Insights / Hardest-to-fill healthcare jobs / California
5 hardest-to-fill healthcare jobs in California
Four of California's top scores are 8.3, and one of them is medical assistants in a share that is not thin.
The Bay Area note said every hard search was a scarce license. Medical assistants in San Jose are not scarce.
Nurse practitioners in San Francisco score 8.5 at $219,080 against $132,300, 1.66 times the country, share 0.63.
Phlebotomists in San Francisco score 8.3 at $58,900, share 0.64.
Pharmacy technicians in San Jose score 8.3 at $75,490 against $45,750, 1.65 times the country, share 0.52.
Medical assistants in San Jose also score 8.3, at $61,940 against $45,690, 1.36 times the country, with a share of 1.07, about as common as a typical metro.
In San Jose, records specialists score 8.3 at $86,890 against $51,140, 1.70 times the country, share 0.65.
December 2025 put the California all-industry openings rate at 3.6, under a U.S. rate of 4.0.
The scores match.
The reasons do not.
Each occupation and metro
1Nurse PractitionersSan Francisco, CA
- Score
- 8.5
- Band
- Hard
- Location quotient
- 0.63
- Jobs per 1,000
- 1.311
- Metro median
- $219,080
- U.S. median
- $132,300
- Pay ratio
- 1.66
2PhlebotomistsSan Francisco, CA
- Score
- 8.3
- Band
- Hard
- Location quotient
- 0.64
- Jobs per 1,000
- 0.595
- Metro median
- $58,900
- U.S. median
- $45,230
- Pay ratio
- 1.30
3Pharmacy TechniciansSan Jose, CA
- Score
- 8.3
- Band
- Hard
- Location quotient
- 0.52
- Jobs per 1,000
- 1.565
- Metro median
- $75,490
- U.S. median
- $45,750
- Pay ratio
- 1.65
4Medical AssistantsSan Jose, CA
- Score
- 8.3
- Band
- Hard
- Location quotient
- 1.07
- Jobs per 1,000
- 5.639
- Metro median
- $61,940
- U.S. median
- $45,690
- Pay ratio
- 1.36
5Medical Records SpecialistsSan Jose, CA
- Score
- 8.3
- Band
- Hard
- Location quotient
- 0.65
- Jobs per 1,000
- 0.810
- Metro median
- $86,890
- U.S. median
- $51,140
- Pay ratio
- 1.70
Ranked table
Swipe the table sideways. The same figures are in the blocks above.
| Rank | Occupation | Metro | Score | Band | Location quotient | Jobs per 1,000 | Metro median | U.S. median | Pay ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nurse Practitioners | San Francisco, CA | 8.5 | Hard | 0.63 | 1.311 | $219,080 | $132,300 | 1.66 |
| 2 | Phlebotomists | San Francisco, CA | 8.3 | Hard | 0.64 | 0.595 | $58,900 | $45,230 | 1.30 |
| 3 | Pharmacy Technicians | San Jose, CA | 8.3 | Hard | 0.52 | 1.565 | $75,490 | $45,750 | 1.65 |
| 4 | Medical Assistants | San Jose, CA | 8.3 | Hard | 1.07 | 5.639 | $61,940 | $45,690 | 1.36 |
| 5 | Medical Records Specialists | San Jose, CA | 8.3 | Hard | 0.65 | 0.810 | $86,890 | $51,140 | 1.70 |
Takeaways
- A share above 1 means the occupation is at least as common locally as in a typical metro. San Jose medical assistants are that case.
- A share of 0.52 on pharmacy technicians is a thin bench plus a high wage. Do not brief it as the medical-assistant problem.
- The nurse-practitioner wage is not a template for a phlebotomist offer of $58,900.
- Pages under 500 workers are not scored. A blank is not a zero.
For recruiters
- For San Jose medical assistants, compete on the $61,940. Do not tell the hiring manager the bench is empty.
- Keep the nurse-practitioner number in San Francisco. It will distort every other row if it leaves that req.
FAQ
- Are these posted wages or open jobs?
- No. The table is a government survey or a designation file.
- What should a recruiter do first?
- Follow the recruiter note on this page.
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
Related hiring pages
Methodology
The five rows are the five recruiting occupations on the hiring grid whose best scored metro page in California has the highest score. A state with fewer than five scored recruiting occupations is omitted. Pages under 500 local workers are not scored and are not eligible. A metro page is scored only when OEWS employment for that occupation is at least 500. Below that, the page stays up and is left off this ranking. Postsecondary teaching occupations and medical scientists are left off even when they are scored. Nominal weights, before a missing shortage match is rescaled, are projected openings divided by 2025 employment 18%, projected growth 22%, the metro median divided by the U.S. median 40%, how common the occupation is locally compared with the country 8% (the location-quotient column; a lower figure means a thinner local bench), a matching HRSA shortage designation 8%, and statewide all-industry JOLTS for December 2025 4%. Bands are Standard under 4, Elevated from 4 up to 7, and Hard at 7 and above. The California total-nonfarm job openings rate for December 2025 is 3.6. The U.S. rate is 4.0. Both are all-industry JOLTS rates. Rounded figures in the prose: $219,080 is stated as about $219.1K. a comparison of 1.66 is stated as 66 percent. $132,300 is stated as about $132.3K. Rounded figures in the prose: $58,900 is stated as about $58.9K.
Sources
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics · May 2025
- BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, total nonfarm · December 2025
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