{"id":470040,"date":"2026-02-12T10:57:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T10:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/470040\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T10:57:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T10:57:10","slug":"the-top-10-fastest-growing-jobs-in-health-care-according-to-bls-data","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/470040\/","title":{"rendered":"The top 10 fastest-growing jobs in health care, according to BLS data"},"content":{"rendered":"

The health care industry continues to demonstrate strong job growth in 2026, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest jobs report<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Health care contributed<\/a> over half of the 130,000 total U.S. jobs added in January. The industry created 82,000 jobs last month, up from the 44,000 jobs it added in January 2025. <\/p>\n

America’s aging population <\/a>is a major factor in the health care industry’s growth, according to Emily Krutsch, branch chief at the Bureau of Labor Statistics. “The older population tends to need more of this type of care and services,” she told CNBC Make It in November.<\/p>\n

That trend “pressurizes” the health care system to ensure that there are enough providers to “meet that demand,” boosting job growth, according to FlexJobs career expert Toni Frana.<\/p>\n

The health care industry is also relatively unlikely to lose jobs to AI<\/a>, Frana says. In most cases, “AI actually enhances the ability<\/a> for providers and health care professionals to do their work,” she says. “These jobs are not going to be replaced by AI, and so the need and the demand continues to be there.”<\/p>\n

Based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics<\/a>, these are the top 10 fastest-growing health care jobs based on their projected growth rate from 2024 to 2034, some of which have six-figure median salaries.<\/p>\n

1. Nurse practitioners<\/p>\n

Growth rate: 40.1%<\/p>\n

2024 median pay: $129,210<\/p>\n

2. Medical and health services managers<\/p>\n

Growth rate: 23.2%<\/p>\n

2024 median pay: $117,960<\/p>\n

3. Physical therapist assistants<\/p>\n

Growth rate: 22%<\/p>\n

2024 median pay: $65,510<\/p>\n

4. Physician assistants<\/p>\n

Growth rate: 20.4%<\/p>\n

2024 median pay: $133,260<\/p>\n

5. Psychiatric technicians<\/p>\n

Growth rate: 20%<\/p>\n

2024 median pay: $42,590<\/p>\n

6. Ophthalmic medical technicians<\/p>\n

Growth rate: 19.8%<\/p>\n

2024 median pay: $44,080<\/p>\n

7. Occupational therapy assistants<\/p>\n

Growth rate: 19.2%<\/p>\n

2024 median pay: $68,340<\/p>\n

8. Hearing aid specialists<\/p>\n

Growth rate: 18.4%<\/p>\n

2024 median pay: $61,560<\/p>\n

9. Home health and personal care aides<\/p>\n

Growth rate: 17%<\/p>\n

2024 median pay: $34,900<\/p>\n

10. Substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors<\/p>\n

Growth rate: 16.8%<\/p>\n

2024 median pay: $59,190<\/p>\n

According to Frana, it’s a “definite possibility” that workers in other industries will pivot into health care<\/a> due to the field’s job growth.<\/p>\n

Many health care jobs require specialized training and certifications, so if you’ve identified a role you’re interested in, the first step is to make sure that you meet those requirements, Frana says.<\/p>\n

Having a “targeted networking strategy<\/a>” is a good way to learn more about the field, she says: “Connect with people within those companies, do some informational interviews, and again, help position yourself as somebody who can make that leap.”<\/p>\n

Her number one piece of advice for workers hoping to transition into health care is to “focus on your transferable skills<\/a>,” she says.<\/p>\n

Even if you don’t have a background in the field, Frana encourages job seekers to focus on “your career story, your career accomplishments” in order to position yourself as a competitive candidate.<\/p>\n

Want to improve your communication, confidence and success at work? Take CNBC’s new online course, Master Your Body Language To Boost Your Influence<\/a>. Register now and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 20% off. Offer valid from Feb. 9 to Feb. 23, 2026. Terms apply.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The health care industry continues to demonstrate strong job growth in 2026, according to the Bureau of Labor…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":470041,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[6594,49,48,84,392,6595,6596,6593,6599],"class_list":["post-470040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-articles","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-make-it","tag-make-it-work","tag-makeit","tag-sourcetagnamecnbc-us-source"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470040\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/470041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}