Health Care & Social Assistance

Industry Sub-Sector

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Workforce Population

21.3M

2021

Average Employee Age

42.7

2021

Estimated Job Growth

15.1%

10-Year Projection

Average Salary

$60,077

2021

Average Male Salary

$93,594

2021

Average Female Salary

$50,438

2021

About

The top three occupations in the Health Care & Social Assistance Industry Sub-Sector are registered nurses, nursing assistants, and personal care aides. On average, full-time employees in the Health Care & Social Assistance Industry Sub-Sector work 42.4 hours per week and have an average annual salary of $68,772. Part-time employees in the same industry work 22.8 hours and earn an average annual salary of $29,727.

The locations with the highest concentration of employees in the Health Care & Social Assistance Industry Sub-Sector are Rochester City PUMA, MN, Wakefield, Williamsbridge & Woodlawn PUMA, NY, and Canarsie & Flatlands PUMA, NY.

The workforce of Health Care & Social Assistance Industry Sub-Sector in 2021 was 21,261,642 people, with 77.7% woman, and 22.3% men.

In 2021, 65.5% of the workforce in the Health Care & Social Assistance Industry Sub-Sector was White (13,925,389 people), of which 78.2% were women and 21.8% men.

Photo by d.j. a.

Educational Services, Health Care & Social Assistance

Employment & Salaries

A snapshot of workforce, wages, and opportunities in the Health Care & Social Assistance Industry Sub-Sector.

The workforce in Health Care & Social Assistance Industry Sub-Sector was 21,261,642 people and is concentrated in California (2,265,191 workers). The average annual salary was $60,077, being $481 more than the national average salary, which was $59,596.

Monthly Employment

Start Year

Y-Axis

4.28%

Year-over-year growth

Employment change between February 2022 and February 2023

As of February 2023, there are 21.2M people employed in the Health Care and Social Assistance industry. This represents a 4.28% increase in employment when compared to February 2022.

This chart shows monthly employment numbers for Health Care and Social Assistance over time (non-seasonally adjusted).

Employment by Location

The states that concentrated the largest workforce in 2021 were California (2.27M), New York (1.6M), and Texas (1.58M).

This map shows the states in the United States shaded by workforce for Health Care & Social Assistance Industry Sub-Sector.

Yearly Wage Ranking

In 2021, Health Care & Social Assistance Industry Sub-Sector had an average annual wage of $60,077, $481 more than the average national salary of $59,596.

The graph shows the position of Health Care & Social Assistance Industry Sub-Sector in the ranking of industries by average annual wage.

Wage Distribution

0.479

WAGE GINI

Health Care & Social Assistance has a wage GINI of 0.479, which is more than than the national average of 0.478. In other words, wages are distributed less evenly in Health Care & Social Assistance (shown in red) in comparison to the national average for those wage buckets (shown in gray).

The graphic shows the distribution of average salaries by buckets for Health Care & Social Assistance Industry Sub-Sector workers compared to the entire workforce in the country.

Occupations

A review of jobs and wages in the Health Care & Social Assistance Industry Sub-Sector.

Registered nurses are the most common position with 2,987,365 workers, but the Health Care & Social Assistance Industry Sub-Sector employs a relatively high number of Nursing assistants and Personal care aides.

The highest average salary in Health Care & Social Assistance goes to Surgeons.

Occupations Distribution

The graph shows the distribution of employees in the Health Care & Social Assistance Industry Sub-Sector according to occupations. In 2021, the occupations that concentrated the largest number of employees in this industry were registered nurses (2,987,365 people), nursing assistants (1,334,109 people), and personal care aides (1,118,817 people)

Wage by Sex in Common Jobs

$93,594

AVERAGE MALE SALARY

±$1,356

$50,438

AVERAGE FEMALE SALARY

±$319

On average, Male workers in the Health Care & Social Assistance Industry Sub-Sector make 1.86 times more than their Female counterparts. This chart shows the sex-based wage disparity in the 5 most common occupations in the Health Care & Social Assistance Industry Sub-Sector.

