Career Explorer Healthcare (clinical)
Human edge, growing
Hearing aid specialists
Select and fit hearing aids for customers. Administer and interpret tests of hearing. Assess hearing instrument efficacy. Take ear impressions and prepare, design, and modify ear molds.
Among the most resilient careers: more resilient than 89% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is low (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it moderate), and US jobs are projected to change by +19.4% by 2035, much faster than average. The work leans on emotional intelligence and physical dexterity.
AI struggles with much of this work, and US employers are expected to hire more people into it than average.
- Median pay (2025)
- $65,160
- Job growth to 2035
- +19.4%
- Openings a year
- 900
- People doing it (2025)
- 11,200
- Usual route in
- High school diploma, then moderate on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Advise patients or clients on medical issues
- Counsel others about personal matters
- Maintain current knowledge in area of expertise
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Administer diagnostic tests to assess patient health
- Train others to use equipment or products
- Adjust medical equipment to ensure adequate performance
What the work looks like
- Train clients to use hearing aids or other augmentative communication devices.
- Counsel patients and families on communication strategies and the effects of hearing loss.
- Select and administer tests to evaluate hearing or related disabilities.
- Administer basic hearing tests including air conduction, bone conduction, or speech audiometry tests.
- Maintain or repair hearing aids or other communication devices.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- More of these jobs, as an aging population increases the demand for hearing aids. Retailers will increasingly employ hearing aid specialists to dispense these devices.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Dental assistantsHuman edge, growing, Index 97, +7.4%
- Surgical technologistsHuman edge, growing, Index 90, +5.0%
- Veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakersHuman edge, growing, Index 95, +9.1%
- Ophthalmic medical techniciansHuman edge, growing, Index 97, +21.4%
Also known as: Hearing Aid Specialist, Hearing Instrument Dispenser, Hearing Instrument Specialist (HIS), Hearing Specialist, Audioprosthologist, Hearing Aid Consultant, Hearing Care Practitioner, Hearing Care Specialist.
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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.