Interesting (and Surprising!) Careers that Use Math

Math and number sense are part of daily life. Grocery shopping, cooking, and keeping a budget – all of these require an understanding of math and numbers, making math skills valuable to everyone. But, some people use math more often than others as a part of their career.

While most jobs require some type of math skills, specific career paths demand greater number sense and rigor. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that these types of careers are growing, predicting careers that use math will grow 27% between 2019 and 2029.

Here are some of those interesting and surprising career paths.

Data

Data-based work tops the careers that use math often. Data is all about numbers: how to calculate them, what to do with them, and what they mean. There are several data-based jobs that require mathematical skills, including these popular careers.

Data Analyst – $70,494 /year*

Analysts are the first layer of data work. Data analysts take raw data and make sense of it or analyze it. Data analysts look for patterns in data sets and determine how to work with specific data moving forward. It demands excellent number sense, including a good grasp of calculus, probability, statistics, and overall problem-solving. This is a great entry job for those looking to make data work their career.

Data Scientist – $119,344 /year*

Data scientists work closely with analysts, taking their work a step further. While analysts take raw data and organize it, data scientists take the information and use it to create data models, applying them to situations to predict outcomes. It requires some high-level mathematical analysis and rigor. If you’re looking for careers that use math, a data scientist should be top of your list.

Engineering

Another set of careers that use math are engineers. Math and numbers are at the heart of the work of all types of engineers, making them jobs that require mathematical skills. Whether it’s working on a building site, in a lab, or deep in a sophisticated server room, engineers use math daily.

Mechanical Engineer – $82,352 /year*

Most people associate engineering with mechanical engineering. Mechanical engineers help build things and understand how they work. Anything with moving parts was probably designed, tested, and perfected by a mechanical engineer. All of that designing requires problem-solving and some high math literacy. Mechanical engineers use calculus, algebra, geometry, and more every day.

Machine Learning Engineer – $141,651 /year*

Machine learning is a relatively new discipline, but it has quickly risen to be a critical part of today’s technologically advanced work. Machine learning engineers identify ways to automate processes by teaching machines how to perform them independently and slowly perfect them. Software knowledge is required, as is an understanding of statistics, calculus, and algebra.

Surprising Careers

While almost every career requires some level of math, there are a few careers that use math more than you’d expect.

Graphic designers – $49,241 /year*

Many people equate graphic design with a more artistic career and incorrectly think creative jobs don’t require much math. On the contrary, graphic designers need to think about scale, angles, and proportions in every design they create. Often, graphic designers find they need to determine the perfect ratio to create the best design, requiring mathematical calculations to get the perfect look.

Veterinarian – $107,944 /year*

Working with animals is rewarding, and it is one of those jobs that require mathematical skills. When helping your pet, veterinarians have to think about things like weight and percentage, ensuring they give proper doses of medicine and prescribe the right diet. Plus, when working with injuries, veterinarians need to consider statistics to determine the best path for care. There is more math than you think amongst those barks and purrs!

Building a Math Foundation for Your Child

In reality, careers that use math are almost all professions: 90%, according to Research.com. But, as jobs that require mathematical skills grow, parents should consider how their children learn math. Solid number sense and math comprehension keep more career paths open. Yet, the New York Times recently reported that United States math scores are in decline. In 2022, more than 40 states saw scores of fourth graders drop by almost 40%.

At Maths@Singapore, we work with your child to help them develop mathematical rigor and number sense based on the successful teaching method used by the world-leading Singapore Ministry of Education math program. Our specially trained and certified Singaporean math teachers can help prepare your child for any number of careers that use math and set them up for success in life.

Start building a math foundation for your child today. View our program and class schedule to find out more or contact us to get set up with a tutor today.

*Salary estimates from https://www.ziprecruiter.com/

Author

Christina Sng is a three-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author that finds peace in mathematics and the macabre. Her poetry, fiction, essays, and art appear in Fantastic Stories of the Imagination, Interstellar Flight Magazine, and The Washington Post. Aside from having over 20 years of experience in the field of writing, she also has an extensive background in UX design and IT. Her educational background combined with her interests and neverending curiosity about the world is the perfect recipe to have her tackle fascinating topics about math. She is able to approach the highly logical field of mathematics through an extremely creative lens that sheds new light and exposes new avenues on how it impacts our lives.