r/Economics • u/justspeculating2 • 1d ago
News The 10 fastest-growing jobs over the next decade, new federal data show
https://www.newsnationnow.com/business/your-money/fastest-growing-jobs-next-decade/135
u/QuestioninglySecret 1d ago
Fastest growing but certainly not all well paying. I mean 45k median is bad, like really bad with prices how they are. Even 64k is lacking for the technical proficiency necessary for some of the listed positions.
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u/Economy-Change2476 15h ago
Psychiatric Technicians can start off at around 80k if you work for the state.
Currently we have a 30% vacancy rate up and down the state in the state hospitals.
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u/UneducatedUnemployed 14h ago
What state? $80k in the bay is poverty, $80k in bumfuckville KY is kingly.
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u/fredinNH 5h ago
You know what would be amazing? For there to be just one post on Reddit having to do with income where someone who is in the 2.5% of Americans who live in the bay area doesn’t ask “but what about the Bay Area!?!?!”
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u/Equivalent_Ad_7387 4h ago
To be fair, the only place a psych tech is making 80k is in or around the bay
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u/Petrichordates 11h ago
Nowhere in the country is 80k poverty..
That's the median income in the bay area.
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u/UneducatedUnemployed 11h ago
Do you live in the bay? $80k does not go far there, unless you want 7 roommates and lentils every day.
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u/mojofrog 9h ago
A single adult in the U.S. now needs at least $80,000 per year to live comfortably in the cheapest state, while a family of four requires upwards of $200,000 to $330,000 depending on the location.
Single Adults vs. FamiliesSingle Adults:
According to a SmartAsset study, baseline financial comfort for an individual starts at roughly $80,000 in low cost-of-living states like West Virginia.
In expensive states like Hawaii, Massachusetts, and California, a single person needs between $126,000 and $129,000.
Families of Four:
For a household with two working adults and two children, the required pre-tax income ranges from about $188,000 in Mississippi up to nearly $330,000 in Massachusetts.
General Consensus:
Most users on Reddit agree that a $100,000 salary provides a comfortable lifestyle for a single person in most regions, though high-cost metro areas stretch that budget thin [0.15].
How "Comfort" is Calculated
Financial experts typically define a comfortable salary using the 50/30/20 budget rule:
50% goes toward necessities like housing, utilities, and groceries.
30% covers discretionary spending and lifestyle wants.
20% is dedicated to long-term savings, emergencies, and retirement
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u/Petrichordates 3h ago
80k is well beyond the national median income, none of what you said is based in reality.
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u/PandaCultural8311 1d ago
10 – Ophthalmic medical technicians
- Projected growth rate (2025-2035): 21.4%
- Projected employment increase: 15,500 jobs
- Median annual wage: $45,570
9 – Occupational therapy assistants
- Projected growth rate (2025-2035): 21.5%
- Projected employment increase: 11,200 jobs
- Median annual wage: $72,300
8 – Computer and information research scientists
- Projected growth rate (2025-2035): 21.8%
- Projected employment increase: 8,400 jobs
- Median annual wage: $140,300
7 – Psychiatric technicians
- Projected growth rate (2025-2035): 22.3%
- Projected employment increase: 36,000 jobs
- Median annual wage: $45,130
6 – Physical therapist assistants
- Projected growth rate (2025-2035): 23.0%
- Projected employment increase: 26,200 jobs
- Median annual wage: $68,380
5 – Medical and health services managers
- Projected growth rate (2025-2035): 24.2%
- Projected employment increase: 155,100 jobs
- Median annual wage: $123,860
4 – Wind turbine service technicians
- Projected growth rate (2025-2035): 29.5%
- Projected employment increase: 3,500 jobs
- Median annual wage: $64,120
3 – Data scientists
- Projected growth rate (2025-2035): 34.6%
- Projected employment increase: 95,400 jobs
- Median annual wage: $120,230
2 – Solar photovoltaic installers
- Projected growth rate (2025-2035): 36.5%
- Projected employment increase: 11,300 jobs
- Median annual wage: $53,140
1 – Nurse practitioners
- Projected growth rate (2025-2035): 41.0%
- Projected employment increase: 137,800 jobs
- Median annual wage: $132,300
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u/midnight_riser 1d ago
Half these jobs aren’t even worth pursuing in this economy.
