Insights / States and national healthcare benchmarks
10 fastest-growing healthcare occupations, 2025-2035
Nurse practitioners are the fast percent. Aides are the hiring volume. A growth ranking will mix those up.
A workforce plan staffed to the top percent and then could not explain why the aide reqs were the ones piling up.
Nurse practitioners are projected to grow 41.0%, from 336.3 thousand jobs to 474.1 thousand, with 29.4 thousand annual openings.
All occupations grow 3.5% over the same 2025 to 2035 window.
The percent is the outlier.
Projected growth for home health and personal care aides is 18.1%, which is not the top percent, from 4,677.1 thousand jobs, a change of 847.3 thousand, with 760.5 thousand annual openings.
Hearing aid specialists grow 19.4% with 0.9 thousand annual openings.
Percent without openings will send a recruiting plan to a tiny occupation.
Openings without percent will hide how fast nurse practitioners are expanding.
Each occupation
1Nurse practitioners
- Employment 2025 (thousands)
- 336.3
- Employment 2035 (thousands)
- 474.1
- Change (thousands)
- 137.8
- Percent change
- 41.0%
- Annual openings (thousands)
- 29.4
2Physical therapist assistants
- Employment 2025 (thousands)
- 114.1
- Employment 2035 (thousands)
- 140.4
- Change (thousands)
- 26.2
- Percent change
- 23.0%
- Annual openings (thousands)
- 18.5
3Psychiatric technicians
- Employment 2025 (thousands)
- 161.5
- Employment 2035 (thousands)
- 197.5
- Change (thousands)
- 36.0
- Percent change
- 22.3%
- Annual openings (thousands)
- 17.0
4Occupational therapy assistants
- Employment 2025 (thousands)
- 52.2
- Employment 2035 (thousands)
- 63.4
- Change (thousands)
- 11.2
- Percent change
- 21.5%
- Annual openings (thousands)
- 8.1
5Ophthalmic medical technicians
- Employment 2025 (thousands)
- 72.5
- Employment 2035 (thousands)
- 88.0
- Change (thousands)
- 15.5
- Percent change
- 21.4%
- Annual openings (thousands)
- 11.8
6Physician assistants
- Employment 2025 (thousands)
- 168.9
- Employment 2035 (thousands)
- 204.6
- Change (thousands)
- 35.7
- Percent change
- 21.1%
- Annual openings (thousands)
- 11.5
7Hearing aid specialists
- Employment 2025 (thousands)
- 11.2
- Employment 2035 (thousands)
- 13.4
- Change (thousands)
- 2.2
- Percent change
- 19.4%
- Annual openings (thousands)
- 0.9
8Home health and personal care aides
- Employment 2025 (thousands)
- 4,677.1
- Employment 2035 (thousands)
- 5,524.4
- Change (thousands)
- 847.3
- Percent change
- 18.1%
- Annual openings (thousands)
- 760.5
9Speech-language pathologists
- Employment 2025 (thousands)
- 193.4
- Employment 2035 (thousands)
- 225.5
- Change (thousands)
- 32.1
- Percent change
- 16.6%
- Annual openings (thousands)
- 12.5
10Health information technologists and medical registrars
- Employment 2025 (thousands)
- 42.0
- Employment 2035 (thousands)
- 48.6
- Change (thousands)
- 6.7
- Percent change
- 15.9%
- Annual openings (thousands)
- 3.0
Ranked table
Swipe the table sideways. The same figures are in the blocks above.
| Rank | Occupation | Employment 2025 (thousands) | Employment 2035 (thousands) | Change (thousands) | Percent change | Annual openings (thousands) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nurse practitioners | 336.3 | 474.1 | 137.8 | 41.0% | 29.4 |
| 2 | Physical therapist assistants | 114.1 | 140.4 | 26.2 | 23.0% | 18.5 |
| 3 | Psychiatric technicians | 161.5 | 197.5 | 36.0 | 22.3% | 17.0 |
| 4 | Occupational therapy assistants | 52.2 | 63.4 | 11.2 | 21.5% | 8.1 |
| 5 | Ophthalmic medical technicians | 72.5 | 88.0 | 15.5 | 21.4% | 11.8 |
| 6 | Physician assistants | 168.9 | 204.6 | 35.7 | 21.1% | 11.5 |
| 7 | Hearing aid specialists | 11.2 | 13.4 | 2.2 | 19.4% | 0.9 |
| 8 | Home health and personal care aides | 4,677.1 | 5,524.4 | 847.3 | 18.1% | 760.5 |
| 9 | Speech-language pathologists | 193.4 | 225.5 | 32.1 | 16.6% | 12.5 |
| 10 | Health information technologists and medical registrars | 42.0 | 48.6 | 6.7 | 15.9% | 3.0 |
Takeaways
- Physical therapist assistants grow 23.0%, with 18.5 thousand annual openings. Psychiatric technicians grow 22.3%, with 17.0 thousand annual openings.
- Physician assistants grow 21.1%, with 11.5 thousand annual openings. Occupational therapy assistants grow 21.5%, with 8.1 thousand annual openings.
- Growth for speech-language pathologists is 16.6%, with 12.5 thousand annual openings.
- These openings are the BLS projection, in thousands. They are not a count of jobs posted this week.
For recruiters
- If you need people this year in volume, read the aide openings before you read the nurse-practitioner percent.
- If you are building an NP pipeline, use 41.0% and do not let the aide volume talk you out of it.
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 Employment Projections, national occupational matrix, 2025-2035.
Related hiring pages
Methodology
BLS Employment Projections, national matrix, 2025-2035. Employment, change, and annual openings on the BLS page are in thousands and are printed here in thousands. The ranking is SOC major groups 29 and 31, ordered by the published percent change. Total, all occupations (SOC 00-0000) changes 3.5%, with employment of 170,280.8 thousand in 2025 and 176,198.5 thousand in 2035, and annual openings of 17,461.8 thousand. Annual openings are the BLS projection, not a count of job listings. No state projection file was available, so this article is national only. The table ranks published cells. It is not a forecast of hiring difficulty and it is not a tally of openings posted by employers. Where a state has hiring pages, the state name links to those pages. A state with no metro on the hiring grid still appears when the source file publishes the figure, and that row has no hiring link.
Sources
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