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Workers in healthcare occupations most likely to have certifications or licenses in 2015

April 20, 2016

Overall, 25.5 percent of employed people had a certification or license in 2015. Certifications and licenses are credentials that show a person has the skill or knowledge to perform a job. Licenses are awarded by a government agency and signal a legal authority to work in an occupation. Certifications are issued by a professional or industry organization, rather than a government agency. People may have more than one certification or license. People with a license may also have a certification. The percentage of workers with certifications or licenses varied by occupation.

 

 

Percent of workers with a professional certification or license, by occupation, 2015 annual averages
Occupation Percent

Total

25.5%

Healthcare practitioners and technical

76.9

Legal

68.1

Education, training, and library

55.5

Healthcare support

51.8

Protective service

40.0

Community and social services

39.7

Personal care and service

31.9

Life, physical, and social science

27.2

Architecture and engineering

26.6

Installation, maintenance, and repair

25.4

Business and financial operations

23.8

Management

23.3

Transportation and material moving

22.0

Construction and extraction

20.4

Sales and related

16.2

Computer and mathematical

15.8

Production

10.9

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media

10.8

Office and administrative support

10.3

Food preparation and serving related

8.2

Farming, fishing, and forestry

8.0

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance

7.9

About 3 in 4 workers in healthcare practitioners and technical occupations and about half of workers in healthcare support occupations had a certification or license in 2015. (Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations include nurses, doctors, and physical, occupational, and respiratory therapists. Healthcare support occupations include nursing, psychiatric, and home health aides.) Other occupations with high incidences of certifications or licenses include legal occupations (68.1 percent) and education, training, and library occupations (55.5 percent). In most fields, licenses were much more common than certifications.

These data are from the Current Population Survey. For more information, see the page about professional certifications and licenses. Additional information is in the Commissioner's Corner blog, "Why This Counts: New Timely Data on Professional Certifications and Licenses."

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Workers in healthcare occupations most likely to have certifications or licenses in 2015 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2016/workers-in-healthcare-occupations-most-likely-to-have-certifications-or-licenses-in-2015.htm (visited October 31, 2024).

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