Where Medical Assistant Jobs Are Growing in 2026 (and How to Train for Them)

A 500-job forecast in Southeast Minnesota shows how medical assistant demand fits into a broader healthcare support labor market. Minnesota DEED projects 500 added positions across five roles including medical assistants by 2032, but retirements and transfers push total regional hires to 9,250, the Post Bulletin reported.

Nationally, medical assistant employment is projected to grow 13% from 2025 to 2035, with the largest pay and job clusters concentrated in California and Washington. That geography, more than the national average, determines where an MA credential translates into stronger wages and faster hiring.

What Southeast Minnesota's Healthcare Support Forecast Tells Us

New positions are the headline, but total hires are the real job market. The Post Bulletin reports that Minnesota DEED projects 500 new healthcare support positions through 2032 across nursing assistants, medical assistants, dental assistants, physical therapy assistants and occupational therapy assistants. Yet the same story points to about 9,250 total hires in the 11-county Southeast Minnesota region over the same period.

Why hires outpace new jobs

The gap comes from churn: retirements, labor-market exits and people transferring to other occupations all create openings that never show up as brand-new jobs.¹ For someone training now, that means the actual door into a role is wider than the growth rate suggests.

Where the wages and training sit

The five roles pay median hourly wages from $22.92 to $33.42, and each requires post-secondary non-degree training or an associate's degree. Growth varies sharply: physical therapy assistants are projected at 20.8%, occupational therapy assistants at 24%, while nursing assistants sit at 2.6%.¹ The Post Bulletin names medical assistants but gives no MA-specific growth rate, and current DEED results do not publish that figure for Southeast Minnesota; the regional healthcare support group shows 9.6% growth and 24,316 total openings for 2022-2032.¹

Untangling the 12%, 12.9% and 13% Medical Assistant Growth Figures

For national medical assistant demand in 2026, the number to quote is 13 percent. That is the Bureau of Labor Statistics' current 2025 to 2035 projection, and it is the cleanest benchmark because it covers the same 10-year window, the same occupation, and the same methodology.

Why the numbers seem to conflict

You may see 12% or 12.9% in older tables or survey-based write-ups. They usually reflect a different projection period, a different base-year employment estimate, or rounding before the final publication. The most recent national employment count used here is about 817,900, an approximate 2025 figure, while the BLS projection model uses its own 2025 base and expects 941,500 jobs by 2035, a gain of 107,600.

Growth vs. replacement openings

The 109,700 average annual openings are the practical number for job seekers. That total includes both new positions and replacement openings from retirements, transfers, and labor-force exits. BLS does not publish a separate replacement-only share for medical assistants, but replacement needs are expected to account for a large portion of those openings. If you cite one figure, use 13% projected growth from 2025 to 2035, because it is the current national BLS projection and the most direct answer to the job outlook question. Pair it with about 109,700 average annual openings to capture actual hiring volume.

Where Medical Assistant Jobs Cluster and Pay the Most by State

BLS 2025 data shows medical assistant pay and employment vary widely by state. California combines the largest employment base, 117,060 jobs, with median annual pay near $49,660, while Washington tops the pay list at $59,290. California's 2024 to 2034 projection adds 23% growth and 17,580 annual openings, though comparable state-level rankings are not consistently available, and pay should be weighed against local cost of living.

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Clinics, Hospitals and Specialty Practices: Where MA Hiring Is Concentrated

Where you work as a medical assistant shapes the pace, the skills you use daily, and how much you earn.

Offices of physicians

About 56% of medical assistants work in physician offices, the largest setting. Median annual pay is $45,520. The days usually follow a scheduled outpatient rhythm: rooming patients, taking vitals, updating charts, and running point-of-care tests. It is a strong entry-level environment because the work is repetitive enough to build confidence.

Hospitals

Hospitals employ about 17% of MAs and pay a bit more: $46,910. Hospital roles often involve inpatient units, emergency departments, or hospital-based clinics. The pace is more variable; you may support procedures, coordinate discharges, or float between units. Prior experience in a busy clinic helps here.

