Economy
The 20 Fastest Growing Jobs in the Next Decade
How is the Job Market Shifting Over the Next Decade?
The employment landscape is constantly shifting. While agricultural jobs played a big role in the 19th century, a large portion of U.S. jobs today are in administration, sales, or transportation. So how can job seekers identify the fastest growing jobs of the future?
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects there will be 11.9 million new jobs created from 2020 to 2030, an overall growth rate of 7.7%. However, some jobs have a growth rate that far exceeds this level. In this graphic, we use BLS data to show the fastest growing jobs—and fastest declining jobs—and how much they each pay.
The Top 20 Fastest Growing Jobs
We used the dataset that excludes occupations with above average cyclical recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, jobs such as motion picture projectionists, ticket takers, and restaurant cooks were removed. Once these exclusions were made, the resulting list reflects long-term structural growth.
Here are the fastest growing jobs from 2020 to 2030, along with the number of jobs that will be created and the median pay for the position.
Occupation | Percent employment change, 2020–2030P | Numeric employment change, 2020-2030P | Median annual wage, 2020 |
---|---|---|---|
Wind turbine service technicians | 68.2% | 4,700 | $56,230 |
Nurse practitioners | 52.2% | 114,900 | $111,680 |
Solar photovoltaic installers | 52.1% | 6,100 | $46,470 |
Statisticians | 35.4% | 14,900 | $92,270 |
Physical therapist assistants | 35.4% | 33,200 | $59,770 |
Information security analysts | 33.3% | 47,100 | $103,590 |
Home health and personal care aides | 32.6% | 1,129,900 | $27,080 |
Medical and health services managers | 32.5% | 139,600 | $104,280 |
Data scientists and mathematical science occupations, all other | 31.4% | 19,800 | $98,230 |
Physician assistants | 31.0% | 40,100 | $115,390 |
Epidemiologists | 29.6% | 2,300 | $74,560 |
Logisticians | 29.5% | 56,400 | $76,270 |
Speech-language pathologists | 28.7% | 45,400 | $80,480 |
Animal trainers | 28.5% | 17,200 | $31,520 |
Computer numerically controlled tool programmers | 27.4% | 7,400 | $57,740 |
Genetic counselors | 26.2% | 600 | $85,700 |
Crematory operators and personal care and service workers, all other | 24.8% | 19,900 | $28,420 |
Operations research analysts | 24.6% | 25,600 | $86,200 |
Actuaries | 24.5% | 6,800 | $111,030 |
Health specialties teachers, post-secondary | 24.3% | 58,900 | $99,090 |
Wind turbine service technicians have the fastest growth rate, with solar photovoltaic (solar panel) installers taking the third slot. The rapid growth is driven by demand for renewable energy. However, because these are relatively small occupations, the two roles will account for about 11,000 new jobs collectively.
Nine of the top 20 fastest growing jobs are in healthcare or related fields, as the baby boomer population ages and chronic conditions are on the rise. Home health and personal care aides, who assist with routine healthcare tasks such as bathing and feeding, will account for over one million new jobs in the next decade. This will be almost 10% of all new jobs created between 2020 and 2030. Unfortunately, these workers are the lowest paid on the list.
Computer and math-related jobs are also expected to see high growth. The BLS expects strong demand for IT security and software development, partly because of the increase in people that are working from home.
The Top 20 Fastest Declining Jobs
Structural changes in the economy will cause some jobs to decline quite quickly. Here are the top 20 jobs where employment is expected to decline the fastest over the next decade.
Occupation | Percent employment change, 2020–2030P | Numeric employment change, 2020-2030P | Median annual wage, 2020 |
---|---|---|---|
Word processors and typists | -36.0% | -16,300 | $41,050 |
Parking enforcement workers | -35.0% | -2,800 | $42,070 |
Nuclear power reactor operators | -32.9% | -1,800 | $104,040 |
Cutters and trimmers, hand | -29.7% | -2,400 | $31,630 |
Telephone operators | -25.4% | -1,200 | $37,710 |
Watch and clock repairers | -24.9% | -700 | $45,290 |
Door-to-door sales workers, news and street vendors, and related workers | -24.1% | -13,000 | $29,730 |
Switchboard operators, including answering service | -22.7% | -13,600 | $31,430 |
Data entry keyers | -22.5% | -35,600 | $34,440 |
Shoe machine operators and tenders | -21.6% | -1,100 | $30,630 |
Legal secretaries and administrative assistants | -21.0% | -33,600 | $48,980 |
Floral designers | -20.1% | -8,500 | $29,140 |
Executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants | -18.7% | -100,600 | $63,110 |
Manufactured building and mobile home installers | -18.4% | -600 | $35,120 |
Telemarketers | -18.3% | -21,900 | $27,920 |
Order clerks | -18.2% | -24,400 | $35,590 |
Timing device assemblers and adjusters | -17.8% | -200 | $36,170 |
Print binding and finishing workers | -17.5% | -7,300 | $34,260 |
Prepress technicians and workers | -17.1% | -4,800 | $41,410 |
Tellers | -16.9% | -73,100 | $32,620 |
Eight of the top 20 declining jobs are in office and administrative support. This could be cause for concern, given this category currently makes up almost 13% of employment in the U.S.—the largest of any major category. Jobs involved in the production of goods and services, as well as sales jobs, are also seeing declines.
