Want to earn more money? This chart shows how much sleep you’ll have to sacrifice

Is there anything better than a long night of sound sleep?

Not getting enough shut-eye has been shown to negatively affect everything from your happiness level to your sex life. Apparently, the amount of sleep you get can also affect the size of your paycheck—but not necessarily in a good way.

The folks at Tuck, a non-profit group that studies sleep and provides education on that glorious topic, looked into the amount of sleep you’re likely to get in various jobs and how that translates to your salary. The study looked at the sleep and work habits of 10,000 Americans, based on 2016 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ American Time Use Survey.

Getty Images | Carl Court

You’d assume that people who make a lot of money hardly sleep at all, right? Well, that stereotype proved to be true in the case of lawyers, but was not accurate when it came to doctors, scientists and coders. The latter three professions were among the best in terms of high pay and higher-than-average sleep times. On the other hand, if you’re a hair stylist, fitness trainer or bartender, that might mean you could get an average of nine hours of sleep per night—but the trade-off is that you’ll make far less money.

But the worst career path for those who like sleeping and making good money appears to be as a healthcare assistant or aide. The hard-working people in those jobs averaged less than eight hours of sleep per night (sometimes as little as 5.6) and also had one of the lowest average weekly wages of any field (about $426).

Getty Images | William Thomas Cain

So, basically, if you hate sleep but love money, be a lawyer. If you love sleep and love money, be a coder. If you love sleep but don’t care about money, be a hair stylist. And if you hate both sleep and money, be a healthcare assistant.

Check out the handy infographic below for a full look at Tuck’s findings.

Tuck

Where does your job fall on the sleep-vs.-money continuum? Would you be willing to sacrifice sleep for a higher salary?

About the Author

Clint Davis

When he's not writing or spending time with his son, Clint spends way too much time watching movies and TV shows. He talks about what he watches every month in the Stream Police Podcast. He lives in Columbus, Ohio with his wife, son and two pups. More.

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