Even though job growth in the U.S. is slower than it was over the past decade, the economy is still expected to add about 5.2 million jobs between 2024 and 2034, according to new projections from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Overall, employment is set to rise by 3.1%.
The biggest job gains are expected in health care and social assistance, along with professional, scientific, and technical services. Those sectors are projected to grow 8.4% and 7.5%, respectively.
Within those areas, the fastest-growing types of jobs fall into two buckets: health-care support roles—like nurse practitioners and physician assistants—and computer and math-focused roles, such as data scientists and information security analysts. These groups are expected to grow 12.4% and 10.1%.
A big reason for the surge in health-care jobs is the aging U.S. population. Older adults typically need more medical care, which drives demand, explains Emily Krutsch from the BLS.
Tech-related jobs are also booming, especially because of the rapid rise of AI. Krutsch says they expect stronger job growth for people who help develop, test, and roll out these tools. On top of that, information security roles are growing quickly as companies face increasing pressure to protect data and build secure systems.
Krutsch also points out that a fast growth rate doesn’t always mean there will be tons of new jobs. For example, wind turbine technicians and solar installers are the top two fastest-growing occupations, but together they’ll add fewer than 20,000 jobs by 2034 simply because the fields are still relatively small.
Here are the fastest-growing jobs through 2034, along with how many positions each field is expected to add and what people in these roles earned in 2024:
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Wind turbine service technicians
Growth: 50%
Median pay: $62,580
Jobs added: 6,800 -
Solar photovoltaic installers
Growth: 42%
Median pay: $51,860
Jobs added: 12,000 -
Nurse practitioners
Growth: 40%
Median pay: $129,210
Jobs added: 128,400 -
Data scientists
Growth: 34%
Median pay: $112,590
Jobs added: 82,500 -
Information security analysts
Growth: 29%
Median pay: $124,910
Jobs added: 52,100 -
Medical and health services managers
Growth: 23%
Median pay: $117,960
Jobs added: 142,900 -
Physical therapist assistants
Growth: 22%
Median pay: $65,510
Jobs added: 24,500 -
Actuaries
Growth: 22%
Median pay: $125,770
Jobs added: 7,300 -
Operations research analysts
Growth: 21%
Median pay: $91,290
Jobs added: 24,100 -
Physician assistants
Growth: 20%
Median pay: $133,260
Jobs added: 33,200