We ranked the lead characters of the 31 most-watched scripted U.S. TV series of the 2024-2025 season by how difficult their professions would be to enter in real life.
From Meredith Grey, to Kate Wyler to John Dutton, each character’s job was matched to the nearest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics occupation and scored on four factors: years of training, cost of training, practitioner burnout rate, and career selectivity. The 31 shows were drawn from Nielsen’s 35-day multiplatform viewership data for the season, as reported by Variety.
- Meredith Grey (Grey’s Anatomy) is the hardest TV character to become: roughly 14 years of training, nearly $290,000 in education, and acceptance into a field that takes about 12 percent of applicants.
- Isla Gordon and Kate Wyler, a sports-team president and a U.S. ambassador, both rank above every lawyer on the list.
- Jack Reacher and Hank Voight fall mid table, while Daniel LaRusso and John Dutton rank amongst the easiest characters to become in real life.
Television remains a central part of daily life: U.S. adults watch an average of about 3.7 hours a day, according to Nielsen, or more than 1,350 hours a year. The characters on screen can also influence real-world career choices. A 2018 study on Gender in Media found that women who regularly watched The X-Files, whose lead, Dana Scully, a physician and FBI agent, were 50 percent more likely to work in a STEM field, and nearly two-thirds of the women in STEM it surveyed named her as a role model.
Findings
The 5 hardest characters to become are all medical professionals
The top of the table is dominated by medicine. Each of the five hardest characters to become is a physician whose path runs through medical school and a residency, twelve to fourteen years of training and $265,000 to $290,000 in education costs.
| Rank | Show | Character | Profession | Years of training | Training cost (USD) | Burnout rate | Acceptance / availability | Career Selectivity score (0-100) | Composite score (0-100) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grey's Anatomy | Meredith Grey | Surgeon | 14 | $290,000 | 55% | ~12% | 42.7 | 78.1 |
| 2 | Brilliant Minds | Oliver Wolf | Neurologist | 13 | $290,000 | 55% | ~10% | 46.4 | 77.6 |
| 3 | Chicago Med | Will Halstead | Emergency physician | 12 | $265,000 | 63% | ~12% | 42.7 | 74.2 |
| 4 | Watson | Dr. John Watson | Physician | 12 | $265,000 | 49% | ~40% | 18.5 | 62.4 |
| 5 | Doctor Odyssey | Max Bankman | Physician (cruise ship) | 12 | $265,000 | 49% | ~40% | 18.5 | 62.4 |
The most selective role on the list isn’t a doctor
Isla Gordon’s sports-team president on Running Point carries the highest career-selectivity score in the dataset. Fewer than 1 percent of candidates reach a comparable position, and only around 150 major-league team-president jobs exist across the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and MLS combined.
Kate Wyler’s U.S. ambassador on The Diplomat is close behind, with roughly 2 percent of Foreign Service candidates reaching appointment and about 190 U.S. ambassadorships in existence. Both rank sixth and seventh overall, above all three of television’s most-watched lawyers, who sit eighth to tenth.
Federal agents cluster just outside the top ten
Xavier Collins, Peter Sutherland, Maggie Bell, and Alden Parker (ranks 11 to 14) each face roughly a 5 percent acceptance rate into their agencies, the most competitive entry of any law-enforcement path on the list.
The teacher ranks below the FBI
Abbott Elementary’s Janine Teagues places 17th. Elementary teaching requires a degree and a license, but a documented national teacher shortage means openings outnumber qualified applicants, around 90 percent availability, which places it below the federal agents on selectivity.
The 5 easiest TV characters to become
The easiest characters to become need no formal training. Each of the bottom five carries no qualification requirement, no education debt, and open entry, scoring at or near zero on career selectivity.
| Rank | Show | Character | Profession | Years of training | Training cost (USD) | Burnout rate | Acceptance / availability | Career Selectivity score (0-100) | Composite score (0-100) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | Yellowstone | John Dutton | Rancher | 0 | $0 | 30% | Open entry | 0 | 7.1 |
| 28 | The White Lotus | Belinda Lindsey | Spa manager | 0 | $0 | 20% | Open entry | 0 | 4.8 |
| 29 | High Potential | Morgan Gillory | Janitor / cleaner | 0 | $0 | 15% | Open entry | 0 | 3.6 |
| 30 | Tracker | Colter Shaw | Private investigator | 0 | $0 | 15% | Open entry | 0 | 3.6 |
| 31 | Cobra Kai | Daniel LaRusso | Martial arts instructor | 0 | $0 | 10% | Open entry | 0 | 2.4 |
Methodology and Sources
We ranked the 31 most-watched scripted U.S. TV series of the 2024-2025 Nielsen season (35-day multiplatform viewership, via Variety) whose lead character holds a real-world profession; Squid Game was excluded because its protagonist is unemployed.
Each profession was matched to the nearest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics occupation and scored on four factors: years of training (25%), cost of training (25%), practitioner burnout rate (15%), and career selectivity (35%).
