America’s 25 Thriving Industries

The number of Americans aged 65 and older is projected to more than double over the next four decades, from 46 million in 2016 to 98 million in 2060. Already, as more baby boomers have entered retirement, demand for health care services has increased substantially. Over the past decade, employment at the offices of health practitioners other than doctors and surgeons — chiropractors, optometrists, and mental health professionals, for example — rose 49.6%, far more than the national employment growth for all occupations.

As e-commerce continues to grow, there is a greater need for “last-mile delivery services,” the final leg in a package’s shipment route. Some businesses are capitalizing on the increased demand for personal delivery and offering new delivery options such as lockers and drones. Many e-commerce companies are employing couriers and local messengers to provide delivery services of small items within a single city or urban area. The number of Americans working for local delivery services rose 50.6% from 2008 to 2017. The cities where couriers earn the highest wages include San Jose, Salinas, and Oakland, California; Portland, Oregon; and Washington, D.C.

Support activities for road transportation include services such as truck weighing stations, snow removal, or car inspection. Employment in the industry rose by 52.0% from 2008 to 2017.

Wages for road transportation support workers have risen faster than wages in nearly any other industry over the past decade. The average annual wage more than tripled from $10,738 in 2008 to $33,154 in 2017, the 11th fastest increase of any industry. The increase is part of a general trend of rising wages in the construction sector, itself the result of increased construction activity during the recovery from the Great Recession.

Personal care services include occupations such as childcare workers, barbers and hairstylists, fitness trainers, and manicurists and pedicurists. While employment growth in the personal care sector as a whole has outpaced the national average employment growth over the past decade, growth in all other, more specialized personal care services — astrology, personal shopping, genealogical investigation, and palm reading are a few examples — has grown at nearly eight times the pace of the U.S. workforce from 2008 to 2017. The increase in specialized personal service workers may be tied to the rise of the gig economy — the number of self-employed individuals rose by approximately 20% between 2005 and 2015.

As scores of aging baby boomers have entered retirement over the past decade, the demand for health care services increased substantially. The number of workers employed in the speciality therapy industry — which includes services such as hypnotherapy, homeopathy, acupuncture, and naturopathy — rose 53.3% from 2008 to 2017, compared to the 5.4% national employment growth across all industries over the period.

The increase is also due to the growing demand for alternative medicine. According to a recent study from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Americans spend approximately $30 billion a year on alternative medicines such as herbal supplements, meditation, chiropractic, and yoga, which amounts to 9.2% of total out-of-pocket health care spending.

The all other pipeline transportation industry classification includes the transportation of any product other than crude oil, natural gas, and petroleum. The industry is tied to the construction sector and, as a result, tends to grow in tandem with economic growth. As the U.S. GDP grew from 2008 to 2017 in the wake of the Great Recession, employment in all other pipeline transportation grew by 54.3%, among the most of any industry and far more than the 5.4% average employment growth for all industries nationwide.

Media buying agencies purchase and sell space used for advertising in all forms, whether it be digital ad space on websites, television commercial space, or physical advertising space such as billboards. Agencies are tasked with identifying the ad space that is most likely to reach the target demographic of clients while staying within a client’s budget. While automation has reduced the needs for employment in certain areas of media buying, the number of workers in the industry has still grown by over 50% between 2008 and 2017, while wages have increased by roughly 34% over the same period.

The number of Americans working in cosmetic and beauty supply stores climbed by over 50% in the last decade. The employment surge has been fueled in part by the number of women, and increasingly men, looking to reduce the visible effects of aging. Growing demand for personal appearance workers is projected to continue for the foreseeable future.

Other activities related to real estate include real estate escrow agencies, listing services, and fiduciary offices. In the last 10 years, the number of people working in the industry increased 56.9% — far faster than typical growth. The real estate market is sensitive to overall economic fluctuations, and in 2008, the U.S. economy was in the midst of the Great Recession. As the economy recovered, job growth in this specific real estate sector picked up rapidly. This industry does not cover real estate agents, brokers, property managers, appraisers, and lessors.

As baby boomers continue to age, the demand for health care services has increased substantially. The number of workers employed in offices of mental health practitioners rose by 58.0% from 2008 to 2017, more than eight times the 5.4% national employment growth rate across all industries over the period.

One factor contributing to the increase in mental health workers may be the devastating rise in opioid addiction in the United States. Substance abuse counselors account for approximately 18% of all U.S. mental health practitioners, who are currently fighting an opioid epidemic that has claimed nearly 400,000 lives since 1999. According to data from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the number of opioid overdoses increased 151% from 2008 to 2017, and the number of heroin overdoses rose 425%.

General warehousing and storage involves the operation of storage facilities for general merchandise, refrigerated goods, and other warehouse products. Like other industries on this list, demand for warehousing and storage services likely increases in conjunction with general economic growth. The United States has maintained substantial economic growth since the Great Recession, with real GDP rising every year since 2009.

The number of workers employed in general warehousing and storage rose by 59.0% from 2008 to 2017, nearly nine times the 5.4% employment growth rate for all industries nationwide. Over the same period, wages rose 13.9%, less than in a majority of industries.

The number of wineries in the United States rose from 2,311 in 2008 to 4,343 in 2017, nearly the highest rate of establishment expansion of any industry. Over the same period, the number of winery workers rose by 59.9%, far more than the national employment growth rate across all industries of 5.4%.

Growth in the wine industry was driven in part by strong demand from the millennial generation. The youngest members of this generation — those born between 1981 and 1996 — reached the legal drinking age last year, and, according to research from industry association the Wine Market Council, a large share favor wine. According to the WMC, millennials drink an average of 3.1 glasses of wine per occasion, compared to 2.4 glasses for gen-Xers and 1.9 for baby boomers. Millennials account for 42% of U.S. wine consumption, the largest share of any age cohort.

