Degree to Occupation Map
Occupations related to a medical assisting degree
NCES and BLS publish a crosswalk relating instructional programs to occupations. This page lists every occupation that crosswalk relates to medical assisting, with the BLS typical entry education, 2025 median wage and projected growth for each, and links to the RoleSprint page covering the role where one exists.
What occupations does the official crosswalk relate to a medical assisting degree?
The CIP 2020-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk published by NCES and BLS relates 14 CIP 2020 programs in medical assisting to 10 occupations. That maps a field of study to lines of work; it is not a statement that a medical assisting degree qualifies someone for any of them, and the crosswalk carries no figure for how many graduates enter each. Across the 9 with a published 2025 BLS wage the median is $50,290, ranging from $35,450 for Ambulance Drivers and Attendants, Except Emergency Medical Technicians to $107,310 for Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary. BLS typical entry-level education splits 3 at high school diploma or equivalent, 3 at postsecondary nondegree award, 2 at associate's degree, 1 at doctoral or professional degree: 8 at or below a bachelor's degree and 1 above it. Physical Therapist Assistants is projected to grow fastest at +23% over 2025-35. The highest-paid are Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary ($107,310), Occupational Therapy Assistants ($72,300) and Physical Therapist Assistants ($68,380).
- Related occupations
- 10, from 14 CIP 2020 programs in medical assisting
- What the mapping means
- NCES states only that it "crosswalks 2020 CIP Codes to 2018 SOC Codes". It relates a program to an occupation. It does not establish qualification, hiring, or how many graduates take that path.
- BLS typical entry-level education
- High school diploma or equivalent: 3; Postsecondary nondegree award: 3; Associate's degree: 2; Doctoral or professional degree: 1
- Median wage across these occupations
- $50,290 (2025); 9 of 10 have a published BLS wage
- Next step
- 5 of the 10 occupations have a dedicated RoleSprint page covering what the role requires and how the work is performed.
Source and method
2020 CIP / 2018 SOC Crosswalk, National Center for Education Statistics and Bureau of Labor Statistics, and BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2. Verified 2026-09-06. Program-to-occupation relationships are reproduced from the NCES/BLS crosswalk exactly as published; RoleSprint groups CIP programs into the field of study a person would search for and lists the union of their related occupations, showing every member CIP code. Wage, typical entry education and outlook are reproduced from BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2 for the matching SOC code. Working-condition figures are O*NET 30.3 means. No relationship strength, employment share or qualification judgement is published, because no source supplies one.
What this list is, and what it is not
The crosswalk's own description of itself is one sentence: “This file crosswalks 2020 CIP Codes to 2018 SOC Codes in ascending order by CIP Code.” It relates a field of study to lines of work.
It does not say a medical assisting degree qualifies anyone for these occupations, that graduates usually enter them, or what share do: the crosswalk publishes no such figure. The wage and education columns come from a separate source, BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, and describe the occupation rather than the degree. Typical entry education is what BLS observes most often among people already doing the work; it is not a rule about who may be hired.
The 10 related occupations
Ordered by BLS median wage, highest first. 9 of 10 have a published wage.
