How did we select the occupations featured on the tool?
On this website we aim to feature occupations that pay family-sustaining wages and are likely to grow in the long term. Wages that can sustain a family differ geographically and by people’s personal circumstances. To remove most occupations that will not pay family-sustaining wages, we set a minimum of $15.00 for median hourly wage. To remove occupations that are shrinking, or not growing, within each state or local area, we set a minimum growth rate of at least 1 percent. To identify the occupations that meet these criteria, we selected occupations that have a median hourly wage that is $15.00 or more and are likely to grow by 1 percent or more between 2020 and 2030. Because we use state-level data and, where possible, local-level data, the total number of occupations we feature on the website varies by geography.
How did we identify occupations that are promising?
We defined a promising occupation as one that pays more than $15.00 per hour, is likely to grow, requires short-term education or training, and has many job openings. To determine whether an occupation is promising, we started with all occupations with data available on projected growth rate, relative job openings, wage, and educational requirements. We classified occupations as promising if they meet the following four criteria:
- Have a median hourly wage $15.00 or more (within a state or local area)
- Are likely to grow (within a state or local area) by at least 1 percent between 2020 and 2030
- Require short-term training beyond a high school diploma or GED, but less time than a four-year college degree
- Have one opening (within a state or local area) per 3,000 jobs
To identify promising occupations at the national and state level, we used Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics and Education and Training Requirements from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and Long-Term Occupational Projections from ProjectionsCentral.org. For states with up-to-date local information, we used occupational projections and wage data obtained from their respective local labor market information agency. Because we used state-level data and, where possible, local-level data, the promising occupations we identify vary by geography and reflect the opportunities within the area.
How did we identify occupations that pay $15.00 or more?
To select occupations that pay at least $15.00 per hour, we used national-level and state-level Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics for 2022 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This information includes wage estimates for about 830 occupations. The Bureau of Labor Statistics provides hourly rate estimates for occupations that usually pay hourly rates but do not typically include 40 hours per week. However, for occupations that typically pay an annual rate but do not include 2,080 hours per year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics provides annual rates (see the Bureau’s technical notes for more information). For occupations that list an hourly rate, we used the median hourly wage, which refers to the estimated middle point, or the 50th percentile, of all wages in a specific occupation. For occupations that do not list an hourly rate, we used annual salary divided by 2,080 hours. For our local-level estimates, we used a similar approach, but we used occupational wage data that each local area’s labor market information agency provided.
Data sources used to curate this career exploration tool
We used the following data sources for the national-level and state-level occupational search:
For occupational growth rate and annual job openings, we used Long-Term Occupational Projections, obtained from U.S. Department of Labor–sponsored ProjectionsCentral.org. The underlying data on our website use the projection period 2020 through 2030.
For hourly wage, we used Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, obtained from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The underlying data on our website use occupational wages estimated for 2022.
For required level of education, on-the-job training, and work experience, we used education requirement data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
For occupational type, occupational description, and related occupations, we used data from the O*NET Online database.
This page includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
We used the following data sources for the local-level occupational search:
The Promising Occupations website only includes local information for states that provide both occupational projections and wages for local areas such as counties or regions.
- Arizona
We used data from Arizona Commerce Authority’s Employment Projections database for occupational projections and its Occupation Employment database for occupational wages. Projections reflect 2020–2030 data, and wages reflect 2021 data. Arizona reports its occupational data at the county level. Website users can search occupations within 20 counties.
- Idaho
We used data from Idaho Department of Labor’s Occupation and Industry Projections database for occupational projections and its Occupation and Employment and Wages Survey database for occupational wages. Projections reflect 2020–2030 data, and wages reflect 2021 data. Idaho reports its occupational data at the regional level. Website users can search occupations within six geographic regions.
- Iowa
We used data from Iowa Workforce Development’s Occupational Projections database for occupational projections and its Iowa Wage Report database for occupational wages. Projections reflect 2020–2030 data, and wages reflect 2021 data. Iowa reports its occupational data at the local workforce development area level. Website users can search occupations within nine local workforce development areas, which are the geographic areas that workforce development boards serve.
- Minnesota
We used data from Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development’s Employment Outlook database for occupational projections and its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics database for occupational wages. Projections reflect 2020–2030 data, and wages reflect 2022 data. Minnesota reports its occupational data at the regional level. Website users can search occupations within six regional labor markets.
- North Dakota
We used data from North Dakota’s Labor Market Information’s Employment and Wages by Occupation database for occupational projections and wages. Projections reflect 2021–2031 data, and wages reflect 2022 data. North Dakota reports its occupation data at eight planning regions, which are groupings of counties anchored around recognized regional city centers. This method enables all state agencies to report their statistics in a standardized way.
- Oregon
We used data from Oregon Employment Department’s Occupational and Wage database for occupational projections and wages. Projections reflect 2020–2030 data, and wages reflect 2022 data. Oregon’ reports its occupation data at the regional level. Website users can search occupations within 11 regional labor markets.
Defining key terms
25th percentile wage marks where 25 percent of workers earn wages at or below the given wage and 75 percent of workers earn at or more than the given wage.
75th percentile wage marks where 75 percent of workers earn wage at or below the given wage and 25 percent of workers earn at or more than the given wage.
Annual job openings refer to the average number of job openings for an occupation in a year.
Apprenticeship is a job that combines paid work experience and job-related education through on-the-job learning or classroom training to obtain a credential.
Local area varies by each state’s definition of local unit in its labor market information system. These areas can be workforce development areas, geographic regions, metropolitan areas, or counties.
Median hourly wage refers to estimated middle point (i.e., 50th percentile) of the distribution of wages in an occupation.
Occupational type refers to occupations that are in the same field of work that require similar skills.
Projected growth rate refers to the percent change in jobs in an occupation between the base year and projection year.
Promising occupation is an occupation that pays $15.00 or more per hour, is likely to grow, requires short-term training, and has many job openings.
Related occupation refers to an occupation in a similar occupation type that uses similar skills.
Relative job openings refer to the number of jobs open per each 3,000 total jobs in an occupation, within a given geographic area.
Required level of education refers to the typical education or training a person needs to enter an occupation.
Required on-the-job-training refers to the type or length of training or preparation a person typically needs after employed in an occupation to build competence in the skills that occupation requires.
Required work experience refers to the amount of work experience in a related occupation that a person typical needs to enter that occupation.