Short answer: The least competitive places to land a high-paying job in America are employers that have more openings than they can fill and a steady need to replace retiring staff. In 2026, that means hospital systems and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (for nurses and nurse practitioners), electric utilities (for line workers), insurance carriers (for actuaries and tech staff), defense and government contractors (for people with security clearances), and state and local governments (for engineers and nurses).
These employers routinely pay $95,000 to $135,000 or more for in-demand roles, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data, while famous names like Goldman Sachs and Google accept well under 1% of applicants.
Most “easy to get hired” lists point you toward low-wage jobs. This guide does the opposite. It looks for employers that pay well above the U.S. median wage of $50,980 (May 2025) and where the hiring math tilts in your favor.
What makes a company “less competitive” for high-paying jobs?
Nobody publishes an official ranking of the least competitive companies in America, so we judged competition with signals you can check yourself:
- Openings compared with hires. The BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) reports how many jobs each industry has open and how many people it actually hires each month. When openings far exceed hires, employers are struggling to fill seats.
- Documented shortages. Government audits, employer surveys, and company SEC filings that name specific hard-to-fill roles.
- Pay and projected demand. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) median pay and BLS 10-year employment projections for the occupations these employers hire.
- Published selectivity at the other end. Applicant and acceptance figures that elite employers have released themselves, used here as a contrast.
A less competitive employer is not a worse employer. It usually means the work requires a license, a clearance, physical field work, or an unglamorous location, which shrinks the applicant pool even when pay is strong.
Which industries have the most openings per hire?
The table below uses JOLTS data for August 2026 (preliminary). The “openings per hire” column is our own calculation: openings on the last business day of the month divided by hires during that month. A higher number suggests employers in that sector are having more trouble filling jobs.
| Industry | Job openings (Aug 2026) | Hires (Aug 2026) | Openings per hire
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal government | 113,000 | 26,000 | 4.3 |
| Finance and insurance | 353,000 | 110,000 | 3.2 |
| State and local government (excluding education) | 390,000 | 162,000 | 2.4 |
| Durable goods manufacturing | 380,000 | 188,000 | 2.0 |
| Health care and social assistance | 1,359,000 | 703,000 | 1.9 |
| Transportation, warehousing, and utilities | 338,000 | 247,000 | 1.4 |
| All industries | 7,079,000 | 5,192,000 | 1.4 |
| Professional and business services | 1,186,000 | 935,000 | 1.3 |
| Construction | 251,000 | 308,000 | 0.8 |
Sources: BLS JOLTS Table 1, job openings, and Table 2, hires, seasonally adjusted. Ratios calculated by OnNetPulse.
Two cautions. First, a slow hiring rate can reflect slow approval processes and a thin applicant pool. That matters a lot for federal agencies right now, as explained below. Second, these are industry totals that include lower-wage roles. To find high-paying jobs within them, you have to look at specific occupations, which the next section does.
The least competitive employers for high-paying jobs in America
1. The Department of Veterans Affairs and other hospital employers (nurses and nurse practitioners)
Health care has the largest pool of unfilled jobs of any sector in JOLTS: about 1.36 million openings in August 2026 against roughly 703,000 hires.
The clearest single employer is the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which describes itself as the nation’s largest employer of nurses. In its fiscal year 2026 report, the VA Office of Inspector General found that VHA officials reported severe shortages in the nurse occupation at 86% of facilities and in the medical officer (physician) occupation at 97%, with all 139 facilities reporting at least one shortage (VA OIG, September 2026). The OIG notes that a “severe shortage” means a role is hard to fill, not a count of vacancies, but for a job seeker that distinction works in your favor.
Large private hospital systems show the same pattern. HCA Healthcare, which reported about 320,000 employees at the end of 2025, lists “the shortage of experienced nurses and other health care professionals” as a risk to its results in its 2025 Form 10-K and says it is addressing nursing and physician shortages through Galen College of Nursing and graduate medical education.
High-paying roles they hire for (BLS, May 2025 medians):
- Registered nurses: $97,550, rising to $100,220 in hospitals and $110,780 in government (excluding state and local education and hospitals). BLS projects about 180,800 RN openings per year through 2035.
- Nurse practitioners: $132,300, with employment projected to grow 41% from 2025 to 2035.
- Nurse anesthetists: $236,590.
Browse current nursing and healthcare openings on OnNetPulse.
2. Electric utilities and utility contractors (line workers)
Electrical power-line installers and repairers earned a median of $95,320 in May 2025, and the median in the utilities industry itself was $103,060. The typical entry requirement is a high school diploma plus long-term on-the-job training, often through an apprenticeship.
BLS projects 10% growth from 2025 to 2035, much faster than the 3% average, and about 10,900 openings a year. It ties that demand partly to rising electricity use from AI data centers and the grid upgrades needed to serve them. Half of all line workers are employed by utilities, and another 29% by utility system construction firms.