| Occupation | BLS typical entry-level education | Median wage | Outlook |
|---|---|---|---|
Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary SOC 25-1071 Contact with others 4.8 · Time pressure 3.8 · Sitting 3.9 · Outdoors, all weather 1.3 of 5 | Doctoral or professional degree Above bachelor's | $107,310 2025 median | +17.9% 2025-35 · 24.9 openings/yr |
Occupational Therapy Assistants SOC 31-2011 Contact with others 4.8 · Time pressure 4.7 · Sitting 2.1 · Outdoors, all weather 1.3 of 5 | Associate's degree At or below bachelor's | $72,300 2025 median | +21.5% 2025-35 · 8.1 openings/yr |
Physical Therapist Assistants SOC 31-2021 Contact with others 5.0 · Time pressure 3.5 · Sitting 2.2 · Outdoors, all weather 1.1 of 5 | Associate's degree At or below bachelor's | $68,380 2025 median | +23% 2025-35 · 18.5 openings/yr |
Surgical Technologists SOC 29-2055 Contact with others 4.7 · Time pressure 3.8 · Sitting 2.1 · Outdoors, all weather 1.0 of 5 | Postsecondary nondegree award At or below bachelor's | $64,650 2025 median | +5% 2025-35 · 7.1 openings/yr |
Neurodiagnostic Technologists SOC 29-2099 Contact with others 4.6 · Time pressure 4.3 · Sitting 3.3 · Outdoors, all weather 1.0 of 5 | Postsecondary nondegree award At or below bachelor's | $50,290 2025 median | +5.9% 2025-35 · 12.4 openings/yr |
Speech-Language Pathology Assistants SOC 31-9099 Contact with others 4.8 · Time pressure 3.5 · Sitting 3.6 · Outdoors, all weather 1.1 of 5 | High school diploma or equivalent At or below bachelor's | $48,430 2025 median | +4.8% 2025-35 · 14.1 openings/yr |
Pharmacy Technicians SOC 29-2052 Contact with others 4.8 · Time pressure 4.3 · Sitting 1.9 · Outdoors, all weather 1.1 of 5 | High school diploma or equivalent At or below bachelor's | $45,750 2025 median | +6.4% 2025-35 · 44.7 openings/yr |
Medical Assistants SOC 31-9092 Contact with others 5.0 · Time pressure 3.8 · Sitting 3.1 · Outdoors, all weather 1.0 of 5 | Postsecondary nondegree award At or below bachelor's | $45,690 2025 median | +12.9% 2025-35 · 109.7 openings/yr |
Ambulance Drivers and Attendants, Except Emergency Medical Technicians SOC 53-3011 Contact with others 4.7 · Time pressure 3.8 · Sitting 3.2 · Outdoors, all weather 4.2 of 5 | High school diploma or equivalent At or below bachelor's | $35,450 2025 median | -1.3% 2025-35 · 1.4 openings/yr |
Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians SOC 29-2012 Contact with others 4.4 · Time pressure 3.8 · Sitting 3.1 · Outdoors, all weather 1.0 of 5 | Not published | Not published | Not published |
BLS typical entry-level education for these occupations
8 of the 10 have a BLS typical entry-level education at or below a bachelor's degree; 1 are above it. "Typical" is BLS's word: it describes the workers already in the occupation.
- High school diploma or equivalent
- 3
- Postsecondary nondegree award
- 3
- Associate's degree
- 2
- Doctoral or professional degree
- 1
This is BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2's description of the education most workers in each occupation typically hold when they enter it. It is not a list of requirements, and it says nothing about licences, certifications or experience, which BLS records separately and this page does not show.
Which programs this covers
“Medical assisting” groups 14 CIP 2020 instructional programs. The occupation list above is the union of everything the crosswalk relates to them.
- 51.0801 Medical/Clinical Assistant
- 51.0802 Clinical/Medical Laboratory Assistant
- 51.0803 Occupational Therapist Assistant
- 51.0805 Pharmacy Technician/Assistant
- 51.0806 Physical Therapy Assistant
- 51.0809 Anesthesiologist Assistant
- 51.0810 Emergency Care Attendant (EMT Ambulance)
- 51.0811 Pathology/Pathologist Assistant
- 51.0812 Respiratory Therapy Technician/Assistant
- 51.0813 Chiropractic Technician/Assistant
- 51.0814 Radiologist Assistant
- 51.0815 Lactation Consultant
- 51.0816 Speech-Language Pathology Assistant
- 51.0899 Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services, Other
Grouping is RoleSprint's, and it is printed here so it can be checked. CIP's own grain is finer than the phrase anyone searches; the alternative is one page per code, which would put near-identical lists in front of the same question. How this map is built.
Working out which of these is realistic
A related occupation is a starting point, not a verdict. Three different questions decide whether one is worth pursuing, and each has its own page.
Program-to-occupation relationships from the 2020 CIP / 2018 SOC Crosswalk, National Center for Education Statistics and Bureau of Labor Statistics. Wage, typical entry education and outlook from BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2. Working-condition figures from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license; O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA and RoleSprint has modified some of this information.
What to do next
A crosswalk relates a field of study to lines of work. Whether one specific opening is worth your time depends on what you can actually show, which is a different question and the one RoleSprint answers.