Growth Occupations in Arkansas thru 2030
Fast Food and Counter Workers with a numeric change of 6,590 jobs, is projected to be the top growing occupation thru 2030. Home health and Personal Care Aides is slated to add 6,445 to its workforce. In all, the top 20 growing occupations for the 2020-2030 projection period are expected to add 54,318 jobs to the Arkansas job market.
| SOC Code | SOC Title | 2020 Estimated Employment | 2030 Projected Employment | Numeric Change |
| 35-3023 | Fast Food and Counter Workers | 36,376 | 42,966 | 6,590 |
| 31-1120 | Home Health and Personal Care Aides | 21,902 | 28,347 | 6,445 |
| 35-2014 | Cooks, Restaurant | 9,277 | 14,080 | 4,803 |
| 35-3031 | Waiters and Waitresses | 17,013 | 20,639 | 3,626 |
| 53-3032 | Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers | 38,782 | 41,838 | 3,056 |
| 53-7065 | Stockers and Order Fillers | 20,212 | 22,911 | 2,699 |
| 11-1021 | General and Operations Managers | 22,345 | 25,044 | 2,699 |
| 35-1012 | First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers | 10,492 | 12,876 | 2,384 |
| 29-1141 | Registered Nurses | 25,892 | 28,236 | 2,344 |
| 41-3021 | Insurance Sales Agents | 9,747 | 11,749 | 2,002 |
| 41-2031 | Retail Salespersons | 37,390 | 39,307 | 1,917 |
| 53-7062 | Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand | 20,378 | 22,278 | 1,900 |
| 53-3058 | Passenger Vehicle Drivers, Except Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity | 8,413 | 10,308 | 1,895 |
| 15-1256 | Software Developers and Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers | 8,699 | 10,581 | 1,882 |
| 11-9111 | Medical and Health Services Managers | 5,801 | 7,667 | 1,866 |
| 49-9041 | Industrial Machinery Mechanics | 7,069 | 8,894 | 1,825 |
| 37-2011 | Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners | 21,190 | 22,837 | 1,647 |
| 31-1131 | Nursing Assistants | 18,428 | 20,051 | 1,623 |
| 45-2093 | Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals | 5,726 | 7,328 | 1,602 |
| 29-1171 | Nurse Practitioners | 2,800 | 4,313 | 1,513 |
The fastest growing occupation thru 2030 is projected to be Nurse Practitioners with 54.04 percent change expected. Cooks, Restaurant is slated to be second with a 51.77 percent change. Six of the occupations on this list are directly connected to the healthcare field. The average percent change among these top 20 fastest growing occupations is 37.93 percent.
| SOC Code | SOC Title | 2020 Estimated Employment | 2030 Projected Employment | Percent Change |
| 29-1171 | Nurse Practitioners | 2,800 | 4,313 | 54.04% |
| 35-2014 | Cooks, Restaurant | 9,277 | 14,080 | 51.77% |
| 13-1131 | Fundraisers | 1,187 | 1,752 | 47.60% |
| 31-2011 | Occupational Therapy Assistants | 341 | 490 | 43.70% |
| 39-3031 | Ushers, Lobby Attendants, and Ticket Takers | 568 | 814 | 43.31% |
| 15-2031 | Operations Research Analysts | 364 | 505 | 38.74% |
| 29-1127 | Speech-Language Pathologists | 2,029 | 2,814 | 38.69% |
| 31-2021 | Physical Therapist Assistants | 1,425 | 1,956 | 37.26% |
| 39-7010 | Tour and Travel Guides | 272 | 372 | 36.76% |
| 25-2011 | Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education | 3,817 | 5,208 | 36.44% |
| 25-4012 | Curators | 113 | 154 | 36.28% |
| 17-2131 | Materials Engineers | 159 | 216 | 35.85% |
| 13-1081 | Logisticians | 1,719 | 2,316 | 34.73% |
| 15-1212 | Information Security Analysts | 850 | 1,136 | 33.65% |
| 29-9098 | Health Information Technologists, Medical Registrars, Surgical Assistants, & Healthcare Practitioners, AO | 3,192 | 4,264 | 33.58% |
| 11-9111 | Medical and Health Services Managers | 5,801 | 7,667 | 32.17% |
| 29-1071 | Physician Assistants | 589 | 776 | 31.75% |
| 15-2041 | Statisticians | 507 | 666 | 31.36% |
| 35-3011 | Bartenders | 1,819 | 2,376 | 30.62% |
| 13-1075 | Labor Relations Specialists | 431 | 562 | 30.39% |
