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 |
$82,570 |
|
Magnetic resonance imaging technologist |
Associate degree |
$78,980 |
Associate degree |
$78,980 |
|
Associate degree |
$66,170 |
Therapy services
| Job | Education | Average wage |
|---|---|---|
Associate degree |
$101,990 |
|
Associate degree |
$66,050 |
|
Associate degree |
$80,450 |
|
Associate degree |
$60,050 |
|
Post-secondary certificate |
$57,950 |
|
High school diploma |
$66,050 |
|
High school diploma |
$60,050 |
Patient care
| Job | Education | Average wage |
|---|---|---|
Post-secondary certificate |
$62,480 |
|
Post-secondary certificate |
$62,340 |
|
Post-secondary certificate |
$46,350 |
|
Post-secondary certificate |
$44,200 |
|
Post-secondary certificate |
$39,430 |
|
Orderly |
High school diploma |
$39,430 |
None |
$34,900 |
Dental care
| Job | Education | Average wage |
|---|---|---|
Associate degree |
$94,260 |
|
Post-secondary certificate |
$47,300 |
Laboratory services
| Job | Education | Average wage |
|---|---|---|
Associate degree |
$61,890 |
|
Post-secondary certificate |
$43,660 |
Other technicians
| Job | Education | Average wage |
|---|---|---|
High school diploma |
$43,460 |
|
Post-secondary certificate |
$50,250 |
Medical devices
| Job | Education | Average wage |
|---|---|---|
High school diploma |
$58,670 |
|
High school diploma |
$44,170 |
|
High school diploma |
$45,280 |
Get hired
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