41 hospital jobs ranked by share of healthcare workforce
Nearly 1 in 5 healthcare workers in the U.S. is a registered nurse, according to May 2025 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. RNs account for about 19% of the nation’s combined healthcare practitioner and healthcare support workforce — a larger share than any other single occupation.
Below are 41 hospital occupations ranked by their share of the healthcare workforce, based on BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data released May 15.
Editor’s note: Percentages reflect each occupation’s share of total combined employment in healthcare practitioner and technical occupations and healthcare support occupations (17.7 million workers nationally), per May 2025 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data. The figure in parentheses is each occupation’s total national employment across all industries. For occupations not classified by BLS as healthcare roles — including security guards, housekeeping cleaners, cooks and chaplains — hospital-specific employment was used in place of total national employment to calculate the percentage. All figures exclude self-employed workers. The list is not exhaustive.
| Occupation | Share of healthcare workforce | Total national employment |
| Registered nurses | 19.07% | 3,379,720 |
| Nursing assistants | 8.17% | 1,448,910 |
| Medical assistants | 4.61% | 817,870 |
| Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses | 3.66% | 648,410 |
| Medical and health services managers | 3.37% | 597,080 |
| Pharmacy technicians | 2.66% | 471,680 |
| Clinical laboratory technologists and technicians | 1.88% | 332,940 |
| Nurse practitioners | 1.82% | 323,040 |
| Pharmacists | 1.82% | 321,970 |
| Physical therapists | 1.51% | 267,330 |
| Radiologic technologists | 1.30% | 230,490 |
| Medical records specialists | 1.10% | 194,720 |
| Healthcare social workers | 1.06% | 187,630 |
| Emergency medical technicians | 1.02% | 180,510 |
| Occupational therapists | 0.92% | 162,450 |
| Physician assistants | 0.91% | 162,150 |
| Phlebotomists | 0.81% | 143,540 |
| Respiratory therapists | 0.79% | 139,790 |
| Surgical technologists | 0.66% | 117,460 |
| Family medicine physicians | 0.61% | 107,510 |
| Paramedics | 0.57% | 100,610 |
| Diagnostic medical sonographers | 0.51% | 90,160 |
| Maids and housekeeping cleaners | 0.46% | 80,780 |
| Dietitians and nutritionists | 0.44% | 77,570 |
| General internal medicine physicians | 0.38% | 67,150 |
| Orderlies | 0.30% | 43,940 |
| Nurse anesthetists | 0.29% | 51,840 |
| Security guards | 0.28% | 49,340 |
| Pediatricians (general) | 0.22% | 39,390 |
| Anesthesiologists | 0.22% | 38,760 |
| Health information technologists and medical registrars | 0.22% | 38,100 |
| Emergency medicine physicians | 0.19% | 32,880 |
| Cooks | 0.17% | 30,550 |
| Psychiatrists | 0.16% | 27,980 |
| OB-GYNs | 0.12% | 21,260 |
| Cardiologists | 0.10% | 17,290 |
| Nuclear medicine technologists | 0.10% | 17,080 |
| Orthopedic surgeons (except pediatric) | 0.08% | 14,100 |
| Dermatologists | 0.06% | 11,370 |
| Physicians, pathologists | 0.06% | 11,110 |
| Chaplains (classified by BLS under clergy) | 0.05% | 9,220 |
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