--- description: Being a part-time clown is just as sad as you think title: World’s Most Depressing Job Makes Just $2,500 a Year image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5fa0ed148f71e336/69868a4835ba6f6d0ec017b1/107189969.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Jobs](/tag/jobs/) ## Jobs Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # World's Most Depressing Job Makes Just $2,500 a Year by [Victor Luckerson](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 11, 2014 4:56 PM CUT  A young girl dressed up as a clown. A young girl dressed up as a clown.Getty Images by [Victor Luckerson](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 11, 2014 4:56 PM CUT Publicly disclosing one’s salary is still considered to be impolite in some circles, but the magazine _Parade_ has rounded up a wide range of Americans who have allowed the rest of us a window into their financial worlds. In the company’s annual salary report, pay for every occupation from NASA engineer to small-town mayor is made known. Some of the highest earners are to be expected, like the CEO of an air filter company who earns $249,500 per year and a business consultant that pulls in $114,000\. Some are less expected though. Dan Nainan, a comedian in New York, earns $328,000, according to the survey. A bridal shop owner in Rhinebeck, New York, makes $250,000. Many of the more fascinating jobs came in on the other end of the scale. A movie projector technician in St. Paul, Minnesota earns $40,000\. A knife assembler in Olean, New York makes $48,000\. And a part-time clown who goes by the name “JR Jugglges” in Topeka, Kansas makes just $2,500. The data is hardly empirical, but it is interesting to get a peek into so many different people’s lives. See the full list on [Parade’s website.](http://parade.condenast.com/210590/parade/what-people-earn-2013/#fullscreen%5Fgallery "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/59720/worlds-most-depressing-job-makes-just-2500-a-year/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/59720/worlds-most-depressing-job-makes-just-2500-a-year/"},"headline":"World's Most Depressing Job Makes Just $2,500 a Year","datePublished":"2014-04-11T16:56:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:16:18.693Z","description":"Being a part-time clown is just as sad as you think","url":"https://time.com/59720/worlds-most-depressing-job-makes-just-2500-a-year/","keywords":["Jobs","salaries"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5fa0ed148f71e336/69868a4835ba6f6d0ec017b1/107189969.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Victor Luckerson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5fa0ed148f71e336/69868a4835ba6f6d0ec017b1/107189969.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"clown","caption":"clown","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/jobs/","name":"Jobs"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/59720/worlds-most-depressing-job-makes-just-2500-a-year/","name":"World's Most Depressing Job Makes Just $2,500 a Year"}}]}] ```