Outpatient care centers

Outpatient care centers hold 10% of MA jobs and pay the highest median among the broad settings at $48,560. These include surgical centers, dialysis centers, and community health clinics. The pace can be fast but focused, with less overnight or weekend work than hospitals.

Urgent care and specialty clinics

Urgent care and specialty clinic wages are not reported separately in the BLS data used here. Urgent care tends to mirror a fast-paced physician office with expanded hours; specialty clinics vary by practice but often rely on MAs for procedure setup and prior authorizations.

Entry vs experienced

Physician offices are the most common starting point. Outpatient care centers and hospitals often reward experienced MAs with higher pay and more specialized tasks.

Is There Really a Medical Assistant Shortage? What Vacancy Data Shows

Demand is strong, but crisis claims need evidence. Online job postings for medical assistants across the U.S. reached 20,586 in May 2026, up 10.1% from December 2025.¹ In Orange County, California, employers posted 9,860 MA openings in 2025², with projected job growth of 10% plus annual replacement openings that keep the pipeline busy.

Regional differences can change the story. North Carolina employers reported time-to-fill up to 10 weeks in 2026, with rural and western areas hit hardest, yet only 4% of healthcare provider hiring was for new positions.³ That suggests many vacancies come from turnover rather than true expansion, so entry-level applicants may still face competition for the exact job they want.

Employer surveys show pressure at the practice level. A May 2026 MGMA Stat poll found 56% of medical practices said hiring had become more difficult over the previous year, and nearly half of practice leaders identified medical assistants as the hardest staff role to recruit in May 2025.⁴ Broader data points the same direction: healthcare postings were 22.6% above pre-pandemic levels in late October 2025, while overall postings were only 1.7% above.

What the data doesn't show is an official national MA vacancy rate. The U.S. labor market overall had about 0.71 hires per job opening in August 2026, but that figure spans every occupation, not just medical assisting.

Does CMA or CCMA Certification Change Your Hiring Odds and Pay?

Certification changes the hiring conversation before it changes your paycheck. The BLS does not publish credentialed and non-credentialed MA data separately, so the clearest evidence comes from employer and certifying-body surveys.

Who Prefers Which Credential

The National Healthcareer Association's 2026 employer survey found 75% of clinical medical assistant employers require certification, 19% encourage it, and 78% use it in screening. Large academic employers such as Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic often list CMA (AAMA) as preferred and report hourly premiums of roughly $2 to $3. Retail and corporate clinics such as CVS MinuteClinic and Walgreens post CCMA (NHA) more often, with reported premiums around $1 to $2 per hour. Many postings accept CMA, RMA, or CCMA together. For eligibility, CMA's standard path requires a high school diploma or GED plus a CAAHEP- or ABHES-accredited program, while CCMA routes often allow a high school diploma or GED plus program or work experience.

What Certification Adds

AAMA's 2025 survey showed current CMA holders averaging $23.55 per hour versus $22.61 for non-CMA assistants, a $0.94 gap that does not control for experience, region, or setting. A separate 2025 MGMA estimate placed the certified premium at about 4 to 6 percent. That is meaningful over time but not a dramatic pay jump.

A Floor, Not a Ceiling

Southeast Minnesota's DEED forecast projects physical therapy assistant growth at 20.8% and occupational therapy assistant growth at 24% by 2032. If faster projected growth is your goal, CMA or CCMA certification can open the MA door, but those associate-degree therapy roles may offer a higher ceiling.

Moving up: MA-to-RN Routes Compared

For medical assistants weighing a move into registered nursing, the three main routes are an associate degree in nursing (ADN), a bachelor of science in nursing (BSN), or an LPN to RN bridge. All three lead to the same RN licensure and a median annual salary of $97,550 (May 2025), well above the medical assistant median of $45,690. The main differences are time commitment and prerequisites.