and growth are national figures. Local pay varies. We ranked 743 of the 760 occupations in the data. The other 17 are left out: 13 because O*NET flags their ratings as unreliable or publishes no respondent count, and 4 because the BLS publishes no annual median wage for them.

See every occupation in the full introvert jobs table.

Common questions

Is this a list of jobs without talking?

No. It ranks jobs by how often noise is distracting or uncomfortable. 30 of the 40 involve contact with others most of the time or more. Our list of jobs that don't require talking to people covers the other meaning of quiet.

Are these jobs only for introverts?

No. The ratings describe what the work asks of the people doing it, not anyone's personality. Introverts and extroverts can do any job on the list.

Where does the data come from?

Work ratings come from the O*NET 31.0 Database, where workers in each occupation answer questions about their job. Pay is the national median annual wage from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Growth, projected openings, entry education and training come from BLS Employment Projections 2025-35.