US News and World Report Says: "These Jobs Are Hiring in Droves"

US News and World Report analysts found the following Top 10 High Demand Jobs for 2012. I'll provide the locations of the largest numbers of jobs in each of these hot job titled and the salary range offered in the USA for Spring 2012.

As you can see in the listing below, all of the Top 10 Jobs for 2012 are prominent in the fields of either Healthcare or Information Technology (IT). In fact, we have a 50-50 split, with IT jobs designated in bold type below.

1. Registered Nurse (RN) - This includes the more high-paid Travel Nurse that also enjoys extra benefits like rent or mortgage payment for up to 12 months,
2. Software Developer
3. Pharmacist
4. Medical Assistant
5. Database Administrator
6. Web Developer
7. Computer Systems Analysts
8. Physical Therapist
9. Computer Programmer
10. Occupational Therapist

1. Registered Nurse (RN)

In July 2015, over 500,000 positions are available to RNs and NPs (Nurse Practitioners). in the USA.

The top 5 locations in highest need for RNs are Houston and Dallas TX; Los Angeles CA; Las Vegas NV; and NYC.

Salary Ranges on these advertised jobs range from $40,000 to over $120,000 annually, many with benefits. The bulk of these jobs are paying $60,000 - $99,000. Travel Nurses make even more!

2. Software Developer

It is no surprise the IT jobs, especially those involving software development and testing are on the increase in numbers of new jobs annually. It seems that most of the world is adopting new technologies and digital means of information handling. Everything from surgery to space exploration is facilitated by software applications and this will only spread more widely through at least mid-century.

At least 75,000 job openings are located in largest clusters in NYC ( far outnumbering any other), San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle, and Atlanta. The Federal Government? - Washington DC is 6th in job openings in this job title.

Salaries for these developers are ranging from $50,000 to over $130,000 per year, with the most positions offering $50K - 90K.

3. Pharmacist

Over 34,500 positions are open, with large numbers producing high demand in Los Angeles, throughout Minnesota, San Antonio TX, across California, and Chicago.

The Pharmacist can expect a wide range of salary offers these days, from $20,000 to over $120,000. Lower salaries are offered in California and Minnesota, while higher salaries are also offered in California, but additionally in NYC and Washington DC. The most job vacancies in this job title offer the range of the High $20s K - $59K per year.

4. Medical Assistant (?)

I am not sure that 12,000 qualifies as a "drove" of jobs, but 12K job vacancies for Medical Assistants create the highest demand in Houston, Pittsburgh, Louisville KY, Baltimore MD, and Chicago. Heathcare jobs overall have increased in number by about 26% in recent years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but this job title does not appear to have done so.

At the same time, the graph below shows much more than that increase, indicating that the number of jobs available in 2005 was quite low, if current vacancies are only 12,000. January 2010 marked the point of highest increase, the beginning of the second year of the Obama Administration, although these jobs experienced a slower gradually increase under the Bush Administration (ending 2008). Numbesr of jobs open in this job title have declined from 2010 - 2012, though.

This is not one of the highest-paid jobs, either. With a range of offered salaries between $20K to over $100K, the bulk of Medical Assisting jobs are paying in the $20,000s - But it is a good step to take if working one's way up to Physician Assistant, Nurse Practitioner, or even Physician.

5. Database Administrator

With the increase of IT positions and applications overall comes the advents of ever increasing databases and the need for administration of those caches of information. Approximately 40,000 job openings are posted for NYC, Washington DC, Atlanta, Chicago, and Houston; with sizable numbers in San Francisco, Boston, and Seattle.

Annual salaries offered range from $40K - over $120K, with benefits; the bulk of positions landing between $40K and $89,000. A few hundred positions do not require a college degree, but most require a Bachelor's.

6. Web Developer

Over 75,000 of these positions were listed in July 2015, up from 41,000 job vacancies posted in America in March 2012. A Bachelor's degree is required for most, but a sizable number need only a high school education and some experience. Top metro areas for these jobs are identical to those listed for Database Administrator above.

Salaries range from $40K - $119,000, with some reaching the $120,000-and-above point. Most are offering $40,000 - $80,000.

7. Computer Systems Analysts

A total of over 65,000 employment vacancies in these jobs can be further classified in these position titles:

1. Business Analyst
2. Systems Analyst
3. Programmer Analyst
4. Business Systems Analyst
5. Financial Analyst
6. Data Analyst
7. QA Analyst

Salaries range from $40,000 to $100,000, with some as high as $120,000 or more,and most require a Bachelor's degree. Major cities that hold these job openings include: NYC, DC, Atlanta, Houston, and Chicago; but large numbers of openings appear also in San Francisco, Dallas, Boston, and Los Angeles.

Even with a steep drop-off in February 2012, that point is still 750% above the number of jobs in these job titles offered during the entire year of 2005. A gigantic increase was experienced in 4th QTR 2011, illustrated on the tallest spike in the graph below.

8. Physical Therapist

This has been the Number One Hottest Job in the USA for most of the years 2006 - 2012, and remains on the Top 10 List from 2014 - 2016. Reasons for this robust consistency. At least 100,000 job openings can be found in America.

Education requirements are usually BS/BA or MS level diplomas, although assistants can have a high school diploma and make good wages. Salaries of the college-certified therapists range from $50K - $99K, with some reaching over $120,000/year. Assistants can make as much as $40,000/year early on.

Best metro areas for this type of work are: Houston, Dallas and San Antonio, Texas; Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, DC, and Las Vegas. Most large cities have a high demand for Physical Therapists, as well as many smaller towns.

9. Computer Programmer

For this type of work, search "Programmer" rather than "Computer Programmer", to save yourself from missing thousands of openings. Approximately 36,000 openings exist as these and some few other job titles:

1. Programmer Analyst
2. CNC Programmer
3. Programmer
4. CMM Programmer
5. Senior Programmer Analyst
6. Software Engineer
7. 25B Information Technology Specialist
8. JAVA Programmer
9. SAS programmer
10. Information Technology Specialist

Most of these job postings offer between $40,000 and $80,000/year with benefits, but some of these positions reach as high as $100,000 and a few off $120,000.

Major Cities: Identical to Database Administrator listed above.

10. Occupational Therapist

This job title has been as high demand as Physical Therapist for much of the 2000s and 2010s. We have 73,000 openings, but this job title is likely to surpass Physical Therapist/Assistant in the near future from 2012 - 2022. This is because of the need for Senior Citizens to learn to maneuver around their homes (since they cannot afford retirement/nursing homes more and more) , patients need to be rehabbed to return to work, and space explorers will need to learn how to function in lower-than-Earth gravities and yet maintain muscle and bone mass.Salaries range form $50,000 - $110,000 annually, with benefits and a Traveling Occupational Therapist (like Travel Nurses) can earn more.

Major Cities right now: Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, DC; Houston, Dallas TX; but also the entire State of California, Prince George County VA (government contractors, space exploration, other), Seattle, and Atlanta.