Being an actuary has been ranked the 10th best job in the US out of 200 jobs, according to online recruitment site CareerCast.com.
Its latest annual Jobs Related report based the rankings on four core criteria: environment, income, outlook and stress.
Data scientists were given pole position due to a "promising employment outlook" and "lucrative opportunities".
The careers site noted that out of the top 10 professions listed, four of them were maths-intensive: data scientist, statistician (second place), mathematician (ranked number six) and actuary.
It said this equalled a "booming market for those who deal with numbers". Last year, the role of an actuary topped the list.
CareerCast explained that data science was a relatively new field. The job combines information technology, statistical analysis and other disciplines to interpret trends from data.
Within the top-10 best jobs, actuaries came fourth in terms of annual median salary ($96,700) after data scientists, mathematicians and software engineers.
For growth outlook, actuaries and information security analysts have 18% of projected employment growth by 2024, after statisticians, audiologists, diagnostic medical sonographers, mathematicians, computer systems analysts and speech therapists.
The profession of information security analyst was a new addition to the report, making third place.
"With an increasing number of data breaches and hacking attempts affecting companies and governments around the globe, there's a greater need for information security analysts to keep personal and top-secret information safe from cyber-attacks," explained the website.
By contrast, the worst job was newspaper reporter, followed by tree logger, broadcaster and disc jockey.
"Declining employment opportunities contributed to the inclusion of many of the 10 worst careers in the 2016 Jobs Rated report," said Kyle Kensing, online content editor at CareerCast.
"Traditional news media is particularly hard hit due to newspapers folding or moving to digital-only, and waning advertising revenue."
Top 10 best jobs and how they fared in 2015 in brackets, with annual median salary and growth outlook to 2024:
1. Data scientist (+5) - $128,240, 16.02%
2. Statistician (+2) - $79,990, 34%
3. Information security analyst (N/A) - $88,890, 18%
4. Audiologist (-2) - $73,060, 29%
5. Diagnostic medical sonographer (N/A) - $62,540, 24%
6. Mathematician (-3) - $103,720, 21%
7. Software engineer (+1) - $97,990, 17%
8. Computer systems analyst (+1) - $82,710, 21%
9. Speech pathologist (+2) - $71,550, 21%
10. Actuary (-9) - $96,700, 18%