Business

Estimates of the sources of the costs and the purchasers of the products in the Health Care & Social Assistance Industry Sub-Sector. Based on estimates from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, this section indicates the amount of money spent by a specific industry in other industries.

The industrial flow illustrates the intermediate inputs and the use of outputs of the Health Care & Social Assistance Industry Sub-Sector.

The Health Care & Social Assistance Industry Sub-Sector gets the most input, by its share of the cost of all intermediate inputs, from the Professional and business services Industry.

California and Texas stand out as the states with the largest number of establishments in the Health Care & Social Assistance Industry Sub-Sector.

Industrial Flow

The closest comparable data for Health Care & Social Assistance is from Educational Services, Health Care & Social Assistance.

Professional and business services has the highest single input, by dollars, to the Health Care & Social Assistance Industry Sub-Sector, and the largest industry purchasing services from the Health Care & Social Assistance Industry Sub-Sector is Educational services, health care, and social assistance.

In this flow diagram, all of the industries listed to the left are those places from which the highlighted industry has made purchases. They are the intermediate inputs to the highlighted industry. All those industries listed on the right side are those industries that have made purchases from the highlighted industry. They are the use of outputs of the highlighted industry. The visualizations below offer alternative ways to see and understand this data.

Intermediate Inputs

The closest comparable data for Health Care & Social Assistance is from Educational Services, Health Care & Social Assistance.

HIGHEST INPUT INDUSTRY

The Health Care & Social Assistance Industry Sub-Sector gets the most input, by its share of the cost of all intermediate inputs, from the Professional and business services Industry. This visualization does not include labor and capital costs.

Use of Output by Other Industries

The closest comparable data for Health Care & Social Assistance is from Educational Services, Health Care & Social Assistance.

LARGEST PURCHASING INDUSTRY

The Educational services, health care, and social assistance Industry purchases the greatest share of products and services from the Health Care & Social Assistance Industry Sub-Sector in order to produce other goods and services. Purchases of the Health Care & Social Assistance Industry Sub-Sector for final consumption by consumers, businesses, or government are not included here.

Establishments

States with more establishments in 2016

California
695,314
Texas
435,994
Florida
396,554

The charts shows the distribution of establishments in the Health Care & Social Assistance industry by states and the number of establishments according to size.

Diversity

Demographic information on the Health Care & Social Assistance Industry Sub-Sector in the US.

Of the total workforce, 77.7% corresponds to women and 22.3% men. Male employees tend to earn more than Female employees, with average respective salaries of $93,594 and $50,438.

63.3% of workers have a bachelors degree, some college or graduate degree.

Gender and Age

16,513,021

Women

77.7%

4,748,621

Men

22.3%

The workforce of Health Care & Social Assistance industry in 2021 was 21,261,642 people, with 77.7% woman, and 22.3% men.

The visualization shows the distribution of the workforce by gender and age in Health Care & Social Assistance industry.

Races

In 2021, 65.5% of the workforce in the Health Care & Social Assistance industry was White (13,925,389 people), of which 78.2% were women and 21.8% men.

Other races that concentrated a significant number of workers were Black and Asian.

Educational Levels

The main educational levels achieved by the Health Care & Social Assistance workers in 2021 were bachelors degree (5,051,184 people), some college (4,436,786 people), and graduate degree (3,962,591 people).

The chart shows the Health Care & Social Assistance workforce by gender and educational level.

Projections

Growth projections of the Health Care and Social Assistance industry, both by number of employees and output, from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. The national workforce is projected to grow 7.66% in the next ten years. The Health Care and Social Assistance industry has a higher projected workforce growth at 15.1%. Its projected 10-year growth in output (33.3%) is higher than the projected national growth in output (24.2%).

Job Growth

For growth projections, the closest comparable industry reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics is Health Care and Social Assistance.

15.1%

Estimated Job Growth

10-year Projection

7.66%

National Growth

10-year Projection

This line chart shows the projected 10-year growth in the number of jobs for Health Care and Social Assistance. This industry is expected to grow more than than 7.66%, the average rate of national job growth.