CARLSBAD, Calif. -- In its new report on the most in-demand jobs, job search portal CareerCast found that many of the professions with the brightest outlook are in the health care field. Topping the list of most in-demand jobs are Home Health Aide, Physical Therapist, Emergency Medical Technician and Nurse Practitioner, along with Occupational Therapist, Physician Assistant, Diagnostic Medical Sonographer and Optician. Web Developer and Operations Research Analyst were the only non-health care jobs in the top 10.

The most in-demand profession—Home Health Aide, with an outlook percentage of 38 percent, has an anticipated need for 348,400 new professionals by 2024. An aging baby boomer generation drives some of this high demand. Similarly, Physical Therapist ranks as the sixth most in-demand job, with a growth rate of 34 percent and an estimated 71,800 new positions expected by 2024. Demand for physical therapists is also on the rise commensurate with patients seeking more preventative and restorative health care options. 

Other high-demand health care fields include Nurse Practitioner, with a projected growth of 53,400 new jobs; Physician’s Assistant, with 28,700 new jobs; Diagnostic Medical Sonographer at 27,600 new jobs; and Optician, at 17,800 new jobs through 2024. 

“The number five most in-demand job, Web Developer, is also one of the most widely listed positions in the careercast.com jobs database with 19,441 current listings,” said Kyle Kensing, online content editor, CareerCast. “Typically, a Web Developer earns an average of $66,000 a year and possesses an associate degree, so it’s a great opportunity for those with programming and graphic design skills.”

Operations Research Analyst is a burgeoning field that was added to the Jobs Rated report this year, and it is estimated that there will be 27,600 job openings in this field through 2024. Among the most in-demand jobs of 2017, there are 7,684 listings for Operations Research Analysts in the careercast.com database. 

The following are careercast.com’s 10 most in-demand jobs for 2017 as determined by both growth percentage forecasts and total number of new positions projected. •