There are hundreds of different kinds of jobs. BLS counts jobs by putting every worker into one of 867 detailed jobs. This comes from the Standard Occupational Classification, as of November 2026. The 867 combine into 459 broad jobs, 98 minor groups and 23 major groups. Government career websites describe hundreds of careers. BLS lists more than 800 detailed jobs, and My Next Move lists over 900. Jobs are sorted into groups of similar work. The Occupational Outlook Handbook groups similar jobs into clusters. O*NET says each career cluster holds jobs in one field that need similar skills. O*NET also groups jobs into Job Zones, from very little preparation up to extensive preparation. As of November 2026, O*NET labels some jobs Bright Outlook. They are expected to grow rapidly, to have large numbers of jobs to fill, or to be new and emerging.

As of November 2026, the Occupational Outlook Handbook has more than 300 career profiles. They cover about 4 out of 5 jobs in the economy. A profile tells what workers do, the work environment, the education needed, pay and the job outlook. Electricians put in and fix the wires and equipment that bring electricity to buildings. Firefighters put out fires and help in emergencies where people, buildings or nature are in danger. As of November 2026, the May 2025 BLS figures show the median annual pay was $63,190 for electricians and $59,280 for firefighters. It was $97,550 for registered nurses and $130,100 for veterinarians, and $275,930 for physicians and surgeons. For elementary school teachers, except special education, it was $63,970. So half of all electricians earned more than $63,190, and half earned less. The median is the middle: half of the workers earned more and half earned less.

People learn the skills for a job before they do it on their own. Some learn by working next to an expert who teaches them, which is called an apprenticeship. Electricians usually need a high school diploma, and most learn through an apprenticeship, which can last three or four years, though some start at a technical school. In a Registered Apprenticeship, the apprentice has a paid job, so the apprentice is paid while learning. The apprentice gets structured on-the-job learning from an experienced mentor and takes classroom instruction, and also earns a nationally recognized credential. The US Department of Labor or a State Apprenticeship Agency approves the program, and its length depends on the occupation, the employer and the type of program.

Other jobs need years of school. Doctors go to school for many years. After college they earn a medical degree, which takes four more years. Physicians and surgeons then need 3 to 9 years of internship and residency, and a subspecialty adds a fellowship of 1 to 3 years. Registered nurses usually take one of three education paths. These are a bachelor's degree in nursing, an associate's degree in nursing, or a diploma from an approved nursing program. Dental hygienists typically need an associate's degree in dental hygiene, and the programs usually take 3 years. Veterinarians need a special veterinary medicine degree from a college and a state license. Some jobs need a license. Most states require electricians to be licensed, and registered nurses must be licensed. Licensing rules often vary by state, so BLS does not keep information on specific requirements.

In a BLS profile, the median wage is the wage at which half of the workers in a job earned more and half earned less. So the median is a middle number for that job. BLS does not collect data on starting salaries. Its estimates cover wages and salaries only, and they leave out bonuses, employer benefit costs and self-employed people. As of November 2026, the BLS figures for 2025 show that workers 25 and over with a doctoral degree had median usual weekly earnings of $2,307 and an unemployment rate of 1.8%, while those with a high school diploma had $966 and 4.3%, and those without a diploma had $770 and 6.1%. These earnings do not count apprenticeships and other on-the-job training. So the chart leaves out a major way people learn skilled trades. In these figures, the workers with more schooling earned more and had lower unemployment rates.

As of November 2026, BLS says that from 2025 to 2035 the fastest-growing jobs by percent will be nurse practitioners (41%), solar photovoltaic installers (37%), data scientists (35%), wind turbine service technicians (30%) and medical and health services managers (24%). In these projections, much faster than the average means employment is projected to increase 7% or more between 2025 and 2035. A fast-growing job does not always add many jobs. For example, a job with 2,000 workers growing 20% adds only 400 jobs, while one with a million workers growing 5% adds 50,000. Wind turbine technicians and solar photovoltaic installers are small jobs, with about 11,800 and 31,100 jobs in 2025. Software developers, quality assurance analysts and testers will grow 10%, adding 185,400 jobs on top of 1,905,400 jobs in 2025.

As of November 2026, BLS says the US economy will add 5.9 million jobs from 2025 to 2035. Total employment would grow from 170.3 million to 176.2 million, or 3.5%, slower than the 10.9% growth of 2015 to 2025. The jobs expected to add the most new jobs are home health and personal care aides (847,300), stockers and order fillers (250,700), fast food and counter workers (223,300), registered nurses (194,700) and general and operations managers (181,300). The private healthcare and social assistance sector will add over 2.2 million jobs, about 37.0% of all new jobs. No other sector is projected to add more jobs than that one. BLS expects more healthcare jobs to come from both the aging population and the increasing prevalence of chronic health conditions, such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Registered nurses are projected to add 194,700 jobs, about 6% growth, on top of 3,465,400 jobs in 2025.

Many jobs are declining but still have openings. As of November 2026, farmers, ranchers and other agricultural managers are expected to decline 3% from 2025 to 2035, yet about 70,800 jobs a year are expected to open up. Many jobs that open up come from replacement, not growth. These jobs open when workers move to other jobs or leave the labor force, such as to retire. Little or no change is expected in kindergarten and elementary teaching jobs, yet about 99,400 jobs a year open up. Postal service workers are one example of a shrinking job, with a 1% decline expected, about 6,400 jobs, yet about 32,200 jobs a year open up from replacing workers. News analysts, reporters and journalists will decline 6%, to about 2,800 fewer jobs. About 47,100 of these jobs existed in 2025.

In the year 1900 about 41% of the US workforce was employed in agriculture, and by 1970 it was about 4%, and in 2000 it was 1.9%. That is about four in every ten workers in 1900 and fewer than two in every hundred in 2000. A study of 35,000 Census job categories found that about 60% of US jobs are in new types of work created since 1940. People can change jobs, and many people work at a lot of different jobs in their lives. Workers born from 1957 to 1964 held an average of 12.9 jobs from ages 18 to 58. They held 5.6 jobs between ages 18 and 24, then 4.5 from 25 to 34, 2.9 from 35 to 44, 2.2 from 45 to 54 and 1.3 from 55 to 58. The median number of years that wage and salary workers had been with their current employer was 4.1 years in January 2026, up from 3.9 years in January 2024.

The US government does not use unemployment insurance claims to count the unemployed. Some people are still jobless when benefits run out, and many are not eligible or never apply, so BLS uses a monthly household survey instead. Counting every unemployed person each month would mean contacting every home, as the census does every 10 years. That would cost too much money and take too much time, so a sample is surveyed instead. As of November 2026, about 60,000 eligible households are in the sample, which means approximately 110,000 people each month. BLS counts a person as employed if they did any work at all for pay or profit during the survey week. That includes part-time and temporary work as well as regular full-time work.

Words to know

• apprenticeship: learning by working
• median: middle value
• license: official permission
• occupation: kind of job
• credential: proof of skill
• residency: hospital training