*Source: Occupational Employment Statistics Program, U.S. Department of Labor, and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
This is a continuation of our most recent post which explored the fastest growing occupations for the year 2022 as predicted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment Projections; the data referenced in this chart comes from the 2012 National Employment Matrix which displays detailed data on 2012 and 2022 projected employment changes by industry and occupation.
The graph above lists the 2012 median annual wage for the top 14 occupations with the most job growth along with the typical entry level degree that is required to enter the occupation. Entry levels of education include Less than High School (<HS) , High School (HS), Some College and No Degree, Postsecondary Non-Degree Award, Associate’s Degree, Bachelor’s Degree, Master’s Degree, and Doctoral Degree. These classifications represent the level of education most workers need to enter the field. This information helps individual’s anticipate the level of qualification’s that will be needed to enter the fastest growing professions of 2022. The median annual wage is an indicator of the potential payoff for acquiring additional education.
Why does this matter?
This information assists job seekers with discerning future employment opportunities. Professions with the largest gap between the median annual wage and the typical entry level of education signal professions with high potential opportunity. For example becoming a nurse’s assistant or a registered nurse requires a similar level of education, associate’s degree and post-secondary certification, but one has a higher median annual wage than the other so it may be more worthwhile to become a registered nurse than a nurse’s assistant. This is just one example of how this information can be utilized to make decisions around employment.