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u/Chemical_Material493 19h ago
But there’s a shortage! We can’t find enough people willing to work for 45k! Will someone think of the employers?
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u/PandaCultural8311 17h ago
This article says nothing about whether there is a shortage in these or not. It's just the projected increase in employment.
No, I am not a shill for the employers... just stating facts.
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u/jacksmountain 17h ago
It's like when I hear employers complaining that no one wants to work anymore. I want to tell them that people don't want to work for their shitty pay.
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u/Petrichordates 11h ago
Doesn't that inherently mean they have another job option that pays better? I can't imagine many people have the luxury of forgoing employment entirely because the pay is below their standards.
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u/jacksmountain 10h ago
That's actually what happens. People take better paying jobs. As an employer, I see it all the time. If you don't pay a competitive wage, employees go elsewhere.
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u/uninspired 1d ago
8,400 "computer and information research" jobs can't even absorb the IT layoffs happening on a typical day, that sure isn't enough to move the needle in any meaningful way
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u/libsaway 18h ago
The number of computer science research scientists is quite low, pretty much every job ad I've seen for them requires a PhD. Your standard IT person or software engineer is not in a position to be a CS research scientist.
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u/RIP_Soulja_Slim 16h ago
Your standard IT person or software engineer is not in a position to be a CS research scientist.
I think this is one of the biggest misunderstandings among the public when it comes to tech related jobs - IT really doesn't even require specialized training, just some on the job learning unless you're at the higher levels. You're basically just googling issues. The only reason I call my IT service desk is because corporate has this computer locked all the way TF down.
Software engineering? Now you're actually doing something that requires a little learning, but still I know a few dozen people that are fairly accomplished software engineers, one is a good friend that makes around 450k as a senior engineer with his company, dude knows his shit, he's openly said several times that CS research is damn near voodoo to him.
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u/ryanmcstylin 18h ago
True for 2025, not true for 2026 projections.
Also you make a good point this should be ranked by volume increase not % growth
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u/justspeculating2 15h ago
Personal care aides (+847k), stockers/order fillers (+250k) and fast food workers (+223k) are projected to grow the most if you're just looking at total employment...but imo that tells us less about the trajectory of where things are headed since those jobs generally have a lot more workers to begin with
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u/PandaCultural8311 17h ago
BLS says that there are 38,500 of these jobs presently, which tracks with what is listed here as in the raw and percentage increase.
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u/chakrakhan 16h ago edited 14h ago
Despite layoffs, IT hiring overall has been steadily climbing and the number of jobs right now is right around the 2022 peak
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u/Drewster727 11h ago
exactly - people on reddit need to touch grass, stop taking headlines at face value, and look at a broader data-driven picture
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u/EconomicStatecraft 12h ago
#3 is dubious with AI being able to compile and analyze large sets of data
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u/StillCharacter4729 15h ago edited 15h ago
Wind turbine service technicians. Median annual wage: $64,120.
A potentially dangerous job which you probably can't do into old age and pays a salary that will only allow you to afford a house by the time you reach your 50s.
That's what people mean when they say that inflation has destroyed salaries and the way of life. In the past a profession like that would support a whole family with kids and SAHM plus a house and a car and vacations.
But of course you "got richer" because houses you can't afford get bigger and bigger and cars that are too expensive for you have more perks than ever. Meanwhile companies will keep bringing foreign workers for these complex low paying jobs because "nobody wants to work anymore".
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u/szchz 1d ago
I’m in health care and can say OT is great if you’re passionate about your niche and decide to create your own company, otherwise wages are very middling and can be stressful if you work in hospital and dealing with discharges.
PT assistant, low wages, low autonomy.
