Top 25 Fastest Growing Jobs in California

California's total employment will reach 19 million by 2014.

1. Non-farm Wage and Salary,
2. Self-Employed,
3. Unpaid Family Workers,
4. Private Household Workers, and
5. Farm.

Non-farm wage and salary employment represents 89% and the other categories contain the remaining 11%.

Thirty percent of the workers in Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations are self-employed. Of the workers employed in Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Occupations, 77 percent are non-farm wage and salaried, the remaining 23 percent are either self-employed or working in private households. Workers in Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations have only nine percent of total California employment. The remaining 91 percent of workers are employed on farms, with some self-employed or unpaid family members.

The 25 fastest growing occupations will each grow by 25% over the ten-year period 2004-2014. These occupations vary widely from health and safety to education, construction, and computer related fields, among others.

Examples of pay and training required for these occupations are:

• Over $9.00 an hour for Crossing Guards, Home Health Aides, and Hand Cutters and Trimmers, requiring short-term on-the-job training,
• Over $20.00 an hour for Fire Fighters and Heating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers requiring long-term on-the-job training,
• Over $30.00 an hour for Registered Nurses and Dental Hygienists requiring an associate's degree, and
• Over $40.00 an hour for Computer Software Engineers, Sales Engineers, and Computer and Information Systems Managers requiring a bachelor's degree or higher.

The top 10 jobs with the most job openings are computer or healthcare related, except for Gaming Dealers and will have 1.4 million job vacancies in California -- 500,000 due to job growth and 900,000 more due to replacement need. These jobs will grow 37-59% over the years 2004-2014.

Many jobs are available in lower-skilled occupations of Retail Salespersons, Cashiers, and Waiters and Waitresses and higher-skilled occupations such as Registered Nurses, General and Operations Managers, and Elementary School Teachers.