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Looking for high-opportunity careers? These lists and a little advice can help.

August 14, 2024

While many factors affect what a person decides to study, for many learners none is more important than economic opportunity. Will this course, major, or training program help me find high-paying work with good job security?

To answer that question, people starting a new career or learning program may wish to consider two questions:

  • Are jobs growing or shrinking in this career path?
  • How many jobs are, and will be, available in my location?

These factors can affect the financial opportunity offered by a career. Gathering information about them can influence your choice of a learning program.

Job growth trends can help predict which jobs have the most job security.

Some occupations—like nurse practitioners—are expanding; more jobs are being created every year. Other occupations, like office clerks, are shrinking. Expanding occupations may offer greater opportunity.

Fastest-growing occupations are tracked by some labor organizations. In the U.S., for instance, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) periodically updates a list of fastest-growing occupations. Its most current list makes projections for jobs that will grow the most between 2022 and 2032:

  1. Wind turbine service technicians (45% growth)
  2. Nurse practitioners (38%)
  3. Data scientists (35%)
  4. Statisticians (32%)
  5. Information security analysts (32%)

This list—and others like them—can provide valuable and easy-to-use information on future career outlooks. But they also need to be read carefully. An occupation that is growing fast is not necessarily a good opportunity—neither in general nor for a specific person’s situation.

Even if jobs grow fast, they may be scarce. More jobs can mean more opportunity. 

Some occupations employ more people than others and may have more total job openings. In other cases, total jobs may even be shrinking—or growing slowly—in an occupation, but total job openings may be growing rapidly. Occupations where job openings are growing may offer greater opportunity.

According to the BLS, the fastest-growing occupation in the U.S. is wind turbine service technicians, but jobs only number roughly 11,200 and only 5,000 more will likely be added by 2032. Despite notable growth, jobs in this occupation are notably scarce.

In contrast, jobs for nurse practitioners are growing at a lower rate (38%), but they are nearly 30 times more numerous. There are currently around 323,900 jobs for nurse practitioners in the U.S., and an estimated 123,600 will be added between 2022 and 2032. In fact, strong job growth coupled with high pay ($200,000 median) helped make nurse practitioner the “best job” in the U.S. in 2024, according to U.S. News.

Some occupations don’t make it on top job lists but are known for having job openings. Manufacturing, as an industry, may have as many as 2.4 million job openings in the U.S. alone by 2028. More people are retiring from work than joining the industry, which includes multiple occupations. Other occupations, like electricians, offer similar opportunities to job seekers.

Jobs that do not require a college degree may be more accessible for some learners.

While fast-growing jobs in high-paying fields, like many healthcare occupations, are attractive and often top best jobs lists, they can also require a long-term investment in education. For example, nurse practitioners (U.S. News’ top ) usually must earn a master’s degree and gain clinical experience as well.

Some careers require less investment in education but offer good opportunity. Many companies are also dropping college degree requirements in job descriptions and moving toward skills-based hiring (although employers appear to still favor college-degree holders in hiring). Some jobs require relatively short-term, specialized training but pay well and have good job openings. Most of these jobs are in trades and healthcare in the U.S.


Over time, jobs and occupations change, and it’s good to be aware of changes that are coming. Good jobs are growing in many occupations, and many are accessible even without a college degree. Finding the path to them is the next big step.

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