Educational workers are an essential part of our society. Those who go into this field must have a strong calling for teaching, administration, or developing materials and technology to help students thrive. But in today's uncertain job market, finding work can be a difficult prospect for even the most passionate educators.
In 2025, overall unemployment rates climbed to reach 4.3% in August 2025, the highest rate seen since October 2021, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The BLS also reported that the total number of job openings has decreased by 5.5% between August 2024 and August 2025, and hires are down by nearly 2%.
Within the education sector, jobs at the state and local levels also showed year-over-year reductions in August 2025, with job openings down 13% and hires down by more than 17%. The education sector also faces myriad other challenges. Many colleges and universities face financial struggles that can lead to closures or mergers, which have affected over 80 higher education institutions since March 2020. That figure may grow, as the number of high school graduates is expected to decline from 2025's peak of 3.86 million to 3.37 million by 2041.
Despite these issues, many job opportunities still exist within the field. For example, trade schools are on the rise these days. As interest in the trades has increased, so has enrollment, with 6.6% annual growth projected from 2024 to 2030, according to Validated Insights.
To find other areas of opportunity for educators, Stacker ranked the top 40 fastest-growing jobs in education, using 2024 data from the BLS Employment Projections. Occupations are ranked by percentage change in jobs between 2024 and 2034.
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1 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 1.6%
- Total employment in 2024: 510,100
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +8,400
- 2024 median annual income: $38,470
Department of Labor job description: "Teach students on a short-term basis as a temporary replacement for a regular classroom teacher, typically using the regular teacher's lesson plan."
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2 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 1.7%
- Total employment in 2024: 142,100
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +2,400
- 2024 median annual income: $64,320
Department of Labor job description: "Administer and maintain libraries or collections of information, for public or private access through reference or borrowing. Work in a variety of settings, such as educational institutions, museums, and corporations, and with various types of informational materials, such as books, periodicals, recordings, films, and databases. Tasks may include acquiring, cataloging, and circulating library materials, and user services such as locating and organizing information, providing instruction on how to access information, and setting up and operating a library's media equipment."
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3 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 1.7%
- Total employment in 2024: 20,700
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +400
- 2024 median annual income: $75,040
Department of Labor job description: "All postsecondary social sciences teachers not listed separately."
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4 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 1.7%
- Total employment in 2024: 122,800
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +2,100
- 2024 median annual income: $80,190
Department of Labor job description: "Teach courses in drama, music, and the arts including fine and applied art, such as painting and sculpture, or design and crafts. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research."
Drazen Zigic // Shutterstock
5 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 1.8%
- Total employment in 2024: 183,400
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +3,400
- 2024 median annual income: $78,490
Department of Labor job description: "All postsecondary teachers not listed separately."
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6 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 2.0%
- Total employment in 2024: 16,200
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +300
- 2024 median annual income: $71,470
Department of Labor job description: "Teach courses in criminal justice, corrections, and law enforcement administration. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research."
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
7 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 2.0%
- Total employment in 2024: 21,800
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +400
- 2024 median annual income: $94,680
Department of Labor job description: "Teach courses in political science, international affairs, and international relations. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research."
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8 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 2.0%
- Total employment in 2024: 11,600
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +200
- 2024 median annual income: $101,480
Department of Labor job description: "Teach courses in architecture and architectural design, such as architectural environmental design, interior architecture/design, and landscape architecture. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research."
Drazen Zigic // Shutterstock
9 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 2.1%
- Total employment in 2024: 74,900
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +1,600
- 2024 median annual income: $72,090
Department of Labor job description: "Teach courses pertaining to education, such as counseling, curriculum, guidance, instruction, teacher education, and teaching English as a second language. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research."
Drazen Zigic // Shutterstock
10 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 2.1%
- Total employment in 2024: 35,800
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +800
- 2024 median annual income: $77,800
Department of Labor job description: "Teach courses in communications, such as organizational communications, public relations, radio/television broadcasting, and journalism. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research."
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11 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 2.1%
- Total employment in 2024: 15,400
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +300
- 2024 median annual income: $82,540
Department of Labor job description: "Teach courses in sociology. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research."
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12 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 2.1%
- Total employment in 2024: 15,800
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +300
- 2024 median annual income: $119,980
Department of Labor job description: "Teach courses in economics. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research."
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13 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 2.2%
- Total employment in 2024: 25,400
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +600
- 2024 median annual income: $86,220
Department of Labor job description: "Teach courses pertaining to the chemical and physical properties and compositional changes of substances. Work may include providing instruction in the methods of qualitative and quantitative chemical analysis. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching, and those who do a combination of teaching and research."
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14 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 2.2%
- Total employment in 2024: 29,500
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +600
- 2024 median annual income: $126,650
Department of Labor job description: "Teach courses in law. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research."
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15 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 2.3%
- Total employment in 2024: 17,100
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +400
- 2024 median annual income: $76,210
Department of Labor job description: "Teach courses in social work. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research."
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16 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 2.3%
- Total employment in 2024: 58,900
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +1,300
- 2024 median annual income: $79,350
Department of Labor job description: "Teach courses pertaining to mathematical concepts, statistics, and actuarial science and to the application of original and standardized mathematical techniques in solving specific problems and situations. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research."
Ground Picture // Shutterstock
17 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 2.4%
- Total employment in 2024: 15,400
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +400
- 2024 median annual income: $75,890
Department of Labor job description: "Teach courses pertaining to recreation, leisure, and fitness studies, including exercise physiology and facilities management. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research."
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18 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 2.4%
- Total employment in 2024: 14,500
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +300
- 2024 median annual income: $84,290
Department of Labor job description: "Teach courses pertaining to the culture and development of an area, an ethnic group, or any other group, such as Latin American studies, women's studies, or urban affairs. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research."