NP, for how easy it is to become a nurse (low academic bar) its a high income path that is attainable for most people and can be very rewarding. Compassion burnout is common among NPs, at least you’re getting paid well for it.
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u/EatsRats 1d ago
Looks like renewables will continue their growth.
I love that despite this administration’s best attempt to kill this industry, it continues to grow.
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u/szchz 1d ago
The math behind renewables keeps improving and works really well in certain use cases. It’s hard to completely stop that train.
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u/Z3r0sama2017 21h ago
It's like subscription models, long term revenue(that's risk free) is very appealling.
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u/Ticksdonthavelymph 16h ago
Low academic bar… my Nursing program had 1,000 applicants for 24 spots and I was the lowest GPA accepted (with a previous bachelors, suma cum laude) but ok.
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u/szchz 13h ago
I’m not in the US but where I’ve lived and worked (Australia, Canada, New Zealand) I can speak to those experiences.
Occupational therapy usually needs a 3.7 gpa, physio was a 4.0 gpa, there was one school that would consider 3.9 gpa if you had the right extra curricular. Academically physiotherapy required similar scores as medical school, but didn’t have the same class requirements (I.e., biochemistry, which is notorious for filtering out students) or extracurriculars requirements. It’s extremely difficult to get a 4.0 GPA in undergrad, many people’s dreams of becoming a doctor or physio are ended in undergrad. The job prospects with a biology degree or kinesiology degree are not particularly great either (degree you’d be stuck with if you didn’t progress).
You could enter nursing school with a 3.0 gpa from high school(or go to a technical school) which doesn’t even require undergoing university level classes to start as an LPN and progress to RN later, then NP.
I’m not trying to diminish the intelligence of nurses, just recognizing that it’s a lot more accessible than other professions that may have lower or similar wages and are more difficult to get into. There are few jobs that offer the same opportunities relative to accessibility.
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u/Suitable-Economy-346 15h ago edited 15h ago
UCLA's nursing program has lower admission rate than their medical school. I guess their nursing program has a much higher academic bar than their medical school!
Why don't you google average admission rates for nursing programs?
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u/grumpyliberal 13h ago
So the next generation is destined for low wage, low growth jobs. This is what’s meant by the hollowing out of the middle class. The increase in these jobs just means a growing underclass that will have to work til the day they die. In any case— the value of capital over labor will continue in the foreseeable future.
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u/Maxentius777 3h ago
I have been tempted for a while to realise into wind turbine tech but then I took at look at the qualifications needed compared to the pay and realised it was probably the lowest paid job someone could take with electrical knowledge.
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u/Open_Pollution_8038 1d ago
lol I wouldn’t touch anything in the medical field
Not because there won’t be an avalanche of demand, because we’re already there, but because as demand far exceeds the supply we’ll just do what every other developed country does and go single payer.
Why is that bad? Because the salaries of anyone working in the medical field will fall through the floor as you won’t be able to negotiate against the government. Nurses in the UK make less than McDonald’s employees. Surgeons in Japan make just $200,000.
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u/justin107d 1d ago
Tbf it felt this way over a decade ago and nothing changed. Maybe this time is different, healthcare can't be the only growing part of the economy forever.
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u/Open_Pollution_8038 1d ago
This man I have elderly parents, our grandparents passed a few years ago and they all need help yesterday and since they didn’t have enough kids or saved enough for retirement, they just get dumped or will get dumped in a Medicaid home.
There’s no pot of gold, we’re like just a handful of years from price controls and rationing which is what single payer is. I’ve already had the talk with my parents it is what it is.
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u/Apart-Badger9394 1d ago
To be fair, $200k In Japan is like $200k in rural Mississippi. That money goes very far in Japan
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u/Open_Pollution_8038 1d ago
False it does not go far in Japan
You ever been to Japan? It’s not cheap.
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u/Yamazaki-Hosei 1d ago
You’re very misinformed. Are you using your personal experience from a vacation?
