Health care is a significant part of the employment market in the US, with preliminary August data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showing notable differences in health care and social assistance jobs across states.
The country’s largest states have some of the biggest health care workforces, with California leading at over 3.18 million jobs, followed by New York at 1.91 million and Texas at 1.76 million.
However, the health care industry’s share of a state’s total employment base tells a different story, with West Virginia standing at the top of the list at approximately 19.6% of total employment.
New York follows at 19.1%, with Pennsylvania at 18.9%, and other states like Connecticut, Minnesota, and Massachusetts also having a large share of employment in the industry.
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At the other end of the spectrum, health care represents just 8.8% of employment in Wyoming, and around 10-11% in states like Alabama and South Carolina.
A sizable health care sector can serve as an economic anchor, providing jobs that support the broader housing market, and access to health care may become increasingly relevant in retirement location decisions.
Demographic trends, such as the rising old-age dependency ratio, which increased from 20.8 in 2010 to 29.7 in 2024, point to future pressure on health care systems and retirement programs.
The old-age dependency ratio is a demographic trend that affects the health care industry.
