Healthcare Support Occupations
Job family · SOC major group
Healthcare Support Occupations is one of the 23 SOC major groups — the top level of the U.S. Standard Occupational Classification, the official scheme every detailed occupation rolls up to. It contains 20 occupations employing about 3,667,160 people, with a median wage of $43,930 across its occupations. BLS projects employment in this family to change +6.5% between 2024 and 2034 , with roughly 549,500 openings a year.
Occupation groups in this family
This family divides into 3 SOC minor groups — tighter clusters of related occupations. Ranked by U.S. employment.
- Other Healthcare Support Occupations · 11 occupations · $46,050
- 31-1000 · 5 occupations · $39,530
- Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapist Assistants and Aides · 4 occupations · $51,440
Occupations in this family
Ranked by U.S. employment (BLS OEWS May 2024). Projected change is BLS 2024–34; AI exposure is the OpenAI "GPTs are GPTs" human beta rating (share of an occupation's tasks where an LLM with tools could cut the time to do them by at least half).
| Occupation | Median pay | Employment | 2024–34 | AI exposure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nursing Assistants | $39,530 | 1,388,430 | +2.3% | 14% |
| Medical Assistants | $44,200 | 793,460 | +12.5% | 14% |
| Dental Assistants | $47,300 | 375,430 | +6.4% | 10% |
| Phlebotomists | $43,660 | 138,880 | +5.6% | 11% |
| Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers | $37,320 | 114,190 | +8.7% | 15% |
| Physical Therapist Assistants | $65,510 | 108,010 | +22.0% | 10% |
| Endoscopy Technicians | $46,050 | 103,650 | +3.5% | 0% |
| Healthcare Support Workers, All Other | $46,050 | 103,650 | +3.5% | 0% |
| Speech-Language Pathology Assistants | $46,050 | 103,650 | +3.5% | 0% |
| Massage Therapists | $57,950 | 96,040 | +15.4% | 19% |
| Medical Equipment Preparers | $46,490 | 72,760 | +10.0% | 4% |
| Orderlies | $37,700 | 53,020 | +3.3% | 5% |
| Occupational Therapy Assistants | $68,340 | 47,910 | +19.2% | 23% |
| Physical Therapist Aides | $34,520 | 44,010 | +2.8% | 15% |
| Medical Transcriptionists | $37,550 | 43,070 | -4.9% | 23% |
| Pharmacy Aides | $37,000 | 41,100 | -0.1% | 14% |
| Psychiatric Aides | $41,590 | 34,900 | -0.4% | 13% |
| Occupational Therapy Aides | $37,370 | 5,000 | +2.5% | 7% |
| Home Health Aides | — | — | — | 4% |
| Personal Care Aides | — | — | — | 33% |
AI exposure across this family
Two published studies estimate how exposed each occupation is to AI. The OpenAI "GPTs are GPTs" study rates the share of an occupation's tasks an LLM (with tools) could speed up by half or more; averaged across this family it is 12% — 20th percentile of the 23 families. The independent Felten/Raj/Seamans AI Occupational Exposure index averages -0.31 here.
Exposure measures where AI could assist tasks — it is not a prediction that these jobs will be automated. High exposure often means augmentation (faster work), and many high-exposure occupations are also projected to grow.
Sources for this page
Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.
- O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic
- AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans academic
Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.
Cite this page
Singulariki. "Healthcare Support Occupations." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/job-families/healthcare-support-occupations
Singulariki. (2026). Healthcare Support Occupations. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/job-families/healthcare-support-occupations
@misc{singulariki-healthcare-support-occupations,
title = {Healthcare Support Occupations},
author = {{Singulariki}},
year = {2026},
note = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans. Accessed June 7, 2026},
url = {https://singulariki.com/job-families/healthcare-support-occupations}
} Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.