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
19 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 2.5%
- Total employment in 2024: 17,100
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +400
- 2024 median annual income: $97,360
Department of Labor job description: "Teach courses pertaining to the laws of matter and energy. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research."
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20 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 2.6%
- Total employment in 2024: 14,000
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +400
- 2024 median annual income: $101,390
Department of Labor job description: "Teach courses in the physical sciences, except chemistry and physics. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching, and those who do a combination of teaching and research."
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Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
21 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 2.7%
- Total employment in 2024: 6,500
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +200
- 2024 median annual income: $95,770
Department of Labor job description: "Teach courses in anthropology or archeology. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research."
I. Noyan Yilmaz // // Shutterstock
22 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 2.9%
- Total employment in 2024: 9,000
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +300
- 2024 median annual income: $87,710
Department of Labor job description: "Teach courses in environmental science. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research."
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
23 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 3.0%
- Total employment in 2024: 5,100
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +200
- 2024 median annual income: $78,630
Department of Labor job description: "Teach courses in library science. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research."
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24 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 3.1%
- Total employment in 2024: 193,600
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +6,000
- 2024 median annual income: $44,930
Department of Labor job description: "Assist faculty or other instructional staff in postsecondary institutions by performing instructional support activities, such as developing teaching materials, leading discussion groups, preparing and giving examinations, and grading examinations or papers."
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25 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 3.3%
- Total employment in 2024: 4,000
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +100
- 2024 median annual income: $86,730
Department of Labor job description: "Teach courses in geography. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research."
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26 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 3.4%
- Total employment in 2024: 3,200
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +100
- 2024 median annual income: $77,280
Department of Labor job description: "Teach courses in childcare, family relations, finance, nutrition, and related subjects pertaining to home management. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research."
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
27 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 3.6%
- Total employment in 2024: 52,500
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +1,900
- 2024 median annual income: $80,330
Department of Labor job description: "Teach courses in psychology, such as child, clinical, and developmental psychology, and psychological counseling. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research."
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28 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 3.7%
- Total employment in 2024: 417,500
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +15,500
- 2024 median annual income: $45,590
Department of Labor job description: "Teach or instruct individuals or groups for the primary purpose of self-enrichment or recreation, rather than for an occupational objective, educational attainment, competition, or fitness."
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29 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 3.8%
- Total employment in 2024: 9,300
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +400
- 2024 median annual income: $61,570
Department of Labor job description: "Appraise, edit, and direct safekeeping of permanent records and historically valuable documents. Participate in research activities based on archival materials."
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30 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 4.0%
- Total employment in 2024: 1,600
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +100
- 2024 median annual income: $100,830
Department of Labor job description: "Teach courses in forestry and conservation science. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research."
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31 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 4.1%
- Total employment in 2024: 555,100
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +22,900
- 2024 median annual income: $37,120
Department of Labor job description: "Instruct preschool-aged students, following curricula or lesson plans, in activities designed to promote social, physical, and intellectual growth."
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32 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 4.1%
- Total employment in 2024: 10,700
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +400
- 2024 median annual income: $86,350
Department of Labor job description: "Teach courses in the agricultural sciences. Includes teachers of agronomy, dairy sciences, fisheries management, horticultural sciences, poultry sciences, range management, and agricultural soil conservation. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research."
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
33 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 5.3%
- Total employment in 2024: 44,800
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +2,400
- 2024 median annual income: $96,690
Department of Labor job description: "Teach courses in computer science. May specialize in a field of computer science, such as the design and function of computers or operations and research analysis. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research."
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34 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 5.4%
- Total employment in 2024: 15,700
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +800
- 2024 median annual income: $47,460
Department of Labor job description: "Restore, maintain, or prepare objects in museum collections for storage, research, or exhibit. May work with specimens such as fossils, skeletal parts, or botanicals; or artifacts, textiles, or art. May identify and record objects or install and arrange them in exhibits. Includes book or document conservators."
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35 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 5.7%
- Total employment in 2024: 103,100
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +5,800
- 2024 median annual income: $97,270
Department of Labor job description: "Teach courses in business administration and management, such as accounting, finance, human resources, labor and industrial relations, marketing, and operations research. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research."
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36 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 7.0%
- Total employment in 2024: 15,100
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +1,100
- 2024 median annual income: $61,770
Department of Labor job description: "Administer collections, such as artwork, collectibles, historic items, or scientific specimens of museums or other institutions. May conduct instructional, research, or public service activities of institution."
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
37 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 7.3%
- Total employment in 2024: 66,000
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +4,800
- 2024 median annual income: $83,460
Department of Labor job description: "Teach courses in biological sciences. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research."
GaudiLab // Shutterstock
38 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 8.1%
- Total employment in 2024: 50,300
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +4,100
- 2024 median annual income: $106,120
Department of Labor job description: "Teach courses pertaining to the application of physical laws and principles of engineering for the development of machines, materials, instruments, processes, and services. Includes teachers of subjects such as chemical, civil, electrical, industrial, mechanical, mineral, and petroleum engineering. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research."
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39 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 16.8%
- Total employment in 2024: 91,600
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +15,300
- 2024 median annual income: $79,940
Department of Labor job description: "Demonstrate and teach patient care in classroom and clinical units to nursing students. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research."
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
40 / 40- Projected job growth rate, 2024-34: 17.3%
- Total employment in 2024: 289,600
- Projected employment change, 2024-34: +50,100
- 2024 median annual income: $105,620
Department of Labor job description: "Teach courses in health specialties, in fields such as dentistry, laboratory technology, medicine, pharmacy, public health, therapy, and veterinary medicine."
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