An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

PRINT:

Projected job openings in occupations typically requiring a bachelor’s degree, 2024–34

March 12, 2026

Of the more than 800 detailed occupations for which BLS develops employment projections, 178 typically require a bachelor’s degree for entry. General and operations managers is projected to have 308,700 openings each year, on average, from 2024 to 2034, more than any other occupation that typically requires a bachelor’s degree for entry. Important skills for these managers include leadership, problem-solving and decision-making, and adaptability.

Chart Image
Chart Data

Bachelor's degree to enter: Occupations projected to have the most openings each year, 2024–34
Occupation	Occupational openings, projected 2024–34 annual average	Median annual wage (in dollars), 2024	Typical work experience in a related occupation
General and operations managers	308,700	102,950	5 years or more
Registered nurses	189,100	93,600	None
Accountants and auditors	124,200	81,680	None
Software developers	115,200	133,080	None
Business operations specialists, all other	108,200	81,270	None
Managers, all other	106,700	136,550	Less than 5 years
Management analysts	98,100	101,190	Less than 5 years
Elementary school teachers, except special education	91,000	62,340	None
Market research analysts and marketing specialists	87,200	76,950	None
Human resources specialists	81,800	72,910	None

The 10 bachelor’s-level occupations projected to have the most job openings account for about 39 percent of the openings projected in bachelor’s-level occupations. In 2024, wages for each of these 10 occupations, as well as most other bachelor's-level occupations, were higher than the median of $49,500 for all occupations. (A median wage is the point at which half of workers made more than the amount, and half made less.)

These data are from the Employment Projections program. For more information, see “Education level and projected openings, 2024–34” in Career Outlook.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Projected job openings in occupations typically requiring a bachelor’s degree, 2024–34 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2026/projected-job-openings-in-occupations-typically-requiring-a-bachelors-degree-2024-34.htm (visited March 12, 2026).

OF INTEREST