Data methodology
The sources behind every figure on Medical Career Center, the date of each, and how the numbers shown for 19 professions are calculated.
Last updated September 25, 2026
Pay
Pay figures come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) survey for May 2025. “Typical pay” is the median annual wage: half of workers in the occupation earn more and half earn less. Hourly figures are the median hourly wage. Entry-level and top-10% figures are the 10th and 90th percentile wages.
State figures cover the 50 states and the District of Columbia. City figures are published by BLS for metropolitan areas, so every city inside a metro area shows the metro's figure; the city pages say so. When BLS withholds an estimate for a place, the page shows a dash or the most recent earlier year, labeled with that year. Pay trends use the May surveys from 2015 to 2025. Comparisons with the national figure are calculated from the medians and rounded to whole percentages.
Employment and job outlook
Employment counts come from the same OES survey. Job growth and yearly openings come from BLS Employment Projections for 2025 to 2035; openings include new jobs and jobs left open by workers who retire or change occupations. Pay by work setting comes from the OES industry tables, using detailed industries rather than broad sectors.
Programs and schools
College listings come from the National Center for Education Statistics IPEDS completions survey for 2024. A college is listed for a profession when it reported at least one graduate in that profession's program codes (CIP codes). The site holds 10,428 such listings. A listing shows that a college awarded the credential in 2024; it does not state that the program is accredited or approved by a state board. EMT and paramedic programs share program codes, so both professions list the same colleges.
For nursing assistants, the site also lists 6,858 state-approved training programs from the lists published by agencies in 40 states, with the date each list was read.
Licensing and registries
License information for registered nurses and practical nurses is read from each of the 51 boards of nursing: the public license lookup, renewal cycle, continuing-education hours, fees, and Nurse Licensure Compact status. Each state page shows the date the board's pages were read and links the board's own sources. Where a board does not publish a figure, the page shows a dash. Nurse aide registry details cover all 51 registries. Boards change fees and rules; confirm with the board before relying on a figure.
Training hours
Required nursing assistant training hours come from each state's regulation or program rules. The federal minimum is 75 hours; states may require more, and the highest requirement is 175 hours.
Updates
Wage and employment figures are replaced when BLS publishes the next May survey, usually in the spring. IPEDS completions are updated when NCES releases the next year. Board and registry information is re-read on a rolling basis, and each page shows the date its data was read.
Limits of the data
OES surveys employers, so pay for self-employed workers is not included, and the wage figures exclude overtime pay and the value of benefits. Figures are not adjusted for cost of living. A median describes an occupation, not a particular job offer. The editorial policy covers how text is written and how errors are corrected.