Growing Demand and Workforce Needs in Oregon’s Health Care and Social Assistance Sector

June 26, 2025

Health care and social assistance is a large and steadily growing sector of Oregon’s economy. Although overall job growth slowed recently in Oregon, gains have accelerated in the health care and social assistance sector.  

• In 2024, Oregon employers added 5,700 jobs (+0.3%) to nonfarm payrolls. By comparison, private health care and social assistance added 16,100 jobs (+5.7%) from 2023 to 2024, to reach an all-time high of 301,000 jobs.
• From 2001 to 2024, total nonfarm employment in Oregon grew by 24%. At the same time, private health care and social assistance grew by 92%.

Private health care and social assistance employers reported the largest number of job openings among all sectors of Oregon’s economy for most of the past 12 years. As job growth has accelerated, so has the sector’s share of all job vacancies in Oregon.
Prior to the pandemic recession, health care and social assistance generally accounted for one out of every five private-sector job openings. 

• In 2024, the sector’s share rose to nearly one-third (32%) of all job vacancies. Private health care and social assistance had an average of 18,200 job openings at any given time during the year.
• Personal care aides and registered nurses had the largest number of health care job openings in 2024. They also had the largest number of vacancies reported by employers as difficult to fill.

Health care and social assistance will also lead future job growth in Oregon. Total employment is expected to grow by 170,000 jobs (or 8%) between 2023 and 2033. Health care and social assistance is projected to grow by 13%, adding 37,000 jobs.

• One out of every five new jobs added in Oregon by 2033 will be in health care and social assistance. 
• Seven of the 15 fastest-growing occupations in Oregon over the decade are related to health care. They include nurse practitioners, physician assistants, medical health and services managers, veterinarians, and veterinary assistants and technicians. 

Employers will also need to replace workers who retire, otherwise leave the labor force, or make major occupational changes away from health care and social assistance. Adding these replacement job openings to projected growth, health care and social assistance will average nearly 38,000 total job openings each year through 2033. Growth expectations in future years could be hindered by increasing retirements, or an insufficient pipeline of workers into the sector. More details are available in the full report Growing Demand and Workforce Needs in Oregon’s Health Care and Social Assistance Sector. 

Highlights of the report are also available in a podcast.