These are the Fastest Growing Jobs in Illinois for 2017

If 2017 is the year you've decided to change/begin your career, you're probably hoping to make a change into a job with opportunities for growth and advancement, along with a better paycheck. What careers in Illinois would fit in with your game plan?

The career expert website, Zippia took a look at projected job growth data here in Illinois to determine the 10 fastest growing jobs in our state for 2017.

Here's what they came up with (the 1st number indicates growth percentage, the 2nd number show average wage for that job, and the 3rd number is a projection for how many of those jobs will be around in 2024):

1 Operations Research Analysts 33.16%/ $86,200/ 5,100
2 Web Developers 32.42%/ $73,830/ 6,740
3 Software Developers, Applications 26.16%/ $91,020/ 36,990
4 Home Health Aides 25.62%/ $23,640/ 40,840
5 Occupational Therapy Aides 25.0%/ $25,670/ 1,350
6 Veterinary Technologists and Technicians 24.73%/ $32,940/ 4,640
7 Nurse Practitioners 24.53%/ $90,620/ 7,920
8 Computer Systems Analysts 24.49%/ $88,390/ 28,010
9 Occupational Therapy Assistants 24.31%/ $59,590/ 1,790
10 Software Developers, Systems Software 22.83%/ $104,860/ 17,160

Zippia's criteria for their jobs list is pretty straightforward:

Every couple of years each state’s Department of Labor works in conjunction with the Bureau of Labor Statistics to compile projections for job growth by occupation. The government last completed this research in 2014 with projections going out until 2024.

Because this is America and the government never makes it easy, we had to gather the data from all the states individually to develop a master database.

We then identified the occupations in Illinois that are projected to have at least 1,000 workers in 2024 so that the jobs will still be relevant.

Before you turn your nose up at any of those gigs, just keep in mind, that to most of us, the jobs listed above would be a whole lot better than the ones below:

To read Zippia's full report on the fastest growing jobs in Illinois, click here.