These Are the 15 Fastest Growing Jobs Over the Next 5 Years. Is Yours on the List?

No matter what kind of skills you have, now is a good time to be looking for a job.

Still, some workers have it better than others.

The unemployment rate is the lowest its been in decades and wages are slowly beginning to climb, making it no surprise that an estimated 8 million jobs should be created over the next five years, according to a new study from employment website CareerBuilder.

CareerBuilder looked at the fastest growing jobs in the U.S. using wage ranges, categorizing them as either high-, middle- or low-wage occupations. While the humming economy should provide opportunities to across the board, some types of work are poised for much faster growth than others.

That's largely because of technology -- think everything from the advent of digital medical records to the race to build self-driving cars -- is dramatically changing the labor market. Jobs that require a high-level of technical expertise, such as developing software or helping to oversee hospital patients' medical care, will continue to grow; as will lower-skilled jobs that nonetheless require a human touch, such as greeting customers or serving food.

Workers whose skills fall in between those two extremes -- such as clerks -- will also see additional opportunities, but not as many, as computers and robots become more and more adept at handling these tasks.

In all, 3 million jobs are expected to be created in both the high and low-wage markets over the next five years, while only 2 million are predicted in the mid-income market, the study reported.

For the study, low-wage jobs were defined as those that pay $14.17 or less per hour (about the $15 minimum wage gradually being implemented in some states and businesses), middle-wage jobs were defined as $14.18 to $23.59 per hour ($28,000-$46,000 a year) and high-wage jobs were defined as $23.24 per hour ($46,000 and above a year).

These are high-paying and low-paying jobs expected to grow the fastest between 2018 to 2023:

High-Wage Jobs

Software Developers, Applications

Growth rate: 16%

Median hourly earnings: $48.49

Market research analysts and marketing specialists

Growth rate: 12.6%

Median hourly earnings: $30.21%

Plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters

Growth rate: 8.58%

Median hourly earnings: $23.72

Registered nurses

Growth rate: 8.39%

Median hourly earnings: $33.55

Computer user support specialists

Growth rate: 7.48%

Median hourly earnings: $24.16

 

Middle-Wage Jobs

Medical assistants

Growth rate: 14.51%

Median hourly earnings: $15.62

Billing and posting clerk

Growth rate: 8.59%

Median hourly earnings: $17.85

Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses

Growth rate: 7.34%

Median hourly earnings: $21.56

Construction laborers

Growth rate: 6.56%

Median hourly earnings: $14.73

Maintenance and repair workers, general

Growth rate: 5.41%

Median hourly earnings: $18.08

 

Low-Wage Jobs

Home health aides

Growth rate: 22.42%

Median hourly earnings: $11.17

Cooks, restaurants

Growth rate: 7.46%

Median hourly earnings: $12.06

Nursing assistants

Growth rate: 6.33%

Median hourly earnings: $13.23

Receptionists and information clerks

Growth rate: 6.29%

Median hourly earnings: $13.70

Waiters and waitresses

Growth rate: 5.49%

Median hourly earnings: $10.01