More Taxi Drivers Die on the Job Than Cops

Police officers on patrol face a mortality risk that's three times higher than the average full-time worker's risk, but more than a dozen occupations turn out to be significantly riskier, according to data from 2013 compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The deadliest job in America turns out to be logging, reports Quartz, with 91.3 fatal injuries per 100,000. Fishing is next at 75, and pilots and flight engineers come in third at 50.6.

In fact, roofers, garbage collectors, farmers, taxi drivers, bartenders, landscapers, and even groundskeepers all face higher mortality risks than police officers, which rank 18th on the list at 10.8 deaths per 100,000. (The national average across all jobs is 3.3, with nearly 5,000 civilian deaths in total across all industries.) Of the 79 total police officer deaths the bureau reports for 2013, 39 were traffic related, 36 were homicides, and four were due to exposure to harmful substances or other risks. (New Orleans just lost its first police officer in the line of duty.)