When the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its updated 2024–2034 employment projections this spring, the headlines focused on the obvious winners: data scientists, AI specialists, and renewable energy technicians. But buried in the spreadsheets is a more useful story for workers actually making a move. The fastest growth rates are concentrated in a handful of fields, but the largest absolute job creation — and often the best wage trajectories — sit one tier down, in occupations that rarely make magazine covers.
At the top of the percentage list, wind turbine service technicians lead with a projected 60% expansion through 2034, followed closely by solar photovoltaic installers at 48%. Both roles pay between $58,000 and $72,000 with no four-year degree required, and both are concentrated in Texas, Iowa, California, and the Carolinas. Nurse practitioners round out the top three at 46% growth, with median pay above $128,000 and a critical advantage: the supply pipeline through master's-level NP programs is constrained, which means wages should keep climbing through the late 2020s.
AI and machine learning engineering is the most-talked-about category, and the BLS now tracks it separately under 'data scientist' and a new 'AI specialist' code. Growth is projected at 36% with median compensation north of $145,000 in major metros. The catch: hiring is heavily concentrated at a few dozen large employers, and the bar for entry has risen sharply as the supply of candidates with graduate-level ML coursework has caught up to demand. Generalist software engineers without specific AI experience are seeing a more competitive market than they did 18 months ago.
Healthcare dominates the volume side of the ledger. Home health and personal care aides will add roughly 820,000 net positions over the decade — more than any other single occupation. Pay remains modest, typically $32,000 to $38,000, but the absolute number of openings makes this a near-guaranteed path to employment for workers without a degree. Physical therapists, occupational therapists, and physician assistants all show double-digit growth with median pay between $95,000 and $135,000.
Skilled trades are quietly having a moment. Electricians, plumbers, HVAC technicians, and elevator installers all show growth rates between 8% and 14% — well above the 4% all-occupation average — and the demographic story behind those numbers is striking. Roughly 40% of currently employed tradespeople are over age 55, meaning retirements alone will create more openings than the BLS growth rate captures. Apprenticeship completions have not kept pace, which is pushing wages up faster than in most office occupations.
The sleepers worth watching: information security analysts (33% growth, $120,000 median), actuaries (22%, $123,000), genetic counselors (16%, $95,000), and operations research analysts (23%, $87,000). Each of these sits at the intersection of a growing problem and a constrained supply of qualified workers — the textbook setup for sustained wage growth.
For workers planning a multi-year career move, the practical takeaway is to look past the loudest trend stories. Pair a fast-growing field with a real supply constraint — licensing requirements, long training pipelines, or geographic concentration — and you have the conditions for a career that compounds, rather than one that gets crowded out as soon as the trend goes mainstream.