As the largest industry in 2002, health services provided 12.9 million jobs-12.5 million jobs for wage and salary workers and about 382,000 jobs for the self-employed. Of the 12.5 million wage and salary jobs, more than 40 percent were in hospitals; another 22 percent were in either nursing or residential care facilities; and almost 16 percent were in offices of physicians. About 92 percent of wage and salary jobs were in private industry; the rest were in State and local government hospitals. The majority of jobs for self-employed workers were in offices of physicians, dentists, and other health practitioners-about 265,000 out of the 382,000 total self-employed.

Health services jobs are found throughout the country, but are concentrated in the largest States-in particular, California, New York, Florida, Texas, and Pennsylvania.

Workers in health services tend to be older than workers in other industries. They also are more likely to remain employed in the same occupation, due, in part, to the high level of education and training required for many health occupations.