Laleh Hassibi, PayScale
Wondering where the purple squirrels are hanging out these days? Maybe they are working in one of these 30 “hot” jobs. These are the thirty hottest jobs right now as determined by a combined factor of the wage growth they have experienced in the labor market over the last 3 years and the employment projections provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
| Job | 3 Year Wage Growth | 3 Year Wage Growth Score | BLS Employment Projections 2010-2020 | BLS Growth Score | Overall Score | National Median Pay |
| Life Coach | 36% | 9.11 | 21% | 1.49 | 13.57 | $64,300 |
| Biomedical Engineer | 13% | 3.14 | 62% | 4.31 | 13.56 | $63,900 |
| Health Care Administrator | 28% | 6.99 | 22% | 1.57 | 10.95 | $64,600 |
| School Psychologist | 14% | 3.52 | 41% | 2.88 | 10.14 | $58,000 |
| Residential Care Attendant (RCA) | 8% | 2.08 | 69% | 4.85 | 10.08 | $20,900 |
| Database Analyst | 17% | 4.35 | 31% | 2.14 | 9.31 | $60,900 |
| Interaction Designer | 24% | 6.05 | 22% | 1.52 | 9.17 | $81,300 |
| General Surgeon | 21% | 5.27 | 24% | 1.71 | 9.00 | $258,000 |
| Security Architect IT | 18% | 4.43 | 28% | 1.94 | 8.61 | $116,000 |
| Community Health Advocate | 14% | 3.62 | 34% | 2.34 | 8.48 | $33,200 |
| Network Technician IT | 15% | 3.67 | 28% | 1.94 | 7.13 | $48,800 |
| Glazier | 10% | 2.40 | 42% | 2.97 | 7.11 | $37,500 |
| Sr. Pricing Analyst | 10% | 2.44 | 41% | 2.88 | 7.04 | $75,100 |
| Certified Financial Planner (CFP) | 13% | 3.13 | 32% | 2.24 | 7.03 | $70,800 |
| Wellness Coach | 17% | 4.18 | 24% | 1.68 | 7.02 | $45,600 |
| Vice President, Compliance Officer | 15% | 3.68 | 27% | 1.89 | 6.95 | $108,000 |
| Information Technology Coordinator | 18% | 4.47 | 22% | 1.52 | 6.79 | $45,300 |
| Clinical Psychologist | 9% | 2.33 | 41% | 2.88 | 6.70 | $73,000 |
| User Interface Engineer | 16% | 3.89 | 25% | 1.72 | 6.70 | $76,900 |
| Personal Trainer | 16% | 3.97 | 24% | 1.68 | 6.66 | $40,400 |
| Director of Events | 9% | 2.17 | 44% | 3.06 | 6.62 | $63,300 |
| International Logistics Coordinator | 13% | 3.20 | 29% | 2.05 | 6.55 | $43,600 |
| Logistics Supervisor | 13% | 3.33 | 27% | 1.90 | 6.33 | $54,100 |
| Compliance Analyst | 13% | 3.24 | 27% | 1.89 | 6.12 | $55,300 |
| Hospital Coder | 16% | 4.07 | 21% | 1.47 | 5.98 | $43,800 |
| Payroll Analyst | 23% | 5.83 | 15% | 1.02 | 5.95 | $50,200 |
| User-Interface Designer | 13% | 3.34 | 25% | 1.72 | 5.75 | $62,600 |
| Journeyman Plumber | 13% | 3.15 | 26% | 1.79 | 5.64 | $46,200 |
| Clinical Esthetician | 13% | 3.25 | 25% | 1.72 | 5.58 | $33,000 |
| Market Research Analyst | 7% | 1.80 | 41% | 2.88 | 5.18 | $51,500 |
Definitions:
Total Cash Compensation (TCC): TCC combines base annual salary or hourly wage, bonuses, profit sharing, tips, commissions, and other forms of cash earnings, as applicable. For example, when overtime is typical for a given job, TCC also includes overtime pay. It does not include equity (stock) compensation, cash value of retirement benefits, or value of other non-cash benefits (e.g., healthcare).
Median Pay: The median pay is the national median (50th Percentile) annual total cash compensation. Half the people doing the job earn more than the median, while half earn less.
Range in pay within a job can be very wide depending upon years of experience, scope of responsibility, number of employees, etc. For example, pay can be higher than the stated median pay if the worker has higher levels of experience and responsibility or they work at a larger company.
3-Year Wage Growth: Using a methodology similar to The PayScale Index, we calculate the change in the market price for a given job, all else equal, between Q2 2010 and Q2 2013.
3-Year Wage Growth Score: This is the 3-year wage growth for a given job divided by the average wage growth of all jobs considered, which was 4%.
BLS Employment Projections (2010-2020): These are the estimated percentage of jobs projected to be created between 2010 and 2020.
BLS Growth Score: This is the per job growth divided by the average across all jobs, which is 14.3%
Overall Score: The product of the 3-year wage growth score and the BLS growth score.
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