Health care
BY JESSICA MCLAREN
Last year, the Austin-area job market grew faster than any other major metro in the country—adding 27,200 jobs in 2025, which represents 2% year- over-year growth, according to an April 2026 report from Opportunity Austin. The health care industry is among the fastest- growing, and is expected to grow 2.4% annually, adding about 6,780 workers per year, said Ashley King, director of health care partnerships at Workforce Solutions Capital Area. As of November, the education and health services sector had added 4,100 jobs, or 2.5% growth, from the prior year, according to Opportunity Austin’s January 2026 economic indicators. Meanwhile, the information sector, which includes most of Austin’s tech workforce, declined 2.4%, or about 1,200 jobs, during the same time frame, according to the report. King said the health care sector cannot train workers fast enough to ll the jobs being created. Health care drives area job market
What’s next
Austin-area job gains or losses by industry From November 2024-November 2025, the following sectors experienced the biggest job gains and losses.
ACC, Hays CISD, P ugerville ISD and regional health care partners formally launched the Central Texas Healthcare Academy on May 11. About 560 students are enrolled for the free dual credit program this fall, which ACC said serves seven high schools across HCISD and PfISD. Graduates can enter the workforce directly or continue into ACC’s associate degree programs. “Central Texas Healthcare Academy cannot address the bottleneck of clinical placements directly but will give high school students an opportunity for hands-on training in high school that will accelerate their education,” King said.
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Students in the academy begin taking classes in ninth grade across ve career tracks: Health care courses
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SOURCE: OPPORTUNITY AUSTIN COMMUNITY IMPACT
Professional nursing
What’s happening?
Diagnostic medical imaging
enrollment data. Texas also did not fund its nurse preceptor grant program, which funds hospitals to train nursing students through hands-on clinical supervision, in the state budget, according to the Texas Hospital Association. “Clinical placement space is the main barrier to growing our health science programs,” King said. “There is not a lack of people who want to enter health care careers.”
Nursing programs across the country turned away 93,176 quali ed applications in 2025—a record high—primarily due to insu cient clinical placement sites, faculty shortages and limited classroom space, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. Despite the hurdles, health sciences was the fastest-growing area of study at Austin Community College in fall 2025, with enrollment up 18.3%—the largest increase of any program area—according to
Surgical technology
Health information technology
Paramedic
SOURCE: AUSTIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE COMMUNITY IMPACT
Spot the Hidden Signs of Back & Neck Pain Did you know that weakness and numbness in a foot or hand are emergency symptoms for back and neck pain that need to be seen promptly to prevent them from becoming permanent? If you have back or neck pain symptoms, Texas Spine & Scoliosis has 3 non-surgical spine MDs and 5 fellowship-trained spine surgeons to get you back to activity quickly. SPINE SURGEONS: Alex Cruz, MD • Matthew Geck, MD • Rory Mayer, MD • John Stokes, MD • Eeric Truumees, MD NON-SURGICAL SPINE CARE: Eric Mayer, MD • Lee Moroz, MD • Enrique Pena , MD
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Radiating pain into an arm Numbness or Weakness in arm Radiating pain into leg Numbness or Weakness in leg Weakness in a foot – “foot drop”
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Any weakness or numbness in an arm or leg, or loss of control of bowel or bladder, are emergency symptoms and should be seen by a spine specialist promptly. +
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