Health care jobs you can get without a bachelor's degree
With the fastest-growing occupations found in health care, it’s a great time to break into this booming industry—and you don’t need a 4-year degree to do it.
The path to landing a job in health care isn’t actually long and strenuous. At least, it doesn’t have to be. There are numerous health care jobs you can get without a degree. In fact, more than half of health care employment in 2014 was in occupations that typically don’t require a bachelor’s degree, according to the most recent available data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
And just because these jobs don’t require an extensive education doesn’t mean you won’t be taking home a sizable paycheck. For example, an associate degree is all that’s needed to be a radiation therapist, where you would earn a yearly average salary of about $80,000. And to be a hearing aid specialist, a high school diploma or equivalent will get you about $50,000 a year.
On track to become the largest jobs sector in fewer than three years, now couldn’t be a better time to break in. Health care support occupations and health care practitioners and technical occupations projected to be the two fastest-growing occupational groups, according to BLS data.
You can find the full list of health care jobs you can get without a degree from BLS below to see if one would be a good fit for you.
Diagnostic imaging
| Job | Education | Average wage |
|---|---|---|
Associate degree |
$68,750 |
|
Associate degree |
$71,670 |
|
Associate degree |
$62,280 |
|
Associate degree |
$56,850 |
Therapy services
| Job | Education | Average wage |
|---|---|---|
Associate degree |
$85,560 |
|
Associate degree |
$59,200 |
|
Associate degree |
$61,330 |
|
Associate degree |
$58,790 |
|
Post-secondary certificate |
$42,820 |
|
High school diploma |
$29,230 |
|
High school diploma |
$27,000 |
Patient care
| Job | Education | Average wage |
|---|---|---|
Post-secondary certificate |
$48,300 |
|
Post-secondary certificate |
$47,480 |
|
Post-secondary certificate |
$35,400 |
|
Post-secondary certificate |
$34,800 |
|
Post-secondary certificate |
$29,660 |
|
High school diploma |
$28,980 |
|
None |
$24,060 |
Dental care
| Job | Education | Average wage |
|---|---|---|
Associate degree |
$76,220 |
|
Post-secondary certificate |
$40,080 |
Laboratory services
| Job | Education | Average wage |
|---|---|---|
Associate degree |
$53,120 |
|
Post-secondary certificate |
$35,510 |
Other technicians
| Job | Education | Average wage |
|---|---|---|
High school diploma |
$33,950 |
|
Post-secondary certificate |
$40,350 |
Medical devices
| Job | Education | Average wage |
|---|---|---|
High school diploma |
$53,420 |
|
High school diploma |
$37,840 |
|
High school diploma |
$37,440 |
Get hired
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