Fastest Growing Jobs in Illinois

National growth leaders filtered through Illinois's actual employment footprint – BLS 2024–2034

Where Illinois already employs the growth list

Ranked by published Illinois employment (not by national growth %). Sibling state pages diverge here because the occupation title set and order change with the OEWS footprint.

  1. 1. Home Health and Personal Care Aides · Healthcare Support Occupations 134,100 jobs · +17%
  2. 2. Software Developers · Computer and Mathematical Occupations 56,310 jobs · +15.8%
  3. 3. Cooks, Restaurant · Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations 53,540 jobs · +14.9%
  4. 4. Financial Managers · Management Occupations 52,720 jobs · +14.8%
  5. 5. Computer and Information Systems Managers · Management Occupations 31,680 jobs · +15.2%
  6. 6. Medical and Health Services Managers · Management Occupations 22,460 jobs · +23.2%
  7. 7. Medical Assistants · Healthcare Support Occupations 20,260 jobs · +12.5%
  8. 8. Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors · Community and Social Service Occupations 20,250 jobs · +16.8%
  9. 9. Exercise Trainers and Group Fitness Instructors · Personal Care and Service Occupations 19,830 jobs · +11.9%
  10. 10. Logisticians · Business and Financial Operations Occupations 14,170 jobs · +16.7%
  11. 11. Industrial Machinery Mechanics · Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations 12,100 jobs · +16.1%
  12. 12. Animal Caretakers · Personal Care and Service Occupations 11,070 jobs · +12.1%
  13. 13. Data Scientists · Computer and Mathematical Occupations 10,520 jobs · +33.5%
  14. 14. Psychiatric Technicians · Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations 9,410 jobs · +20%
  15. 15. Nurse Practitioners · Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations 9,270 jobs · +40.1%
  16. 16. Speech-Language Pathologists · Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations 9,040 jobs · +15%
  17. 17. Computer Network Architects · Computer and Mathematical Occupations 7,810 jobs · +11.9%
  18. 18. Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary · Educational Instruction and Library Occupations 7,740 jobs · +17.3%
  19. 19. Occupational Therapists · Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations 7,710 jobs · +13.8%
  20. 20. Clinical and Counseling Psychologists · Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations 5,810 jobs · +11.2%

Largest Illinois footprint

Home Health and Personal Care Aides

134,100 jobs in-state

That role's growth

+17%

national projection 2024-2034

OEWS coverage

47/50

Illinois employment published

National #1 growth

Wind Turbine Service Technicians

+49.9% · different from state footprint lead

Growth % and openings are national BLS projections. The employment and wage columns are Illinois OEWS estimates where published.

In Illinois, the national percentage leader Wind Turbine Service Technicians (+49.9%) has no published OEWS employment row while the largest in-state footprint among this growth list is Home Health and Personal Care Aides (134,100 jobs , +17% projected). Next by in-state count: Software Developers (56,310) and Cooks, Restaurant (53,540).

That mismatch is the useful Illinois read: percentage growth ranks a national change rate, not how many workers the state already employs in the role. Of the 50 national growth rows, 47 publish Illinois employment; 25 of those covered rows are projected at +15% or more (all-occupations baseline 3.1%). Among the ten largest OEWS rows on this list, 36% of summed employment sits in Healthcare Support Occupations (2 occupations).

Annual openings (growth plus replacements) still live on each occupation profile. A high percentage on a tiny base can add fewer Illinois seats than a mid-single-digit gain on a large OEWS count. Education and credential columns on the profile set the entry clock; several fast-growth rows need multi-year training before the projection window helps a new entrant.

Illinois footprint order on the national growth list

Rows with published Illinois employment are sorted by in-state jobs. Occupations without a state OEWS row stay at the bottom in national growth order.

# Occupation Growth %
1 Home Health and Personal Care Aides +17%
2 Software Developers +15.8%
3 Cooks, Restaurant +14.9%
4 Financial Managers +14.8%
5 Computer and Information Systems Managers +15.2%
6 Medical and Health Services Managers +23.2%
7 Medical Assistants +12.5%
8 Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors +16.8%
9 Exercise Trainers and Group Fitness Instructors +11.9%
10 Logisticians +16.7%
11 Industrial Machinery Mechanics +16.1%
12 Animal Caretakers +12.1%
13 Data Scientists +33.5%
14 Psychiatric Technicians +20%
15 Nurse Practitioners +40.1%
16 Speech-Language Pathologists +15%
17 Computer Network Architects +11.9%
18 Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary +17.3%
19 Occupational Therapists +13.8%
20 Clinical and Counseling Psychologists +11.2%
21 Information Security Analysts +28.5%
22 Operations Research Analysts +21.5%
23 Massage Therapists +15.4%
24 Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary +16.8%
25 Physical Therapist Assistants +22%
26 Respiratory Therapists +12.1%
27 Financial Examiners +18.5%
28 Physician Assistants +20.4%
29 Diagnostic Medical Sonographers +13%
30 Ophthalmic Medical Technicians +19.8%
31 Occupational Health and Safety Specialists +12.5%
32 Medical Equipment Repairers +12.9%
33 Occupational Therapy Assistants +19.2%
34 Actuaries +21.8%
35 Community Health Workers +11.3%
36 Mechanical Door Repairers +11.4%
37 Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Programmers +12.8%
38 Therapists, All Other +11.5%
39 Health Information Technologists and Medical Registrars +14.7%
40 Marriage and Family Therapists +12.6%
41 Counselors, All Other +12.6%
42 Computer and Information Research Scientists +19.7%
43 Forensic Science Technicians +12.8%
44 Hearing Aid Specialists +18.4%
45 Epidemiologists +16.2%
46 Orthotists and Prosthetists +13.3%
47 Recreational Vehicle Service Technicians +11.5%
48 Wind Turbine Service Technicians +49.9%
49 Solar Photovoltaic Installers +42.1%
50 Forest Fire Inspectors and Prevention Specialists +14.6%

Nearby & Related Pages

Related growth and salary pages for Illinois and the broader U.S. labor market.

Illinois Overview

Full state salary data

Highest Paying in Illinois

Top 100 by median salary

National Rankings

Fastest growing jobs nationwide

Home Health and Personal Care Aides

Largest Illinois footprint on this list

Job Outlook Explorer

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Compare Home Health and Personal Care Aides side-by-side with another occupation →

About This Data

Employment projections come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections program, covering 2024 to 2034. Growth rates represent the projected percentage change in national employment over the 10-year period.

State employment and salary data comes from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025. Some occupations may not have state-level data for Illinois if employment is too small to report.

Last updated: May 2025. Source: BLS Employment Projections program, 2024–2034 and BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025.

State employment totals for Illinois from BLS OEWS State and Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates, May 2025.

Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. State employment and wage rows use BLS OEWS May 2025; growth and openings use national BLS Employment Projections for 2024–2034. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.