I wonder if you take that large list of occupations, map it against job satisfaction surveys, then plot it on a two axis graph. What would correlate? What jobs have the highest pay and job satisfaction? What would be the outliers?

I think that pay only shows part of the story. Enjoying what you do counts for more than the paycheck. I like my job. It's irritating some days, and worrysome others, but I have a reasonably secure niche. I work from home, use my expertise to solve critical problems, and enjoy being able to talk directly to the president of the company and influence company policy for hundreds of people.

While I know I could be paid more at other places, I enjoy my perks and am generally satisfied with most things. The income affords me all the toys and gadgets I could ever want. If I suddenly want to break away, fly across country and stay somewhere for a week then I can do so without a fuss- just bring a laptop and a fast internet connection and I can keep working while enjoying new places after the workday is done.