Career
Paramedics
Provide advanced emergency care before the hospital.
$60,600
Median pay
+5.7%
Job growth, 2025–35
4,300
Openings a year
Postsecondary nondegree award
Typical education
Under 2 years
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Perform emergency cardiac care, such as cardioversion and manual defibrillation.
- Perform emergency invasive intervention before delivering patient to an acute care facility.
- Coordinate work with other emergency medical team members or police or fire department personnel.
- Assess nature and extent of illness or injury to establish and prioritize medical procedures.
- Comfort and reassure patients.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on people & care, then objects & tools?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Perform emergency cardiac care, such as cardioversion and manual defibrillation.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Service Orientation, Critical Thinking, Coordination, Social Perceptiveness.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
Under 2 years of education after high school (postsecondary nondegree award), for a median of $60,600 a year and 4,300 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- Allied Health ProfessionsSee the degree →
- Emergency Medical Technology/Technician (EMT Paramedic)CIP 51.0904
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Emergency Medical Technicians$44,470 · +5.8%
- Registered Nurses$97,550 · +5.6%
- Acute Care Nurses
- Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses$64,400 · +3.0%
- Critical Care Nurses
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.