According to a recent survey, the most trustworthy workers are in the following jobs (% of respondents who say people who work in these fields are trustworthy in parentheses):
| Firefighters | (93) |
| Nurses | (87) |
| Pharmacists | (86) |
| Airline pilots | (81) |
| Doctors | (80) |
| Police officers | (69) |
| Teachers | (69) |
| Armed forces personnel | (65) |
| Daycare workers | (61) |
| Accountants | (54) |
| Judges | (52) |
At the bottom end of the scale, we have:
| Real estate agents | (28) |
| Journalists | (26) |
| Lawyers | (25) |
| Auto mechanics | (25) |
| New home builders | (23) |
| Other members of the press | (22) |
| CEOs | (21) |
| Union leaders | (19) |
| Local politicians | (12) |
| National politicians | (7) |
| Car salespeople | (7) |
It occurs to me that the professions in the first group are generally composed of people that we have little choice but to trust: we trust firefighters to show up and put out a fire because there is literally no-one else whom we can call. And unless you have a certain amount of medical training, you pretty much have to take health professionals at their word.
But in areas in which consumers are relatively well-informed and in which there is more competition for their patronage, they don’t need to trust anyone. So they don’t.
Update: My father reminds me of another reason why firefighters are at the top of this list: the very real sacrifice they make in terms of their health. Three of my uncles (his brothers) were firefighters, and they all died relatively young from causes that were no doubt exacerbated by regular smoke inhalation. Add that to the risk of dying in the course of their duties, and it’s hard to begrudge firefighters their place at the top of this list.
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
Most, but not all, of the people in the first group do things that most people would think of as positive externalities if they thought in those terms, and as such they are professions they themselves might pick if they decided their main goal was “to help other people”.
The latter group, well….
“My father reminds me of another reason why firefighters are at the top of this list: the very real sacrifice they make in terms of their health.”
Sure, but a lot of people are desperate to trade that for the psychological perks of being a firefighter. That is 1) feeling like they’ve accomplished something worthy 2) feeling heroic 3) the status and glory of being a hero. In fact, there are far more people who want to be firefighters than will ever be recruited. While I acknowledge firefighters efforts and all, if the sacrifices they make are costs they gladly accept, how much are they really sacrifices?
Lots of workers sacrifice their health and safety in the course of their work. Most of it is a lot less glamourous and a lot less recognized than firefighting. Most firefighters have willingly assumed this risk; most other workers have not.
That’s a valid point. It occurs to me that coal miners (among others) face similar risks. So maybe we’re back to my original point…