Why competition is lower: the work is physically hard, outdoors in all weather, sometimes at great heights, and storm duty can mean long days away from home. Many applicants screen themselves out. If you can pass the aptitude and fitness tests that apprenticeships use, you are competing against a small field.
3. Insurance carriers (actuaries, technology, underwriting)
Finance and insurance had the second-highest openings-per-hire ratio in our table, with 353,000 openings and just 110,000 hires in August 2026. That fits what carriers report. In the August 2026 Jacobson Group and Aon insurance labor market study, 49% of carriers planned to add staff over the next 12 months, and actuarial, technology, and executive roles were named the hardest to fill. The same study found turnover falling, which makes recruiting harder for employers because fewer experienced people are on the market.
Roles and pay (BLS, May 2025 medians):
- Actuaries: $130,000 overall and $131,450 in finance and insurance. BLS notes that most employers pay for exams and study materials and give raises for each exam passed, and that 78% of actuaries work in finance and insurance.
- Information security analysts: $130,630 in finance and insurance, $129,180 overall, with 21% projected growth.
For candidates, the practical takeaway is that carriers still need to backfill specialist roles, and they can cover exam costs while you work.
4. Defense and government contractors (cleared professionals)
If you hold a U.S. security clearance, or can qualify for one, defense and intelligence contractors become one of the least competitive routes to six-figure pay. The barrier is the clearance itself, which most applicants do not have.
The 2026 ClearanceJobs Security Clearance Compensation Report, based on 2025 survey data, found average total compensation of $126,125 for cleared professionals, up nearly 6% from the prior year. Pay rises with access level: DoD Secret holders averaged $107,439 and Top Secret/SCI holders $139,261, according to the full report. Holders of a lifestyle or full scope polygraph averaged $149,875. Virginia, Maryland, Washington, DC, and Colorado were the highest-paying locations.
Typical employers in this group are the large defense primes and the IT and engineering firms that support federal agencies under contract. Search for postings that say “clearance required” or “ability to obtain a clearance.” The second phrase means the company will sponsor you, which is the real entry point for most people.
5. State and local governments (engineers, nurses, skilled trades)
State and local governments (excluding schools) had about 2.4 openings for every hire in August 2026. The MissionSquare Research Institute’s 2026 survey of 606 public-sector HR managers found the hardest positions to fill were engineering (66% of respondents), policing (58%), and nursing (56%). Hiring has eased since 2022, but the report says more than 60% still see fewer qualified applicants for engineering and police jobs than open positions.
Pay for engineers in government is competitive with the private sector. BLS reports May 2025 median pay for civil engineers of $113,640 in local government and $102,440 in state government, compared with $100,620 in private engineering services. About 21% of civil engineers work for state or local government. Ninety-two percent of the HR managers MissionSquare surveyed said their benefits are competitive with the wider labor market.
See engineering and public sector openings on OnNetPulse.
6. Durable goods manufacturers (engineers and technical managers)
Durable goods manufacturing, which includes aerospace, machinery, vehicles, and electrical equipment, reported 380,000 openings and 188,000 hires in August 2026, a job openings rate of 4.6% against a hires rate of 2.4% (JOLTS). The high-paying roles here are engineering and management: BLS lists May 2025 median pay of $104,110 for mechanical engineers and $171,270 for architectural and engineering managers (BLS).
7. Federal agencies (with an important 2026 caveat)
The federal government posts the highest openings-per-hire ratio in JOLTS, and federal pay is solid. The 2026 General Schedule base rates run from $90,925 to $118,204 for GS-13 and from $107,446 to $139,684 for GS-14, before locality pay is added (OPM salary table).
The caveat: under Executive Order 14356, each agency’s Strategic Hiring Committee must approve the creation or filling of every vacancy. OPM guidance says the order does not apply to positions related to national security, immigration enforcement or public safety (OPM, July 2026). In practice, health care (such as the VA), security and law enforcement roles are the most realistic federal targets right now. All federal postings appear on USAJOBS.
