According to CareerCast.com, a job search site that offers career advice and job ratings, Software Engineer is now ranked  third best job in the United States.

In fact this is demotion - Software Engineer had been the best job in both 2011 and 2012 but this year Actuary, which had been top in 2010 has recaptured the top spot and Biomedical Engineer, a new entrant to CareerCast's Top Ten league, takes second position.

The survey doesn’t consider simply monetary compensation, but analyzes a combination of criteria including physical demands, work environment, income, stress, and hiring outlook.  

This year's result is causing some controversy with actuaries denying that their's is a low-stress occupation and given today's health concerns having a sedentary occupation, which characterizes both actuary and software engineers, may be just as harmful to health as one that requires physical exertion.

One thing is clear from the Top 10 Best Jobs:

1. Actuary
2. Biomedical Engineer
3. Software Engineer
4. Audiologist
5. Financial Planner
6. Dental Hygienist
7. Occupational Therapist
8. Optometrist
9. Physical Therapist
10. Computer Systems Analyst

They are all STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering Mathematics) plus Medicine occupations and to get to the top of the career ladder in the majority of cases requires a STEM qualification.

While only two are specifically Computer Science including computer programming in your range of skills is going to help for at least half.