In all cases, automation is likely the biggest culprit. For example, software that automatically converts audio to text will reduce the need for typists.
While the fastest declining jobs typically fall within the lower salary range, there is one outlier. Nuclear power reactor operators, who earn a salary of over $100,000, will see employment decline at a steep rate of -33%. No new nuclear plants have opened since the 1990s, and nuclear power faces steep competition from renewable energy sources.
Warning: Education Required
As the composition of employment shifts, it eliminates some jobs and creates others. For instance, while production jobs are declining, new opportunities exist for “computer numerically controlled tool programmers.” These workers develop programs to control the automated equipment that processes materials.
However, while many of the fastest growing jobs are higher paying, they typically also require advanced education.
Top 20 Fastest Growing Jobs | Top 20 Fastest Declining Jobs | |
---|---|---|
# with median salary > $41,950 | 17 | 5 |
# with post-secondary education required | 16 | 0 |
Seventeen of the top 20 fastest growing jobs have a median salary higher than $41,950, which is the median salary for all jobs in total. Most also require post-secondary schooling. These opportunities are replacing jobs that only required a high school diploma.
With tuition costs soaring relative to inflation, this could create challenges for displaced workers or young people entering the workforce.
Economy
G20 Inflation Rates: Feb 2024 vs COVID Peak
We visualize inflation rates across G20 countries as of Feb 2024, in the context of their COVID-19 pandemic peak.
How Far Have Inflation Rates Fallen Across the G20?
This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
A major economic consequence that arose in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic was high inflation. In many countries, inflation rates reached double-digits, which is significantly higher than the 2-3% typically targeted by central banks.
Generally speaking, an extended period of fast rising prices is not optimal because it erodes the purchasing power of money. This makes everyday essentials like groceries, rent, and gas more expensive.
To see how inflation is currently faring, we’ve visualized annual inflation rates across G20 countries as of February 2024, in the context of their pandemic peak. This data was sourced from Trading Economics and can also be found in the table below.
Country | Inflation (%, Feb 2024) | Inflation (%, COVID peak) | Date of Peak |
---|---|---|---|
🇦🇷 Argentina | 276.0 | -- | -- |
🇹🇷 Turkey | 67.1 | 85.5 | Oct 2022 |
🇷🇺 Russia | 7.7 | 17.8 | Apr 2022 |
🇿🇦 South Africa | 5.6 | 7.8 | Jul 2022 |
🇮🇳 India | 5.1 | 7.8 | Apr 2022 |
🇧🇷 Brazil | 4.5 | 12.1 | Apr 2022 |
🇲🇽 Mexico | 4.4 | 8.7 | Sept 2022 |
🇦🇺 Australia | 4.1 | 7.8 | Dec 2022 |
🇬🇧 United Kingdom | 3.4 | 11.1 | Oct 2022 |
🇺🇸 United States | 3.2 | 9.1 | Jun 2022 |
🇰🇷 South Korea | 3.1 | 6.3 | Jul 2022 |
🇫🇷 France | 3.0 | 6.3 | Feb 2023 |
🇨🇦 Canada | 2.8 | 8.1 | Jun 2022 |
🇯🇵 Japan | 2.8 | 4.3 | Jan 2023 |
🇪🇸 Spain | 2.8 | 10.8 | Jul 2022 |
🇮🇩 Indonesia | 2.8 | 6 | Sept 2022 |
🇩🇪 Germany | 2.5 | 8.8 | Nov 2022 |
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia | 1.8 | 6.2 | Jun 2021 |
🇮🇹 Italy | 0.8 | 11.8 | Oct 2022 |
🇨🇳 China | 0.7 | 2.8 | Sept 2022 |
Notes: Spain is a permanent guest of the G20. Australia’s latest inflation rate is as of Dec 2023.
Unlike other G20 nations, Argentina’s inflation rate has only gone up since the pandemic ended. This is largely due to the country’s history of printing money to compensate for government overspending.
One area hit particularly hard is food prices. According to a local consultancy, the price of beef to consumers rose by 40% to 70% between July to August 2023.
Learn More About Inflation in 2024
If you want to see more graphics on inflation, check out this global map that visualizes inflation forecasts for every country in 2024.
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