Healthcare Jobs in San Diego, CA

Observed local government pay is strong: BLS lists healthcare practitioners and technical occupations in San Diego at $65.23 per hour in May 2025, with annual 2025 wages around $80,110 at the 25th percentile, $126,810 at the median, $167,590 at the 75th percentile, and $212,360 at the 90th percentile. In the more current local posting sample, advertised pay centers on about $125k to $177k, with hourly postings around about $58 to $73 / hour.

Full September 2026 market report

Advertised pay

Across the 332 openings that disclose pay, the advertised range midpoint runs $113,100 at the 25th percentile, $140,400 at the median and $164,289 at the 75th. These are advertised ranges, not earned pay.

Active openings as of November 10, 2026

Senior roles | Entry level | Remote | Posted this week

Live from the Callings.ai index of over 13 million postings, refreshed hourly and re-checked here nightly. Roles that close are dropped at the next refresh.

Showing 30 of 250+ openings.

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What our analysts see this month

Balanced market | next 3-6 months

San Diego is a good but selective market for licensed healthcare practitioners over the next 3-6 months. Local education and health services employment reached 285.8 thousand in August 2026, up 4.4591% year over year, while metro unemployment was 4.9%. The practitioner group is still large and well paid, with about 87,050 workers and a $126,810 median annual wage in annual 2025 BLS data, and the recent local posting sample shows more than 750 openings across more than 200 companies. But California-wide postings for healthcare practitioners were down 7.3% year over year even as employment in the occupation group rose 1.9%, which points to real demand but fewer advertised openings than a year ago.

Best positioned: Your odds are best if you already hold an active California license and can show recent specialty depth in acute care, especially operating room, ICU/critical care, or labor and delivery, plus current BLS/CPR or ACLS and strong documentation or EHR examples.

Main caution: The biggest trap is assuming broad healthcare demand means easy entry: the region produces around 2,000 new RNs each year but only 300 of the identified in-demand RN roles are for new graduates, and licensing delays have already pushed at least one local RN start to March 2027.

From the September 2026 market report

Who is hiring here

Counted across all 364 openings in this market. 10 of the employers below are hiring for more than one role right now.

1. Sharp: 22 open roles
2. Rady Children's Hospital San Diego: 21 open roles
3. UC San Diego Health: 21 open roles
4. Scripps Health: 20 open roles
5. Scripps Health: 13 open roles
6. Kaiser Permanente: 11 open roles
7. American Family Care: 8 open roles
8. Paradise Valley Hospital, Inc.: 8 open roles
9. University of California San Diego: 8 open roles
10. Cheer Home Care, LLC: 7 open roles

Where the openings are

• San Diego: 231
• Encinitas: 24
• National City: 22
• Chula Vista: 20
• El Cajon: 18
• La Mesa: 12
• La Jolla: 7
• Poway: 5

Work arrangement

on-site 330 (94%), hybrid 19 (5%), remote 1 (0%)

Where the demand is

Most real opportunity is concentrated inside large care delivery systems rather than a single dominant employer. In the recent local posting sample, hospitals and health care accounted for about 45% of postings and another about 35% came from healthcare organizations more broadly, while medical practices and colleges or universities were much smaller slices. The named employer list is long rather than winner-take-all: UC San Diego Health and Sharp each showed more than 40 postings, University of California San Diego and Rady Children's Hospital San Diego each showed more than 30, and Family Health Centers Of San Diego, Inc. showed more than 20. The easiest way to miss this market is to search only by occupation title. The strongest near-term demand signal is still nursing-related, especially in operating room, ICU or critical care, and labor-and-delivery tracks, but the market is much less forgiving for brand-new clinicians; the region produces around 2,000 new RNs a year while only 300 of the identified in-demand RN roles are for new graduates. That means experienced clinicians should aim for service-line fit, while newer candidates should target structured entry paths, outpatient employers, and bridge roles instead of waiting on one perfect hospital posting.

• Hospital-based specialty care (high): This is the clearest opportunity cluster. Hospitals and health care make up about 45% of the local posting mix, and employer surveys flag operating room, ICU or critical care, and labor-and-delivery nursing as priority specialty needs.
• Integrated health systems and academic or pediatric employers (high): Large recurring buyers include UC San Diego Health, Sharp, University of California San Diego, and Rady Children's Hospital San Diego, which gives experienced candidates multiple high-volume targets rather than one must-win employer.
• Community and ambulatory care (moderate): Family Health Centers Of San Diego, Inc. appears among the more active local employers, and earlier county job growth was helped by ambulatory healthcare services.
• New-graduate generalist pathways (limited): This is the tightest part of the market because only 300 of the identified in-demand RN roles are for new graduates despite around 2,000 local RN graduates each year.