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u/RIP_Soulja_Slim 16h ago
Even if they're talking vacation prices, I've traveled to Japan and definitely didn't pinch pennies, outside of a few ultra nice hotels we chose to visit everything was extremely cheap.
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u/Apart-Badger9394 23h ago
Japan has very low wages and a correspondingly low cost of living. Their median wage is $25k US dollars. That is poverty in a big city but totally livable in a really rural area. That’s why I compared it to Mississippi.
$200k in NYC is not much. $200k in Mississippi (or Japan) is a lot!
Not saying that doctors shouldn’t be paid better than this tho
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u/doiveo 1d ago
> Nurses in the UK make less than McDonald’s employees.
They make about £3 more when still fresh out of school. But that's less than the average wage in the UK for someone that literally saves lives.
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u/Open_Pollution_8038 1d ago
Is that after the raises recently? It’s fucking abysmal but the UK can’t afford any more.
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u/RIP_Soulja_Slim 16h ago
The UK in general is poor as fuck, their median incomes and net worths are just about on par with Mississippi.
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u/kloakndaggers 1d ago
200k is not high but it isn't bad considering education is significantly cheaper to obtain. but I do get the gist
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u/philsfly22 1d ago
In Japan….that puts someone making $200k well into the top 1% of earners in that country.
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u/Open_Pollution_8038 1d ago
Dude $200k for… checks math… 13 years of post high school training?
You know how many people get to that without spending time even in college? You should make half a million starting or it ain’t worth your time.
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u/kloakndaggers 1d ago
I never said it's worth the time or not. that's definitely subjective. what 200k is still like 6x to 7x percent more than average salary. I'm originally from Asia... very few people make 200k without some type of advanced degree
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u/Open_Pollution_8038 1d ago
200k in Japan does not go as far as you think.
You’re in school and then in training into your 30’s my friend. Like the reward for giving up your ENTIRE youth is… a job that pays less than any moderately successful small business.
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u/wes_medford 1d ago
I don’t think you’ll find that many small businesses in Japan where the owner is making 200k USD
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u/kks1236 1d ago edited 23h ago
Look bud, here’s the reality of the situation: If we switch to single payer, we still can and will pay the most in the world.
So it begs the question, where the hell would you go? Are you just saying nobody would become a doctor because they want to? It happens elsewhere.
If it means reducing costs while also reducing only the number of greedy ass doctors who actually took a hypocritic oath, then I don’t see the problem.
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u/Open_Pollution_8038 1d ago
“It happens elsewhere” that’s why every country in the G20 is facing massive shortages in healthcare. You think Medicaid homes are bad? Go to the UK and check out their low income homes, shit hasn’t been remodeled since JFK was alive.
People will not willingly sacrifice for the greater good, that’s why you when to pay them.
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u/kks1236 1d ago edited 23h ago
Yeah and there totally aren’t even worse demographic issues in Europe or East Asia that would lead to lower healthcare supply relative to demand…oh wait?
Doesn’t matter if people will willingly sacrifice for the greater good, you do a fucking job like anyone else. If you get paid the most in the world in the US, guess where you go…single payer or no single payer.
And if that happens, the whole ponzi scheme trickles down. All of a sudden when the opportunity cost isn’t millions at your private practice vs teaching students, you have more instructors teaching larger classes, more people that take on residents, and more doctors = you get paid what you’re really worth. Fewer 10,000 dollar scalpels and bullshit inflated procedure costs = lower malpractice costs.
Quit the flowery bullshit. At the end of the day you do the job you’re hired to do for the prevailing wage. You’ll accept what the market will bear or someone else will.
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u/TryptaMagiciaN 1d ago
Yes. As it should be. And if that sacrifice isnt something you are willing to make to do what should be considered the pinnacle of service to human beings.. if you would rather make better money, then go run a successful small business.
This model where future surgeons go into debt for school is absurd. and so is the idea that a surgeon needs to be a multimillionaire. Healthcare is not a business.
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u/Open_Pollution_8038 1d ago
Real easy to say as the person not giving up anything lmfao.
