BLS Employment Projections 2025 to 2035: Fastest-Growing Jobs and Pay for Veterans

The latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections cover 2025 to 2035 and were released on 27 August 2026. They project total employment rising from 170.3 million to 176.2 million, a gain of 5.9 million jobs or 3.5 percent, well below the 10.9 percent growth recorded over 2015 to 2025. The fastest growth sits in healthcare, data science, information security and the skilled trades that support energy and industry. The sharpest losses sit in office and administrative support. Figures quoted elsewhere from the 2023 to 2033 or 2024 to 2034 editions are now out of date.

The headline numbers by occupational group

BLS groups occupations into major groups. The table shows the groups that matter most for a transitioning service member, with the change in jobs and the percentage growth from 2025 to 2035. The all-occupations average is 3.5 percent.

Source: BLS, The Economics Daily, 2026. The two healthcare groups together supply almost one third of all new jobs.

The fastest-growing occupations, with pay

This table lists occupations from BLS Table 1.3 that veterans can reach through service-linked training, a degree or a licence. Pay is the 2025 median annual wage. Employment change is in thousands of jobs. Several small occupations grow quickly from a low base, so read the jobs column alongside the percentage.

Source: BLS Table 1.3, fastest growing occupations.

Where the volume is: occupations adding the most jobs

Percentages mislead when the base is small. Table 1.4 ranks occupations by the number of jobs added, which shows where hiring volume sits.

Source: BLS Table 1.4, occupations with the most job growth.

Pay and growth by education level

BLS Table 5.2 groups all occupations by the typical education needed to enter them. Growth is highest where a master's degree is typical, and median pay rises with each step. The table covers every job in each category, not only entry-level posts, and BLS does not project how educational requirements will change.

Source: BLS Table 5.2. Veterans with a degree or a postsecondary award from service-linked training sit in the higher-growth, higher-paid rows. Veterans can fund a degree through GI Bill benefits, and the apprenticeship and trade pathways guide covers routes into the skilled trades.

One field, three directions

The computer and mathematical group grows 7.3 percent, but the occupations inside it point in different directions. Information security analysts grow 21.0 percent and software developers 10.2 percent. Network and computer systems administrators fall 4.1 percent and computer user support specialists fall 3.5 percent. Anyone planning an IT career from the group headline would misjudge two of those four roles. Always look up the exact occupation.

What is shrinking

Office and administrative support loses 752,100 jobs, the largest decline of any group. Among detailed occupations, word processors and typists fall 34.4 percent, data entry keyers fall 25.5 percent (33,600 jobs), telemarketers fall 21.4 percent and payroll and timekeeping clerks fall 15.9 percent (25,400 jobs). BLS links part of the office decline to automation, including AI tools. Federal government employment as an industry falls 3.4 percent. That matters to veterans because 16.2 percent of employed Gulf War-era II veterans worked for the federal government in 2025, against 2.1 percent of non-veterans (BLS, Employment Situation of Veterans, 2025).

Growth is a small part of the openings

BLS also publishes annual openings, which count growth plus workers who leave the labour force or switch occupations. For logisticians the projection is 26,600 openings a year, but only 4,500 of them come from growth. For information security analysts it is 14,100 openings a year, with 4,100 from growth. Software developers show 95,300 openings a year, 17,500 from growth. Even a slow-growth occupation therefore recruits every year to replace people who move on. The all-occupations figure is about 17.5 million openings a year. Source: BLS Table 1.10.

How to look up your own target role

1. Find the occupation title in the Occupational Outlook Handbook. Each profile shows 2025 median pay, typical entry education, 2025 employment, projected growth and the jobs added to 2035.
2. Match your military job to civilian titles with My Next Move for Veterans. Enter your service occupation code or name and the tool suggests civilian careers with similar work.
3. Compare percentage growth, jobs added and annual openings together. A role that adds 40,000 jobs at 21 percent growth and a role that adds 80,000 jobs at 4 percent growth both recruit in volume.
4. Check the typical entry education. Logisticians and information security analysts list a bachelor's degree. Electricians list a high school diploma or equivalent, and heavy truck drivers list a postsecondary non-degree award.
5. Test the role against your location, because BLS projects nationally only. State projections are available at Projections Central.

What the projections cannot tell you

• They assume no recession. BLS states that it does not project recessions and assumes a full-employment economy in the target year.
• They are not vacancy forecasts. The projections count jobs, not shortages or unfilled positions.
• Precision overstates certainty. BLS advises that the direction and relative size of changes are more reliable than exact figures. Source: BLS Employment Projections FAQ.
• Wages cover wage and salary workers. The pay figures exclude the self-employed, owners of unincorporated firms and household workers.

For the wider cross-agency picture, see how WEF, McKinsey, BLS and UK bodies compare.