Insights / Hardest-to-fill healthcare jobs / Washington
5 hardest-to-fill healthcare jobs in Washington
Washington's top score is Seattle aides paid well above the country, in a share that is not thin.
The huddle heard a high score and pictured an empty aide bench in Seattle. The share does not say that.
Aides in home health and personal care score 8.6 in Seattle.
The metro median is $48,210 against $35,800 nationally, 1.35 times the country, at 26.206 jobs per 1,000.
The local share is 0.95, about as common as in a typical metro.
You are losing people to a wage they can already get nearby.
Statewide, all-industry openings in December 2025 were 2.9, under the U.S. rate of 4.0.
Washington is not a hot market for every job.
It is a hard aide search because the local aide wage already moved.
Physician assistants, at the bottom of these five, still score 7.7 in Seattle at $167,290.
Each occupation and metro
1Home Health and Personal Care AidesSeattle, WA
- Score
- 8.6
- Band
- Hard
- Location quotient
- 0.95
- Jobs per 1,000
- 26.206
- Metro median
- $48,210
- U.S. median
- $35,800
- Pay ratio
- 1.35
2Medical AssistantsSeattle, WA
- Score
- 8.3
- Band
- Hard
- Location quotient
- 0.93
- Jobs per 1,000
- 4.893
- Metro median
- $61,500
- U.S. median
- $45,690
- Pay ratio
- 1.35
3Psychiatric TechniciansSeattle, WA
- Score
- 8.0
- Band
- Hard
- Location quotient
- 0.63
- Jobs per 1,000
- 0.638
- Metro median
- $52,490
- U.S. median
- $45,130
- Pay ratio
- 1.16
4Pharmacy TechniciansSeattle, WA
- Score
- 8.0
- Band
- Hard
- Location quotient
- 0.73
- Jobs per 1,000
- 2.218
- Metro median
- $61,320
- U.S. median
- $45,750
- Pay ratio
- 1.34
5Physician AssistantsSeattle, WA
- Score
- 7.7
- Band
- Hard
- Location quotient
- 0.88
- Jobs per 1,000
- 0.920
- Metro median
- $167,290
- U.S. median
- $135,880
- Pay ratio
- 1.23
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 | Home Health and Personal Care Aides | Seattle, WA | 8.6 | Hard | 0.95 | 26.206 | $48,210 | $35,800 | 1.35 |
| 2 | Medical Assistants | Seattle, WA | 8.3 | Hard | 0.93 | 4.893 | $61,500 | $45,690 | 1.35 |
| 3 | Psychiatric Technicians | Seattle, WA | 8.0 | Hard | 0.63 | 0.638 | $52,490 | $45,130 | 1.16 |
| 4 | Pharmacy Technicians | Seattle, WA | 8.0 | Hard | 0.73 | 2.218 | $61,320 | $45,750 | 1.34 |
| 5 | Physician Assistants | Seattle, WA | 7.7 | Hard | 0.88 | 0.920 | $167,290 | $135,880 | 1.23 |
Takeaways
- Medical assistants in Seattle score 8.3 at $61,500 against $45,690 nationally, also 1.35 times the country, with a share of 0.93.
- Psychiatric technicians score 8.0 at $52,490, and their share is the thin one on this page, 0.63.
- Pharmacy technicians score 8.0 at $61,320 against $45,750 nationally, share 0.73.
- A score of 7 or higher is the top band in this file. Do not read it as a count of unfilled reqs.
For recruiters
- For Seattle aides, match $48,210 before you add a board. The bench is a normal share of local jobs.
- Treat psychiatric technicians as the thin-share search. Their problem is not the aide problem.
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 Washington 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 Washington total-nonfarm job openings rate for December 2025 is 2.9. The U.S. rate is 4.0. Both are all-industry JOLTS rates. Rounded figures in the prose: $48,210 is stated as about $48.2K. a comparison of 1.35 is stated as 35 percent. $35,800 is stated as about $35.8K. Rounded figures in the prose: $61,500 is stated as about $61.5K. $61,320 is stated as about $61.3K. a comparison of 1.34 is stated as 34 percent. $167,290 is stated as about $167.3K. a comparison of 1.23 is stated as 23 percent.
Sources
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics · May 2025
- BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, total nonfarm · December 2025
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