Comparison table: less competitive employers vs. high-paying roles
| Employer type | Example employers | High-paying roles | Pay figure (source) | Competition signal
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VA and hospital systems | VA, HCA Healthcare | Registered nurse, nurse practitioner, CRNA | RN $97,550; NP $132,300 median (BLS) | Nurse shortages at 86% of VA facilities (VA OIG); 1.9 openings per hire in health care (JOLTS) |
| Electric utilities | Investor-owned and public utilities, utility contractors | Line installer and repairer | $103,060 median in utilities (BLS) | 10% projected growth; physically demanding work limits applicants |
| Insurance carriers | National and regional insurers | Actuary, security analyst, underwriter | Actuary $131,450 median in finance and insurance (BLS) | 3.2 openings per hire (JOLTS); actuarial and tech hardest to fill (Jacobson/Aon) |
| Defense and government contractors | Defense primes, federal IT and engineering firms | Cleared engineers, IT, intelligence analysts | $126,125 average total comp for cleared staff (ClearanceJobs) | Clearance requirement shrinks the pool |
| State and local government | State DOTs, counties, cities, public utilities | Civil engineer, nurse | Civil engineer $113,640 median in local government (BLS) | Engineering hard to fill for 66% of HR managers (MissionSquare) |
| Durable goods manufacturers | Aerospace, machinery, equipment makers | Mechanical engineer, engineering manager | $104,110 and $171,270 medians (BLS) | 4.6% openings rate vs 2.4% hires rate (JOLTS) |
| Federal agencies | VA, security and public safety agencies | GS-13 to GS-14 professionals | $90,925 to $139,684 base (OPM) | 4.3 openings per hire, but every hire needs committee approval |
For contrast: the most competitive employers
It helps to see what “highly competitive” looks like in numbers.
- Goldman Sachs: The bank accepted fewer than 1% of applicants to its 2026 summer internship, the third straight year below 1%. Its 2025 class drew more than 360,000 applications for a 0.7% acceptance rate (Fortune, June 2026).
- Google: The company told Axios it received 3.3 million job applications in 2019 (Axios). Google has not published a recent acceptance rate, so we do not cite one.
A hospital that reports nurse shortages at most of its sites, or a utility training line workers through multi-year apprenticeships, is playing a very different hiring game.
How to get hired at the least competitive companies
Get the credential that creates the shortage. In most of these fields, the license or clearance is the moat. An RN license, an actuarial exam pass, a commercial driver’s license for line work, a Professional Engineer license, or an active clearance moves you from the crowded pool into the thin one.
Apply where the employer already sponsors training. The VA runs an RN transition-to-practice residency for new graduates (VA Careers). BLS notes that insurers typically pay for actuarial exams and that line worker apprenticeships can last up to three years. Searching for “apprentice,” “trainee,” “residency,” or “ability to obtain clearance” turns up roles built for people without full experience.
Be willing to move or travel. BLS notes that line crews may travel long distances for storm work, and some nurses travel to places with too few health care workers. The VA’s Travel Nurse Corps is one route the agency says gets nurses hired and onboarded faster.
Write your application for screeners, not for prestige. Government and contractor postings often score applications against listed qualifications. Mirror the exact wording of the requirements, list license numbers and clearance levels plainly, and fill in every field on USAJOBS-style forms. Federal announcements are moving toward skills-based qualifications, per OPM’s FY 2026 to 2028 recruitment plan, so concrete evidence of skills matters more than where you went to school.
Apply directly to the employer. Hospital systems, insurers, and utilities post openings on their own career sites. OnNetPulse lists direct-employer openings so you can apply at the source. Start a search on OnNetPulse.
Methodology: how we judged “least competitive”
We started from employer types with large, ongoing hiring needs, then kept only those that met two tests: (1) at least one public, checkable signal of hiring difficulty, such as a JOLTS openings-per-hire ratio above the all-industry level of 1.4, a government audit, an employer survey, or an SEC filing that names a shortage; and (2) BLS median pay, OPM base pay, or survey-reported average pay of roughly $95,000 or more for the roles named. JOLTS figures are seasonally adjusted, August 2026 preliminary data. Pay figures are BLS OEWS medians for May 2025 unless otherwise noted. The openings-per-hire ratio is our own calculation and is a rough indicator, not an official BLS measure. We did not use self-reported acceptance rates from job sites or unattributed online claims.
FAQ
What are the least competitive companies for high-paying jobs in America?
Employers with chronic shortages in licensed or cleared roles: the VA and large hospital systems such as HCA Healthcare for nurses, electric utilities for line workers, insurance carriers for actuaries and tech staff, defense contractors for cleared professionals, and state and local governments for engineers.
Which high-paying jobs have the least competition?
Roles that require a license, clearance, or demanding field work tend to have the smallest applicant pools. Examples backed by BLS data include nurse practitioners (132,300median), actuaries(130,000), information security analysts (129,180), and power line workers (95,320).
Is it easier to get a job with the federal government in 2026?
Federal openings are high relative to hires, but under Executive Order 14356, the agency’s Strategic Hiring Committee must approve every vacancy. Health care, national security, immigration enforcement and public safety roles are the most realistic targets.
Can I get a high-paying job without a degree at a less competitive employer?
Yes, in some trades. BLS says power line installers typically need a high school diploma plus long-term on-the-job training, and the May 2025 median pay in utilities was $103,060.
How competitive are jobs at Goldman Sachs and Google?
Goldman accepted under 1% of summer internship applicants in 2026 and 0.7% in 2025, per Fortune. Google received 3.3 million applications in 2019, per Axios.
