At the beginning of the new year, Indeed has recently released its 2026 Best Jobs Report. Although job opportunities are concentrated in a few industries, many of these industries have lower entry barriers, and these positions are increasingly relying on professional skills and interpersonal communication abilities that are difficult to automate. The healthcare industry takes the lead.
On January 13th, Indeed released the “2026 Best Jobs Index for the United States”, a data-driven index that compares current job vacancies with growth trends over the past three years, aiming to identify the market’s “best balance point” – which positions are not only stable at present but also have long-term mobility and security for the future.
In order to select the best jobs for 2026, Indeed analyzed thousands of positions listed on its website, ranking them based on whether job seekers could find employment and where they could advance geographically. The organization utilized a rigorous data-driven approach, examining five key job quality factors: above-average salaries, immediate demand, salary growth, recruitment momentum, and the flexibility of remote work. It prioritized positions with an annual salary of at least $65,000, a figure chosen because it exceeds the current median annual salary in the United States.
Laura Ullrich, North American Research Director of the Indeed Hiring Lab, stated in a press release that although healthcare positions account for only 11% of total employment in the United States, they contribute to 72% of the market’s job growth.
Indeed’s list reflects this, with seven of the top ten positions related to healthcare. One reason for this market imbalance is the essential demand for healthcare, which provides additional job security for these positions, even during periods of economic uncertainty. For job seekers in 2026, healthcare is not only a popular choice on Indeed’s list, but also one of the most reliable choices for a stable career.
Among them, Cardiovascular Technician ranks as the top job of the year with a six-figure median annual salary, high wage and job posting growth over the past three years. Indeed’s researchers point out that the continuously growing demand reflects the prevalence of chronic diseases, an aging population, and the fact that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Below are the annual top ten popular professions selected by Indeed:
Median Expected Salary: $133,907
Job Postings per Million Job Seekers on Indeed’s Platform: 224
Salary Growth Since 2022: 34%
Job Posting Growth Since 2022: 34%
Percentage of Remote Positions: 2%
Median Expected Salary: $160,000
Job Postings per Million Job Seekers on Indeed’s Platform: 7,529
Salary Growth Since 2022: -5%
Job Posting Growth Since 2022: 39%
Percentage of Remote Positions: 1%
Median Expected Salary: $143,183
Job Postings per Million Job Seekers on Indeed’s Platform: 2,874
Salary Growth Since 2022: 10%
Job Posting Growth Since 2022: -2%
Percentage of Remote Positions: 10%
Median Expected Salary: $109,431
Job Postings per Million Job Seekers on Indeed’s Platform: 191
Salary Growth Since 2022: 14%
Job Posting Growth Since 2022: 11%
Percentage of Remote Positions: 8%
Median Expected Salary: $107,812
Job Postings per Million Job Seekers on Indeed’s Platform: 286
Salary Growth Since 2022: 33%
Job Posting Growth Since 2022: -17%
Percentage of Remote Positions: 32%
Median Expected Salary: $119,618
Job Postings per Million Job Seekers on Indeed’s Platform: 1,016
Salary Growth Since 2022: 20%
Job Posting Growth Since 2022: -32%
Percentage of Remote Positions: 32%
Median Expected Salary: $110,848
Job Postings per Million Job Seekers on Indeed’s Platform: 6,299
Salary Growth Since 2022: 8%
Job Posting Growth Since 2022: 0%
Percentage of Remote Positions: 2%
Median Expected Salary: $105,580
Job Postings per Million Job Seekers on Indeed’s Platform: 4,147
Salary Growth Since 2022: 6%
Job Posting Growth Since 2022: 13%
Percentage of Remote Positions: 3%
Median Expected Salary: $115,923
Job Postings per Million Job Seekers on Indeed’s Platform: 239
Salary Growth Since 2022: 26%
Job Posting Growth Since 2022: 8%
Percentage of Remote Positions: 3%
Median Expected Salary: $115,079
Job Postings per Million Job Seekers on Indeed’s Platform: 958
Salary Growth Since 2022: -3%
Job Posting Growth Since 2022: 15%
Percentage of Remote Positions: 35%
Despite an overall decline in recruitment information quantity, recruitment demand for healthcare-related positions has been more stable than for technical and business functional roles since 2020.
Some of the best healthcare jobs on the Indeed platform have relatively lower entry requirements, with practitioners typically only needing certification or an associate degree to enter positions like Sign Language Interpreter (ranking 11th), Radiologic Technician (ranked 18th), and Massage Therapist (ranked 44th).
A job seeker’s experience was featured in Indeed’s press release. As a licensed clinical social worker working in a hospital, Devon Nelson shared with Career Guide that her job allows her to achieve economic stability and career advancement while engaging in meaningful work.
“A large part of my job involves establishing connections with patients and their families on a personal level,” she said, “This job cannot be done by technology or robots. It requires emotional intelligence, not artificial intelligence.”
Nelson highlighted that demand for nursing positions like hers continues to grow, not only due to the rise of artificial intelligence but also due to widespread cuts to federally funded healthcare programs.
“I anticipate higher emergency room utilization as people will no longer have the same convenience to visit primary care clinics as before,” she stated, “With services reduced, the options for vulnerable groups to seek medical care diminish, increasing the demand for social workers to fill those gaps.”
Registered Nurse (ranked 22nd) is undoubtedly one of the most sought-after positions, with 12,330 vacancies for every million job postings on Indeed’s website. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that over the next decade, the annual average number of job vacancies for registered nurses will reach 189,100; by 2032, the number of registered nurses is expected to grow to 3.3 million.