BLS: Nurse Practitioners the Fastest-Growing Job Through 2035, Up 41%

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has a new 10-year outlook, and healthcare is set to dominate hiring. Nurse practitioners top the list, with employment expected to grow 41% over the 2025 to 2035 period, an estimated gain of about 137,800 jobs.

The headline numbers

BLS projects the U.S. economy will add 5.9 million jobs from 2025 to 2035, lifting total employment from 170.3 million to 176.2 million, a 3.5% growth rate, slower than the 10.9% pace from 2015 to 2025.

The 10 fastest-growing occupations are dominated by healthcare roles, along with several in the energy sector.

Why healthcare keeps winning

The driver is demographics. BLS wrote that because the likelihood of experiencing health complications increases with age, the aging population is expected to boost demand for a wide variety of healthcare and social services, including home health and personal care services.

That is a structural tailwind for staffing firms, hospital operators, and outpatient care providers, not a cyclical one.

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Energy and data round out the top of the list

Solar photovoltaic panel installer ranks second, expected to grow 36.5%, or about 11,300 jobs added through 2035. Data scientists rank third at 34.6% growth, adding 95,400 jobs, while wind turbine technicians are fourth at 29.5%, or 3,500 jobs.

Medical and health services manager roles are projected to grow 24.2%, with the largest nominal employment growth of 155,100 jobs added. Physical therapist assistants ranked sixth with projected growth of 23%, or 26,200 jobs, through 2035.

The trade angle

A decade of double-digit growth in nurse practitioners, health services managers, and physical therapy roles points to sustained demand for healthcare labor, staffing platforms, and the systems that employ them. On the energy side, the solar and wind installer projections align with the BLS view on power demand — the agency noted that demand for electricity is expected to grow significantly over that period, boosting demand for roles like solar panel installers.

Options market and stocks to watch

Watch for flow and positioning in names levered to these long-duration hiring trends:

• UNH — managed care giant with direct exposure to expanding outpatient and primary care demand.
• HCA — hospital operator that benefits from higher healthcare utilization tied to an aging population.
• AMN — healthcare staffing firm directly plugged into nurse and NP hiring cycles.
• ENPH — solar name tied to the installer hiring wave and electricity demand story.
• FSLR — utility-scale solar exposure aligned with the BLS energy-workforce outlook.

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