Career selectivity measures how difficult it is to secure a position after meeting baseline qualifications, using acceptance rates, appointment processes, and role availability. Availability figures for appointment-based roles are representative estimates derived from position counts and documented hiring processes.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Association of American Medical Colleges, Medscape, Gallup, Federal Bureau of Investigation, American Foreign Service Association, Variety, Nielsen, and the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media.
If you use this study, please credit and link to The Vector Impact.
The full ranking
| Rank | Show | Character | Profession | Years of training | Training cost (USD) | Burnout rate | Acceptance / availability | Career Selectivity score (0-100) | Composite score (0-100) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grey's Anatomy | Meredith Grey | Surgeon | 14 | $290,000 | 55% | ~12% | 42.7 | 78.1 |
| 2 | Brilliant Minds | Oliver Wolf | Neurologist | 13 | $290,000 | 55% | ~10% | 46.4 | 77.6 |
| 3 | Chicago Med | Will Halstead | Emergency physician | 12 | $265,000 | 63% | ~12% | 42.7 | 74.2 |
| 4 | Watson | Dr. John Watson | Physician | 12 | $265,000 | 49% | ~40% | 18.5 | 62.4 |
| 5 | Doctor Odyssey | Max Bankman | Physician (cruise ship) | 12 | $265,000 | 49% | ~40% | 18.5 | 62.4 |
| 6 | Running Point | Isla Gordon | Sports executive | 6 | $115,000 | 25% | <1% | 100 | 61.6 |
| 7 | The Diplomat | Kate Wyler | US Ambassador | 5 | $115,000 | 30% | ~2% | 74.3 | 52 |
| 8 | Elsbeth | Elsbeth Tascioni | Lawyer | 7 | $220,000 | 52% | ~45% | 16.1 | 49.5 |
| 9 | Matlock | Madeline Matlock | Lawyer | 7 | $220,000 | 52% | ~45% | 16.1 | 49.5 |
| 10 | The Lincoln Lawyer | Mickey Haller | Lawyer | 7 | $220,000 | 52% | ~45% | 16.1 | 49.5 |
| 11 | Paradise | Xavier Collins | Secret Service agent | 5 | $115,000 | 35% | ~5% | 60.4 | 48.3 |
| 12 | The Night Agent | Peter Sutherland | FBI special agent | 4.5 | $115,000 | 33% | ~5% | 60.4 | 46.9 |
| 13 | FBI | Maggie Bell | FBI special agent | 4.5 | $115,000 | 33% | ~5% | 60.4 | 46.9 |
| 14 | NCIS | Alden Parker | Federal special agent | 4.5 | $115,000 | 33% | ~5% | 60.4 | 46.9 |
| 15 | Nobody Wants This | Rabbi Noah Roklov | Clergy / rabbi | 8 | $180,000 | 40% | ~40% | 18.5 | 45.8 |
| 16 | Will Trent | Will Trent | State bureau investigator | 7 | $120,000 | 33% | ~35% | 21.2 | 38.1 |
| 17 | Abbott Elementary | Janine Teagues | Elementary school teacher | 4 | $115,000 | 52% | ~90% | 2.1 | 30.2 |
| 18 | Reacher | Jack Reacher | Military police investigator | 4 | $115,000 | 30% | ~75% | 5.8 | 26.2 |
| 19 | Landman | Tommy Norris | Petroleum landman | 4 | $115,000 | 25% | ~80% | 4.5 | 24.6 |
| 20 | Adolescence | DI Luke Bascombe | Detective | 7 | $5,000 | 33% | ~70% | 7.2 | 23.3 |
| 21 | The Residence | Cordelia Cupp | Detective | 7 | $5,000 | 33% | ~70% | 7.2 | 23.3 |
| 22 | Chicago P.D. | Hank Voight | Police detective | 7 | $5,000 | 33% | ~70% | 7.2 | 23.3 |
| 23 | 9-1-1 | Bobby Nash | Firefighter / captain | 1 | $8,000 | 30% | ~60% | 10.3 | 13.2 |
| 24 | Chicago Fire | Matt Casey | Firefighter / lieutenant | 1 | $8,000 | 30% | ~60% | 10.3 | 13.2 |
| 25 | Fire Country | Bode Leone | Firefighter | 1 | $8,000 | 30% | ~60% | 10.3 | 13.2 |
| 26 | The Rookie | John Nolan | Police officer | 0.5 | $5,000 | 33% | ~65% | 8.7 | 12.2 |
| 27 | Yellowstone | John Dutton | Rancher | 0 | $0 | 30% | Open entry | 0 | 7.1 |
| 28 | The White Lotus | Belinda Lindsey | Spa manager | 0 | $0 | 20% | Open entry | 0 | 4.8 |
| 29 | High Potential | Morgan Gillory | Janitor / cleaner | 0 | $0 | 15% | Open entry | 0 | 3.6 |
| 30 | Tracker | Colter Shaw | Private investigator | 0 | $0 | 15% | Open entry | 0 | 3.6 |
| 31 | Cobra Kai | Daniel LaRusso | Martial arts instructor | 0 | $0 | 10% | Open entry | 0 | 2.4 |