Where to focus: If you can pick only one lane, focus on on-site specialty openings inside large hospital systems and prove a direct match on acuity, workflow, and certification rather than applying broadly by title.

Roles worth searching next

• Clinical Research Coordinator: It is a realistic bridge for practitioners who know patient workflows, protocol adherence, and documentation but are facing a slow bedside search.
• Clinical Documentation Integrity Specialist: This fits clinicians who are strong at chart review, compliance, and translating care into accurate records.
• Care Coordinator or Utilization Review Specialist: These roles use clinical judgment, patient education, and discharge-planning logic without requiring the same bedside intensity.
• EHR Trainer or Clinical Informatics Analyst: Good option for clinicians who are stronger at workflow, adoption, and documentation systems than at traditional unit-based practice.
• Medical Device Clinical Specialist: This path still rewards patient-facing credibility and procedure-room understanding while moving closer to product and field support.

What postings ask for

• Active California clinical license (table_stakes | immediate): Licensure timing is a real gating factor right now; California processing delays left hundreds of nursing graduates waiting for exam eligibility, and at least one San Diego RN start was deferred until March 2027. Who: New grads, relocators, and anyone whose status could slow onboarding.
• BLS or CPR certification (table_stakes | immediate): These are among the most commonly requested certifications in local practitioner postings and are the simplest screen-outs to fix early. Who: Entry-level candidates and experienced clinicians changing settings.
• ACLS (differentiator | immediate): ACLS appears less often than BLS or CPR, which is exactly why it can help acute-care applicants stand out for higher-acuity openings. Who: Hospital-facing candidates, especially nurses and advanced practice clinicians.
• Clinical documentation and EHR fluency (differentiator | immediate): Clinical documentation is one of the most-requested skills in local postings, and local skill signals also point to EHR proficiency as a recurring demand area. Who: Everyone, especially candidates whose experience is strong but older or harder to translate on paper.
• Patient assessment and treatment planning (table_stakes | immediate): Patient assessment and treatment planning both appear near the top of requested hard skills in the local posting mix, making them core proof points in interviews and resume bullets. Who: All direct-care practitioners, particularly those moving between care settings.
• Acute-care specialty depth in OR, ICU or critical care, or labor and delivery (premium | immediate): Regional employer research identifies these as the highest-priority nursing specialty needs, so specialty fit can move you out of the general applicant pile. Who: RNs, NPs, and clinicians trying to maximize speed and compensation.

Questions about this market

What do Healthcare Practitioners roles pay in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA?

Observed local government pay is strong: BLS lists healthcare practitioners and technical occupations in San Diego at $65.23 per hour in May 2025, with annual 2025 wages around $80,110 at the 25th percentile, $126,810 at the median, $167,590 at the 75th percentile, and $212,360 at the 90th percentile. In the more current local posting sample, advertised pay centers on about $125k to $177k, with hourly postings around about $58 to $73 / hour. This is a high-paying market on paper, but it is also an expensive one: San Diego's cost of living is roughly 39.8% above the national average.

Where is demand for Healthcare Practitioners roles in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA concentrated?

Most real opportunity is concentrated inside large care delivery systems rather than a single dominant employer. In the recent local posting sample, hospitals and health care accounted for about 45% of postings and another about 35% came from healthcare organizations more broadly, while medical practices and colleges or universities were much smaller slices. The named employer list is long rather than winner-take-all: UC San Diego Health and Sharp each showed more than 40 postings, University of California San Diego and Rady Children's Hospital San Diego each showed more than 30, and Family Health Centers Of San Diego, Inc. showed more than 20. The easiest way to miss this market is to search only by occupation title. The strongest near-term demand signal is still nursing-related, especially in operating room, ICU or critical care, and labor-and-delivery tracks, but the market is much less forgiving for brand-new clinicians; the region produces around 2,000 new RNs a year while only 300 of the identified in-demand RN roles are for new graduates. That means experienced clinicians should aim for service-line fit, while newer candidates should target structured entry paths, outpatient employers, and bridge roles instead of waiting on one perfect hospital posting.

Which employers are hiring the most Healthcare Practitioners talent in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA?

Recent postings show the most activity from UC San Diego Health (40 postings), Sharp (40 postings), University of California San Diego (30 postings), Rady Children's Hospital San Diego (30 postings), Family Health Centers Of San Diego, Inc. (20 postings). See the full market report for the complete employer landscape.

Can Healthcare Practitioners roles in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA be done remotely?

Of recent postings, 5% are remote and 10% hybrid, with 90% on-site. Use the Remote filter above to see only remote openings.

How current are these listings?

Openings come from the Callings.ai live index of over 13 million jobs, refreshed hourly. This page searches postings from the last 30 days; run the search yourself to filter by anything else in plain language.

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