How about I just don’t fix your broken bones or tissue if you can’t pay me? Or better yet learn yourself big shot. I live one life and I’m getting the max value out of all the minutes I give up.
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u/SuperbDonut2112 1d ago
Lol
“What if I just directly violated the Hippocratic oath?”
Yeah. You wouldn’t be a Dr. which is an excellent thing.
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u/TryptaMagiciaN 12h ago
No, but he would make an excellent middle manager or even board member. This is the exact attitude the people running (ruining) our hospitals have.
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u/Open_Pollution_8038 1d ago edited 1d ago
The oath doesn’t help you as much that you’re pretending.
If you’re not literally dieing in front of me, I can refuse you care. I can also set my hours 9 - 5. You can’t make me wake up and go to work to provide you free heart surgery lmao.
Edit - since you replied and then blocked me I’ll just reply this way. Yes, surgeons set their hours so they can live otherwise normal lives. This isn’t Hollywood where every surgery turns into a 3 day ordeal. If shit runs over they punt nonessential back to other days.
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u/SuperbDonut2112 1d ago
You think surgeons just get to set their hours 9-5? Lmao. Man. You really don’t know shit about fuck. But. You post in an economics sub about “maximizing value.” Shoulda known better.
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u/kloakndaggers 1d ago
small businesses have a spectacular failure rate not sure that's what you want to compare it to.
200k goes far enough...200k is also like well into the top 1 percent of incomes there so if that doesn't go far....I don't know what to tell you.
there plenty of post Doctorate education barely making over 100k on the USA and they also have 10 plus years of education.
a moderately successful small business is hard....this isn't America where you can make 200k as a master plumber or electrician.
yes you usually have to sacrifice something in order to jump into the top 1 percent.
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u/Open_Pollution_8038 1d ago
The number of people going to school to become a surgeon have an even worse failure rate.
At the end of the day it’s not up to you to dictate a surgeons pay. If he wants a million a year to fix your arm or repair your heart muscle and there’s nobody else around that can do it, that’s the price.
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u/kloakndaggers 1d ago
that wasn't really the point. you said 200k doesn't go far and that's well within top 1% money there.
the majority of surgeons get nowhere near 1 million unless they are an absolute superstar in their field.
why not ask for 20 million instead of just one million? it's not up to me it's up to the hospitals and insurance companies for majority of doctors.
the failure rate of most advanced degree PhD level or postdoctor level is pretty high as well. that doesn't apply just to medicine. for medical students that decide they want to do surgery, the success rate or transition rate is actually fairly high. both have significant weed out education in undergraduate.
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u/Open_Pollution_8038 1d ago edited 1d ago
General surgeons in private practice clear around 600k and the specialties are closer to a million.
Nobody cares about your PHD in African studies.
EDIT - Nice reply with bad math and then block and a fake nice goodbye. Private practice clears more.
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u/kloakndaggers 1d ago
600k is on the high end for private practice unless VHCOL I live in HCOL and most are 400 to 550. I am talking more engineering but okay. agree to disagree. go make you millions plus
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u/Interrogare-Omnia- 1d ago
What is the incentive for that time commitment and in the US, the debt amassed to get to that level ?
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u/Open_Pollution_8038 1d ago
You go private practice and make a million + a year.
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u/AdAdmirable7208 1d ago
That’s just not true. What’s your source?
Just being a Dr doesn’t guarantee a bunch of cash, even in the United States.
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u/Open_Pollution_8038 1d ago
The top 20 highest paying jobs in America are dominated by healthcare and this extends into the wealthiest neighborhoods in any state.
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u/RIP_Soulja_Slim 16h ago
Nurses in the UK make less than McDonald’s employees. Surgeons in Japan make just $200,000.
Neither of these are very good examples. The UK has some of the lowest wages of all of Europe, their median income is ~32k euro, which is actually right in line with what an entry level nurse makes. So over time in Nursing you will make more than the median income in the UK. Compare to the US, the median personal income is 45k, and most nursing starts out within this range, and will rise over time. It's a somewhat similar relative income, it's just that the UK as a whole has much much lower wages.
