The 14 deadliest jobs in America

These rates are highlighted in a data release about the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ annual Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries. The new data for 2022 came out earlier this week.

In 2022, logging workers had a fatal work injury rate of 100.7. That’s per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers and was the highest rate among occupations. Roofers followed with a rate of 57.5.

Those rates were way above the rate for all workers, which was “3.7 fatalities per 100,000 full-time equivalent” workers per a news release from BLS.

Other jobs also had a rate way above 3.7. Fishing and hunting workers had a high fatal injury rate, but it was not as high as the rate for logging workers. Aircraft pilots and flight engineers could also be dangerous; there were 35.9 fatalities per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers for this kind of work.

There were nearly 5,500 US fatal work injuries in 2022, based on the release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s more than the nearly 5,200 in 2021.

Slips, transportation, and other events contributed to workplace deaths. Among major categories, transportation incidents had the largest number of fatal injuries. Fatal injuries from this kind of incident soared from 1,982 in 2021 to 2,066 in 2022. Not too many fatal work injuries were from fires and explosions compared to the other major categories. There were 107 fatal injuries from this last year.

Below are the deadliest jobs in America based on the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries for 2022.

14. Construction laborersFatal work injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 15.6

13. First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workersFatal injury rate per 100,000 workers: 17.1

12. First-line supervisors of landscaping, lawn service, and groundskeeping workersFatal injury rate per 100,000 workers: 18.3

11. Grounds maintenance workersFatal injury rate per 100,000 workers: 19.1

10. Miscellaneous agricultural workersFatal injury rate per 100,000 workers: 17.5

9. Underground mining machine operatorsFatal injury rate per 100,000 workers: 26.7

8. Structural iron and steel workersFatal injury rate per 100,000 workers: 36.1

7. Refuse and recyclable material collectorsFatal injury rate per 100,000 workers: 27.9

6. Driver/sales workers and truck driversFatal work injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 30.4

5. Aircraft pilots and flight engineersFatal work injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 35.9

4. Construction trades helpersFatal injury rate per 100,000 workers: 22.9

3. Fishing and hunting workersFatal injury rate per 100,000 workers: 75.2

2. RoofersFatal injury rate per 100,000 workers: 59.0

1. Logging workers