SalariesHealthcare Support: pay for 17 occupations, May 2025
The field Healthcare Support had 7,901,670 jobs in the United States in May 2025, with a median pay of $38,340 a year ($18.43 an hour) across all its occupations.
No occupation in this field matches.
| Occupation | Median a year | Median an hour | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Occupational Therapy Assistants | $72,300 | $34.76 | 51,290 |
| Physical Therapist Assistants | $68,380 | $32.88 | 112,430 |
| Massage Therapists | $58,450 | $28.10 | 98,790 |
| Healthcare Support Workers, All Other | $48,430 | $23.28 | 109,740 |
| Dental Assistants | $48,070 | $23.11 | 387,790 |
| Medical Equipment Preparers | $47,700 | $22.93 | 77,420 |
| Medical Assistants | $45,690 | $21.97 | 817,870 |
| Phlebotomists | $45,230 | $21.75 | 143,540 |
| Psychiatric Aides | $44,910 | $21.59 | 35,520 |
| Nursing Assistants | $42,260 | $20.32 | 1,448,910 |
| Medical Transcriptionists | $40,410 | $19.43 | 41,550 |
| Occupational Therapy Aides | $39,160 | $18.83 | 4,310 |
| Orderlies | $38,290 | $18.41 | 52,440 |
| Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers | $38,150 | $18.34 | 126,580 |
| Pharmacy Aides | $37,680 | $18.12 | 39,530 |
| Home Health and Personal Care Aides | $35,800 | $17.21 | 4,305,810 |
| Physical Therapist Aides | $35,240 | $16.94 | 48,150 |
In short
- Highest median pay in this field: Occupational Therapy Assistants, $72,300 a year.
- Lowest: Physical Therapist Aides, $35,240 a year.
- Most jobs: Home Health and Personal Care Aides (4,305,810), Nursing Assistants (1,448,910) and Medical Assistants (817,870).
- For comparison, the median for all occupations in the country was $50,980 a year.
Sorted by median pay, highest first. "Not published" in the yearly or hourly column means BLS releases only the other one for that occupation.
The field as a whole
Healthcare Support holds 7,901,670 of the 155,495,730 jobs in the national figures, about 5 in every 100. Its median pay of $38,340 a year is 25% below the median for all occupations ($50,980), which places it number 18 of the 22 fields. Across the whole field, the lowest-paid tenth earned less than $28,980 and the highest-paid tenth more than $54,230; the middle half earned between $34,320 and $45,930. The average was $40,800, 6% above the median.
Inside the field
Inside the field, the best-paid occupation with a published yearly median earns 2.1 times the lowest ($72,300 against $35,240). 3 of the 17 occupations with a yearly median are above the national median of $50,980, and 14 are below it. The occupation in the middle of the field's list is Psychiatric Aides, at $44,910. Jobs are unevenly spread: the three largest occupations hold 83% of the field's jobs, while the smallest, Occupational Therapy Aides, has 4,310. Pay stretches furthest within Massage Therapists, where the highest-paid tenth earn over $100,200 and the lowest-paid tenth under $33,640.
Reading the field
Pay also moves with place. For the field's largest occupation, Home Health and Personal Care Aides, the state medians run from $21,840 in Puerto Rico to $47,730 in Washington; its own page has every state. The Bureau of Labor Statistics sorts every occupation into one field by the work done, not by the industry of the employer, so an accountant at a hospital is counted under business and financial operations, not health care.
Questions about this field
What is the highest-paying job in healthcare support?
By published median pay in May 2025: Occupational Therapy Assistants, at $72,300 a year.
Which healthcare support occupation has the most jobs?
Home Health and Personal Care Aides, with 4,305,810 jobs in the United States.
What is the median pay for healthcare support occupations?
$38,340 a year across the whole field, against $50,980 for all occupations.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Checked in November 2026. Figures are for employees, before tax, and leave out overtime pay and benefits. They are official statistics, not advice or a pay offer; see bls.gov/oes for the original tables.