Spending too much time at work? The 10 jobs with the best work-life balance unveiled
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- Amy Swales
- Published

As much as ‘work-life balance’ has become something of a buzz phrase, it's a notion relevant to nearly all of us whether we couch it in those terms or not. It's all well and good if your job pays enough to enable the life you want, but if you rarely have the time to enjoy it, what's the point?
Now recruitment website Glassdoor has revealed the jobs that offer the best work-life balance, as rated by more than 60,000 US-based employees. While pointing out that satisfaction with work-life balance on the whole has decreased, from 3.5 out of 5 in 2009 to 3.2 this year, there are some jobs out there offering near-perfect ratios.
Data scientists appear to be the ones getting it right, rating their work-life balance as 4.2 out of 5 and receiving an average salary of $114,808 (approximately £74,280).
Web-based jobs made several appearances in the top 25, including SEO manager, social media manager and web developer, taking second, fourth and tenth spots respectively.
Substitute teachers and marketing assistants also see their jobs in the top 10, the former taking enough time out from school to take fifth place, with a rating of 3.9 and an average salary of $24,380 (approximately £15,780), and the latter coming ninth, with a rating of 3.8 and a $32,512 (£21,030) payday.
See the top 10 below, and click through to the website for the full list of 25.
1. Data scientist
Work-Life Balance Rating: 4.2
Salary: $114,808 (£74,280)
2. SEO manager
Work-Life Balance Rating: 4.1
Salary: $45,720 (£29,590)
3. Talent acquisition specialist
Work-Life Balance Rating: 4.0
Salary: $63,504 (£41,100)
4. Social media manager
Work-Life Balance Rating: 4.0
Salary: $40,000 (£25,890)
5. Substitute teacher
Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.9
Salary: $24,380 (£15,780)
6. Recruiting coordinator
Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.9
Salary: $44,700 (£28,910)
7. UX designer
Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.9
Salary: $91,440 (£59,180)
8. Digital marketing manager
Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.9
Salary: $70,052 (£45,310)
9. Marketing assistant
Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.8
Salary: $32,512 (£21,030)
10. Web developer
Work-Life Balance Rating: 3.8
Salary: $66,040 (£42,740)