The article ranks and visualizes some of the least common jobs in America based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. At the top of the list is “wood patternmaker,” a job with only 260 employed nationwide, involved in making wooden patterns used in casting sand molds. Other rare occupations include clock and timer technicians, farm labor contractors, and furnace and kiln repair technicians, each employing fewer than 600 people. Interestingly, pediatric surgeons also make the list, despite their high earnings, highlighting the scarcity of these specialized medical professionals in the country. The data sheds light on these lesser-known occupations and their unique roles in the American job market.

Pallavi Rao of Visual Capitalist ranks and visualizes the least common American jobs by number of employees using the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) most recent estimations.

Annual surveys of business owners are used to forecast employment and salary data for each year. Thus, these data exclude self-employed individuals, owners of unincorporated businesses, and domestic laborers.

Ranked: The Rarest Jobs in America

The least common job in America is “wood patternmaker,” with only 260 people employed by businesses across the country. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, wood patternmakers “plan, layout, and construct wooden unit or sectional patterns used in forming sand molds for castings.”

Technological developments have resulted in job losses in the business during the last decade. This occupation is also likely to have a higher proportion of self-employed workers, which explains its low numbers.

Clock and timer technicians (not watchmakers), farm labor contractors (460), and furnace and kiln repair technicians (540) are the next three least prevalent occupations in America.

Prosthodontists (570) are the second-highest paying occupation ($240,750) on the rare jobs list.

In the same line, pediatric surgeons are the tenth least frequent occupation in America, with only approximately 1,100 in the entire country.

According to NPR, while pediatric programs have expanded over the last decade, the number of trained MDs entering pediatric surgery has progressively declined. According to STAT News, about one-third of pediatric residency programs failed not fill their seats in 2024.

Recently, GreatGameIndia reported that, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the top jobs of the next decade will be health and personal care aides and software engineers. Health and personal care aides are projected to have over 800,000 employees by 2032.