Medical Assistant Job Outlook (Last Updated 2024)

If you are thinking of becoming a medical assistant (MA), learning as much as you can about the career is crucial. Here, you will find information about the overall medical assistant employment outlook for the next several years to help you better understand what the future might hold. You will also learn more about your work settings, work environment, work hours and the number of annual job openings. This information can help you determine whether a career as a medical assistant is right for you.

How many Medical Assistants are Currently Employed in the United States?

As of December 2018, there were a total of 646,320 MAs working in the United States across all specialties and work environments.

Which Healthcare Settings Hire the Highest Number of Medical Assistants?

Because of the very nature of a medical assistant’s job, which includes both clinical and clerical duties, you will be especially well-suited for assisting physicians. It should come as no surprise that more than half of all MAs work in doctors’ offices. Almost 91,000 MAs work in hospitals, and a little more than 54,000 work in other health care practitioners’ (mainly specialists’) offices.

Typical Medical Assisting Work Environment

The average medical assisting work environment will vary somewhat based upon your employer and your specialty. Your job may focus more on clerical duties, which means you will spend most of your time at a computer or on the phone. On the other hand, your duties may be more clinical in nature, which would require you to spend more time with patients.

If you work in an emergency room, you can expect the work environment to be fast-paced and sometimes even stressful. Conversely, if you work in a podiatrist’s office, you can expect a relatively predictable workday with a low to moderate amount of stress.

Typical Medical Assisting Working Hours

The hours you will work as a medical assistant will vary a great deal depending on your employer and your specialization. If you prefer working in maternity or emergency medicine, you will likely be required to work weekends, holidays, and overnights. MAs working in clinics or doctors’ offices tend to work only during the day and very few (if any) weekends or holidays.

What Does the Future Hold for Medical Assisting Jobs?

Medical assisting is expected to grow by a tremendous 29% in the 10-year span between 2016 and 2026. Numerous factors will drive this growth, including the anticipated growth of the US population. As the population increases, the number of people seeking care for various conditions and diseases will grow, as well– especially when coupled with more affordable access to health insurance.

Expected advances in technology and medical science, particularly in biomedicine, will also drive the need for medical assistants in the workforce. With each passing year, medical science allows for more affordable and effective treatments for common conditions like diabetes and cancer. In turn, this is expected to lead to the addition of some 184,000 new MA positions, required for providing support, in this 10-year span.

2019 Annual Job Openings Projection

The same factors driving the tremendous growth in the number of MAs employed across the United States along with a significant number of replacement positions will cause the annual medical assistant job openings to skyrocket. In fact, almost 95,000 new medical assistants will be needed each year to fill new positions and to replace MAs who retire or go on to further their education and career.

State Wise Medical Assistant Job Outlook Data

The average medical assistant salary and outlook between 2016 and 2026 varies somewhat based on the state in which you work. For example, Arizona and Utah will see tremendous growth while areas like Rhode Island and Illinois will see only marginal growth.

Medical Assistant Job Outlook Compared to Similar Allied Health Careers

Of all the various allied health careers in the US today, medical assisting’s growth of nearly 29% will be topped only by physical therapist assisting, which is expected to grow by more than 30% in the same decade-long period. Other health careers that are expected to grow a great deal include dental assisting (19.46%), dental hygienists (19.67%), phlebotomists (24.53%) and occupational therapy (28.21%). Some jobs will grow only marginally, such as psychiatric technicians (5.9%) and nursing assistants (11.48%).