Insights / Hardest-to-fill healthcare jobs / North Carolina
5 hardest-to-fill healthcare jobs in North Carolina
Raleigh pays Dental Assistants about $58.8K, 22% above the national median.
Dental Assistants in Raleigh is the tight conversation in North Carolina. Score 7.8 is hard-band pressure, on pay of about $58.8K, 22% above the national median.
Supply is only a modifier in Raleigh, where the bench is about as many of these workers as a typical metro, the mix figure is 1.00, and jobs per 1,000 are 2.492.
Phlebotomists in Raleigh closes the North Carolina cut at 6.6, elevated band.
This North Carolina cut shows four hard-band rows.
For the hiring list, North Carolina all-industry openings were 4.0 in December 2025.
Against a U.S. rate of 4.0, North Carolina was close to for the hiring list.
Each occupation and metro
1Dental AssistantsRaleigh, NC
- Score
- 7.8
- Band
- Hard
- Location quotient
- 1.00
- Jobs per 1,000
- 2.492
- Metro median
- $58,750
- U.S. median
- $48,070
- Pay ratio
- 1.22
2Emergency Medical TechniciansRaleigh, NC
- Score
- 7.4
- Band
- Hard
- Location quotient
- 0.69
- Jobs per 1,000
- 0.806
- Metro median
- $49,160
- U.S. median
- $44,470
- Pay ratio
- 1.11
3Medical Records SpecialistsWinston-Salem, NC
- Score
- 7.3
- Band
- Hard
- Location quotient
- 1.53
- Jobs per 1,000
- 1.919
- Metro median
- $62,590
- U.S. median
- $51,140
- Pay ratio
- 1.22
4Medical AssistantsCharlotte, NC
- Score
- 7.2
- Band
- Hard
- Location quotient
- 0.85
- Jobs per 1,000
- 4.459
- Metro median
- $46,520
- U.S. median
- $45,690
- Pay ratio
- 1.02
5PhlebotomistsRaleigh, NC
- Score
- 6.6
- Band
- Elevated
- Location quotient
- 1.26
- Jobs per 1,000
- 1.164
- Metro median
- $46,280
- U.S. median
- $45,230
- Pay ratio
- 1.02
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 | Dental Assistants | Raleigh, NC | 7.8 | Hard | 1.00 | 2.492 | $58,750 | $48,070 | 1.22 |
| 2 | Emergency Medical Technicians | Raleigh, NC | 7.4 | Hard | 0.69 | 0.806 | $49,160 | $44,470 | 1.11 |
| 3 | Medical Records Specialists | Winston-Salem, NC | 7.3 | Hard | 1.53 | 1.919 | $62,590 | $51,140 | 1.22 |
| 4 | Medical Assistants | Charlotte, NC | 7.2 | Hard | 0.85 | 4.459 | $46,520 | $45,690 | 1.02 |
| 5 | Phlebotomists | Raleigh, NC | 6.6 | Elevated | 1.26 | 1.164 | $46,280 | $45,230 | 1.02 |
Takeaways
- Staff Dental Assistants in Raleigh ahead of the other North Carolina rows. The score is 7.8.
- Pay in Raleigh is about $58.8K, against a national median of about $48.1K.
- Jobs per 1,000 for Dental Assistants in Raleigh are 2.492.
- The closing North Carolina row is Phlebotomists in Raleigh, at 6.6.
For recruiters
- Staff Dental Assistants in Raleigh, NC first.
- Use the North Carolina rows under the lead as backups.
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 North Carolina 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 North Carolina total-nonfarm job openings rate for December 2025 is 4.0. The U.S. rate is 4.0. Both are all-industry JOLTS rates. Rounded figures in the prose: $58,750 is stated as about $58.8K. a comparison of 1.22 is stated as 22 percent. $48,070 is stated as about $48.1K.
Sources
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics · May 2025
- BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, total nonfarm · December 2025
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