Over-earning
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that NBA stars are now more likely to take home $30 million+ pay packets than CEOs at S&P 500 companies. A recent YouGov survey, however, found that the American public doesn’t think either party is particularly deserving of the money they’re currently netting.
Indeed, pro athletes actually drew level with politicians — senators and representatives take home at least $174,000 a year in compensation — in the rankings for the most overpaid positions in the US, with a whopping 78% of respondents saying the professions are “very or somewhat overpaid”. CEOs can rest easy knowing only 76% of people think the same about them.
Poll positions
The YouGov poll asked 3,000 Americans to rank 30 professions on 3 criteria: the occupations’ impact, the perceived happiness of those working the job, and how overpaid/underpaid they think the vocation is. Interestingly, four of the top five “overpaid” positions also appeared in another unflattering tier, with lawyers, investment bankers, CEOs, and politicians all top occupations that Americans deem to have a “very or somewhat negative impact”.
On the other hand, the opposite end of the pay scale was a completely different story. Indeed, the "most underpaid" profession, farming, was ranked as the occupation with the most positive impact in society. 68% of Americans think farmers are “very or somewhat underpaid” — a matched proportion said the same of restaurant workers.
Go deeper: Explore how all 30 professions perform on the different metrics here.