The rise of e-commerce has been one of the most disruptive forces in retail in decades. As online retailers like Amazon thrive, traditional brick and mortar department stores are shuttering more locations every year, and some, like Sears, have declared bankruptcy. In the last 10 years alone, the number of people working in the electronic shopping and mail-order house industry climbed by 63%. The industry includes retailers that take mail orders from catalogues.

Educational support services — or non-instructional services that provide support in an education system or process — is one of the fastest growing industries in the United States. In the last decade, the number of Americans working in educational support services climbed by 64.8%. The industry includes school administrators and counselors. Demand for such workers is projected to increase into the foreseeable future, as enrollment in primary, secondary, and post-secondary institutions grows.

Sports and recreation instructors are primarily employed by schools and camps. They coach teams, organize games, and lead groups in exercise and physical fitness instruction. Since 2008, the number of Americans working in sports and recreation increased by 67.3%. Unlike other fast-growing occupations on this list, wages for sports and recreation instructors have remained relatively flat. In the last 10 years, the average wage in the industry grew by just 4.5%. In the vast majority of fast-growing jobs, wages have climbed by at least 20% since 2008.

Promoters without facilities — or those who promote or organize live events, concerts, conventions, fairs, or festivals in venues owned by others — is a rapidly growing industry. Over the last decade, the number of Americans working in the sector climbed by nearly 70%. As is often the case, growing demand has translated to rapid wage growth. The average annual wage for promoters without facilities climbed nearly 50% from 2008 to 2017.

The all other information services industry covers a range of information occupations outside of news, web search portals, libraries, and internet publishing. These include jobs in stock-photo agencies, telephone-based information services, and broadband internet service providers. In the last 10 years, employment in all other information services increased by 80%. As demand for workers increased, so did wages. The average industry wage of $53,146 is nearly double what it was in 2008.

Outpatient care centers provide health care services to ambulatory patients who do not require inpatient treatment. While employment growth in a number of industries in the ambulatory health care sector, such as outpatient mental health care and home health services outpaced the national rate over the past decade, growth in other outpatient care centers — outpatient sleep disorder clinics, biofeedback centers, and birth centers are a few examples — has grown at more than 15 the pace of the U.S. workforce as a whole.

The professional and technical services sector comprises establishments engaged in various support activities for advanced services that often require a high degree of expertise and training. While employment growth in a number of industries in the sector, such as computer systems design, building inspection services, and environmental consulting, outpaced the national employment growth rate over the past decade, growth in other, more specialized professional and technical services — handwriting analysis, weather forecasting, and arbitration services are a few examples — grew by 88.4% from 2008 to 2017. Over the same period, wages rose by 24.8%, roughly keeping pace with overall wage growth.

Alcohol consumption tends to increase with disposable income. As the average disposable personal income in the United States rose from about $36,000 in 2008 to $45,000 in 2017, the number of distilleries rose nearly seven-fold, from 117 to 805 — the second largest establishment growth of any industry. While employment growth did not keep pace with the industry’s establishment growth, and as a result the size of the average distillery got smaller over that time period, the liquor industry still had one of the largest worker increases of any industry. The number of distillery workers rose by 93.6% from 2008 to 2017, about 17 times the national employment growth for all occupations of 5.4%.

Pet care is one of many industries benefiting from the increase in rising incomes since the end of the Great Recession. Americans spent a total of $69.5 billion on pet food, supplies, veterinary care, grooming and boarding, and live animals in 2017, up 61% from 2008. Over the same period, the number of workers employed in pet care nearly doubled, from 57,786 in 2008 to 114,514 in 2017. According to the BLS, employment growth in the pet care industry will continue to outpace the national figure over the next decade.

The number of translators and interpreters in the United States has more than doubled over the past decade, from 17,429 workers in 2008 to 36,822 in 2017. One factor that may have contributed to the rapidly growing demand for translators is the rising amount of online content that requires translation for a global audience. Netflix, for example, recently recruited a class of translators through its internal platform HERMES, an online tool meant to test users’ translation and subtitling ability.

According to the BLS, demand for translators will continue to grow at a faster than typical rate in the coming years. The growing diversity of the U.S. population and the increasing need of foreign language skills in business due to growing international trade, among other factors, will contribute to the growing demand.

While employment in restaurants and other eating places grew at more than three times the rate of national employment growth over the past decade, the number of Americans working in mobile food services — which include food trucks, street food carts, and other nonstationary food vendors — grew from 7,698 in 2008 to 19,650 in 2017, more than in all but two other industries. Wages in the industry increased by 22.4% over the same period, compared to 17.0% wage growth in restaurants and other eating places. The average mobile food service worker earns $18,850 a year, approximately $3,700 more than the average annual wage for restaurant workers.

Growing demand for craft beer and microbrews over the past decade has fueled rapid employment growth in the brewery industry. The number of breweries in the United States grew nearly eight-fold over the past 10 years, from 454 establishments in 2008 to 3,509 in 2017 — the largest establishment increase of any industry. While employment growth did not keep pace with the industry’s establishment growth and as a result the size of the average brewery got smaller over that time period, the brewery industry still had one of the largest employment increases of any industry. The number of brewery workers rose by 158.3% from 2008 to 2017, more than 29 times the national employment growth for all occupations of 5.4%.

While the number of workers employed in newspaper publishing fell by more than half from 2008 to 2017, employment in internet publishing rose 172.1% — by far the fastest growth of any industry classified by the BLS and more than 30 times the national average. The number of online publishers and web search portals also more than doubled in the last 10 years.

As is often the case, as demand for workers in the industry climbed, so did compensation. The average annual wage in the industry climbed 58.5% from $110,777 in 2008, to $175,566 in 2017.