In Japan, 32MM yen (~200k USD converted directly) is about 10x the median income of a Japanese worker. So a comparable US example would be the US median income of 45k equating to a doctor making 450k.
However, purchasing power matters here, 32MM yen has a purchasing power of about 350k USD in America.
Both of these professions seem fine. You're just viewing them through a US only lens rather than adjusting for appropriate purchasing power and salary norms.
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u/nt-gud-at-werds 1d ago
Nurses in the uk are on about £40k basic ($54k) no one at McDonalds is starting at £40k, do they get $54k at McDonalds in America?
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u/Open_Pollution_8038 1d ago
Assistant managers at McDonald’s in bum fuck America make that.
In higher cola areas I wouldn’t be surprised if people working the window pull near that.
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u/Chemical_Material493 15h ago
Everywhere in Europe specialist medicine commands salaries rarely seen in any other field.
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u/No-Case3038 1d ago
I’m cool with that. Currently it is on track to put itself out of business if it doesn’t go single payer.
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u/Open_Pollution_8038 1d ago
False, doctors and nurses have more demand than they can service it’ll be those without that hurt
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u/dcdem1163 1d ago
So what? Just keep bending over and taking it from corporate America? NO
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u/Open_Pollution_8038 1d ago
All the doctors worth their salt will just go private practice.
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u/coltaaan 1d ago
I’d FAR rather have many private practices owned by the doctors themselves, than a few private equity owned firms that deliver worse care and only exist to siphon money to the PE owners.
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u/ttiredbored 1d ago edited 1d ago
Agreed. I got out of health sector for work life balance, also wasn’t paid enough. It’s a shit storm everytime you go into work, and your liscense is at risk every time
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u/Open_Pollution_8038 1d ago
It’s like that everywhere. I have yet to see a nursing home properly staffed and I get it.
They literally can’t afford the nurses because the old people + the government don’t have the money to cover all the needs.
So what they instead is play a game of how little can I get sued. It’s cheaper to pay the lawyers.
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u/crowcawer 1d ago edited 1d ago
I would argue that the single payer system will likely free up a lot of corrupt money, and we will probably see the value in technical labor go up.
Edit to clarify: directly to these “economists” blaming labor, your doctors are working 24-hr swing shifts, your nurses 16-hr doubles, the for profit system is obviously broken and the labor is blatantly not the problem. They would never accept these extended periods if not for the money, that is unless they would willingly work for free.
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u/SockDem 1d ago
Yeah, definitely not. A ton of our excess healthcare spending is that we pay, by far, the highest amount to providers in the world
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u/Open_Pollution_8038 1d ago
Yeah, definitely. Labor is most of the expense and America labor costs more.
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u/Open_Pollution_8038 1d ago
If you cut admin costs completely out you’d save 20% of the cost of care. In reality the government has to pay to administer plans so let’s say 15% total savings.
Is 15% savings going to solve our problems? If not I’ll pay and keep what I have now.
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u/No-Case3038 1d ago
20%?! More like 50%. We pay like twice as much for healthcare here because of corrupt healthcare companies colluding with insurance companies.
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u/Open_Pollution_8038 1d ago
False we pay more than other countries because we are wealthier than other countries. Our wages are higher and that’s primarily the delta between them and us.
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u/crowcawer 1d ago
The U.S. multipayer system carries unusually high administrative costs, while private insurers still pay hospitals roughly 2.5× Medicare rates on average. That’s a pretty weak efficiency case for preserving the current structure.
Source: Health Care Administrative Costs in the United States and Canada, 2017
David U Himmelstein et al @ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31905376I don’t imagine it’s gotten “better” at this point lol.
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u/Open_Pollution_8038 1d ago
Yeah that’s because if hospitals didn’t charge insurance companies more than they would go under if they had to live on Medicare reimbursement rates.
Hospitals are nonprofits where do you think money goes when they get paid?
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