Professional certifications and licenses are common in some U.S. careers but much less common in others. In the 2024 annual average, 24.0% of employed people age 16 and over had a certification or license; the Occupational Requirements Survey separately found that 22.9% of civilian workers were in jobs requiring one in 2025. These measures describe different things: a worker’s credential status versus a job requirement.
Contents
- Workforce prevalence
- Occupations with the highest rates
- Occupations with lower rates
- Industry differences
- Worker-class differences
- Credential requirements and preparation time
Workforce prevalence
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that 24.0% of employed people age 16 and over in the United States had a certification or license in the 2024 annual average. This included 2.4% who had a certification but no license and 21.6% who had a license. The figures come from Certification and licensing status of the employed by occupation.
Rates were much higher in professional and related occupations. Of 40.142 million workers in that broad occupational group, 43.6% had a certification or license, including 3.4% with a certification but no license. Among 30.602 million workers in management, business, and financial operations occupations, the rate was 21.0%.
Job requirements provide a related but not interchangeable view. The BLS Occupational Requirements Survey reported in 2025 that 22.9% of U.S. civilian workers were in jobs requiring a license or certification. It also reported that 6.5% were in jobs requiring an educational certificate and 1.2% were in jobs requiring an apprenticeship. These are job-level requirement measures, not estimates of how many workers personally hold each credential. See the BLS Credentials fact sheet.
Occupations with the highest rates
Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations had the highest listed rate: 75.0% of 10.475 million workers had a certification or license in the 2024 annual average. Legal occupations followed at 65.2% among 1.832 million workers. Education, training, and library occupations had a rate of 50.8% among 9.587 million workers.
The remaining higher-rate groups were below one-half but still above the all-worker rate of 24.0% in several cases:
| Occupation | Workers | With certification or license |
|---|---|---|
| Community and social services | 2.950 million | 39.4% |
| Protective service | 3.110 million | 34.7% |
| Personal care and service | 4.055 million | 34.6% |
| Life, physical, and social science | 1.877 million | 24.0% |
| Architecture and engineering | 3.552 million | 21.2% |
The occupation data show why a single national rate can conceal substantial career differences. A worker considering healthcare, legal work, or education encounters a credential environment that is materially different from the one in many office, production, or service occupations. The BLS occupation table identifies these as 2024 annual averages; it does not establish that a credential caused a particular employment outcome.
Occupations with lower rates
Several large occupational groups reported certification-or-license rates below 20% in the 2024 annual average. Sales and related occupations had a rate of 16.2% among 14.090 million workers. Transportation and material moving occupations stood at 17.1% among 11.930 million workers, while construction and extraction occupations stood at 17.3% among 8.520 million workers.
Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations were higher at 22.0% among 4.901 million workers, but remained below the all-worker rate. Other listed rates were lower:
- Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media: 10.6% of 3.483 million workers.
- Office and administrative support: 10.4% of 15.795 million workers.
- Production: 9.6% of 7.944 million workers.
- Farming, fishing, and forestry: 8.8% of 970,000 workers.
- Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance: 7.4% of 5.770 million workers.
- Food preparation and serving related occupations: 7.2% of 8.061 million workers.
These percentages describe the share with a certification or license, not the share with no training or professional development. They also combine certifications and licenses in one measure unless the source specifically separates them.
Industry differences
Industry patterns also varied considerably. In the 2024 annual average, education and health services had the highest listed industry rate: 45.8% of 37.130 million workers had a certification or license. Financial activities followed at 31.8% of 10.887 million workers, and public administration at 30.2% of 8.107 million workers.
| Industry | Workers | With certification or license |
|---|---|---|
| Education and health services | 37.130 million | 45.8% |
| Financial activities | 10.887 million | 31.8% |
| Public administration | 8.107 million | 30.2% |
| Other services | 7.743 million | 26.2% |
| Transportation and utilities | 9.838 million | 20.5% |
| Professional and business services | 21.323 million | 19.8% |
| Construction | 12.027 million | 19.6% |
| Agriculture and related industries | 2.254 million | 13.1% |
The lower listed industry rates were 10.3% in wholesale trade among 3.182 million workers, 9.6% in retail trade among 16.327 million workers, 9.6% in information among 2.821 million workers, 9.3% in manufacturing among 15.023 million workers, and 8.9% in leisure and hospitality among 14.108 million workers. These figures are from the BLS report Certification and licensing status of the employed by industry and class of worker, 2024 annual averages.
Industry and occupation are not the same classification. A single industry can contain many occupations with different credential patterns, so the industry percentage should not be used as a direct substitute for the rate of a specific job.
Worker-class differences
The 2024 annual averages also differed by class of worker. Government workers had a certification-or-license rate of 38.9% across 21.791 million workers. Within government, the rate was 45.4% among 10.057 million local government workers and 38.3% among 7.546 million state government workers. Federal government workers had a rate of 24.1% among 4.187 million workers.
Private-industry workers had a rate of 21.4% among 129.561 million workers. Unincorporated self-employed workers were at 26.2% among 9.920 million workers. The worker-class figures help distinguish employment setting from occupation: a government worker may be in a highly regulated occupation, but the class-of-worker rate itself does not identify which credentials are held.
The contrast between local government and private industry is notable in the reported figures, but it should be read descriptively. The source presents annual-average shares and worker counts; it does not provide a causal explanation for the difference.
Credential requirements and preparation time
The BLS Occupational Requirements Survey provides more specific detail for selected occupations in 2023. It reports both the share of workers with a license requirement and, where available, the share for whom associated time was reported. The time measure is therefore not automatically available for every worker in the occupation.
Insurance sales agents had a license requirement for 81.0% of workers. Associated license time was reported for 48.0% of workers, and the median requirement among those with associated time was 6.5 days. Nursing assistants had a license requirement for 67.3% of workers; associated time was reported for 26.0%, with a median requirement of 15.0 days.
Pharmacy technicians had a license requirement for 71.0% of workers. Associated time was reported for 11.6% of workers, and the median requirement among that group was 62.5 days. The relatively small associated-time coverage is important when interpreting the median: it describes the reported-time subset, not necessarily every pharmacy technician.
The requirements were nearly universal for two occupations in the 2023 data. Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists had a license requirement for 99.5% of workers, with a median associated requirement of 187.5 days among workers with associated license time. Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses had a license requirement for 99.0% of workers. Associated time was reported for 11.6%, and the median requirement among that subset was 365.0 days.
Electricians had a license requirement for 35.8% of workers. Associated time was reported for 24.7%, and the median requirement among workers with associated license time was 1,460 days. The BLS source labels these measurements as 2023 Occupational Requirements Survey results in its Credentials publication.
These preparation-time figures are reported medians for selected license requirements, not promises about how long an individual will need to qualify. The coverage percentages show why prospective workers should check the occupation, jurisdiction, and credential pathway that applies to their own situation.