Lucky for us, the job growth for dental assistants shows lots of job openings between 2020 and 2030. If you start training as a dental assistant now, you can expect many years of job security. Learn more about the dental assistant job outlook to find out more.
What Is Job Growth?
Job growth is important to think about whenever you decide on a new career. Job growth tracks the amount that jobs are expected to expand or shrink in the coming years. If a career plan has high job growth, you should be able to find lots of jobs in this field for the next decade. Industries with low job growth won’t have many available jobs—and fields with negative job growth will actually lose jobs through layoffs, company closures, and more.
What Is The Expected Job Growth For Dental Assistants?
The U.S. Department Of Labor expects dental assistant jobs to grow by 11% from 2020 to 2030. That means that dental assistant job outlook is growing faster than lots of other professions. Overall, the Department of Labor expects all jobs to grow by 8% in this time frame. This means that dental assistants will be in high demand compared to other jobs in the next decade.
How many new dental assistants are needed each year? There will be around 44,000 new job postings for dental assistants each year between 2020 and 2030.
Dental assistants have an expected job growth of 11%. Some healthcare support professions will see higher growth. A few jobs should see 16% growth until 2030. However, dental assistants will be in higher demand the most jobs. The overall U.S. job market will only see an 8% growth in the next decade.
Why Are Dental Assistant Jobs Growing?
Why are dental assistants in demand? Dentists will need to hire more than 40,000 assistants every year between 2020 and 2030. Wondering why dental assisting is a popular job? There are several reasons that explain this growth!
Replacing Current Workers
Lots of dental assistants will be needed to replace current workers. Today’s dental assistants will leave job openings as they retire or take different jobs.
COVID-19 Recovery
The economy is expected to grow as the country keeps recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and recession. This growth will include more demand for dental assistants.
More Demand For Dental Services
Dentists have always known it’s important to take care of your teeth, but new research is showing that dental care plays a major part in overall health. The country will see increased demand for dentists and dental assistants as people start to pay more attention to their teeth.
Care For Aging Baby Boomers
The Baby Boomer generation will keep having major impacts on society as it ages. Boomers keep more of their original teeth instead of using dentures. This trend means that Boomers will need many dentists and dental assistants to keep their teeth healthy as they get older.
How Many Dental Assistants Will There Be In 2030?
The U.S. Department Of Labor expects dental assistant jobs to grow by 11% over the next decade. There were 330,200 dental assistants working in America in 2020. The Department Of Labor expects the country to have 367,000 dental assistants in 2030.
This should be a total of 36,900 new dental assistant jobs. Remember that many dental assistants are also expected to retire in this time. The Department Of Labor expects the country to hire around 44,000 new dental assistants every year. This equals more than 400,000 new dental assistants hired in the next decade!
Support Your Family As A Dental Assistant
Becoming a dental assistant is a great career option for moms. Dental assistants perform interesting tasks, work in safe environments, and get to help people all day long. You can become a dental assistant with just a year’s worth of training. Even better, dental assistants will have a decade of job growth, so it should be easy to find a job once you finish your training. You can earn a reliable wage and benefits to help your family for years to come.
Are you ready to explore your new life as a dental assistant? Click here for our free resources on finding a dental assistant program, paying for school, studying with kids, managing childcare, keeping your home running, looking for a job, and more.
References
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2022, April 18). Dental assistants: Job outlook. Occupational Outlook Handbook. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/dental-assistants.htm#tab-6
