Chiropractors
What Chiropractors Do
Assess, treat, and care for patients by manipulation of spine and musculoskeletal system. May provide spinal adjustment or address sacral or pelvic misalignment.
See full salary breakdown & percentiles →
Career Outlook
National employment outlook, 2024–2034.
- Related work experience
- None
- On-the-job training
- None
- Self-employed
- 34.7%
Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.
How Much Preparation Does This Take?
Job Zone 5 of 5Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed
- Experience
- Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience.
- Education
- Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
- Job training
- Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.
Source: O*NET Job Zones.
Key Knowledge Areas
Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.
- Medicine and Dentistryimportance 4.3/5
- English Languageimportance 4.1/5
- Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 4.1/5
- Biologyimportance 3.9/5
- Psychologyimportance 3.8/5
- Administration and Managementimportance 3.8/5
- Administrativeimportance 3.5/5
- Personnel and Human Resourcesimportance 3.5/5
Work Environment
What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.
- Contact With Others5.0/5
- Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams5.0/5
- Freedom to Make Decisions5.0/5
- Determine Tasks, Priorities and Goals5.0/5
- Indoors, Environmentally Controlled4.9/5
- Physical Proximity4.8/5
Careers With Similar Skills
Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.
- Emergency Medicine Physicians98% skill match
- Fire Inspectors and Investigators98% skill match
- Nurse Midwives98% skill match
- Social and Community Service Managers98% skill match
- Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers97% skill match
- Social and Human Service Assistants97% skill match
- Emergency Management Directors97% skill match
- Veterinarians97% skill match
Transferable Skills
Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.
- Social Perceptivenessimportance 3.8/5
- Complex Problem Solvingimportance 3.6/5
- Service Orientationimportance 3.5/5
- Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 3.5/5
- Time Managementimportance 3.3/5
- Coordinationimportance 3.1/5
- Systems Analysisimportance 3.1/5
- Systems Evaluationimportance 3.1/5
Software & Technologies
Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.
Other Software Used
- ACOM Solutions RAPID EMR
- Acrendo A.I.med
- Addison Health Systems WritePad EHR
- Advantage Software Chiropractic Advantage
- Billing software
- BioEx Systems Exercise Pro
- ChiroSoft
- ChiroTouch EHR
Work Style
Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.
- Attention to Detail
- Dependability
- Cooperation
- Cautiousness
- Empathy
- Integrity
- Self-Control
Career Interests
This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.
- SocialHigh
- RealisticHigh
- InvestigativeMedium
- ConventionalMedium
- EnterprisingLow
- ArtisticLow
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Where This Career Is Most Concentrated
Metro areas where chiropractors make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).
- 1Bismarck, ND5.96× national avg
- 2Iowa City, IA4.26× national avg
- 3Cedar Rapids, IA3.55× national avg
- 4North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL3.32× national avg
- 5Eau Claire, WI3.10× national avg
Possible Career Moves
A computed starting point, not observed job-change data — see the full list for why each one might fit.
- Nurse PractitionersLateral Move
- Emergency Medicine PhysiciansLateral Move
- OptometristsLateral Move
- Ophthalmologists, Except PediatricLateral Move
Related Education Programs
Schools that offer related fields of study, based on the NCES CIP-SOC crosswalk — not a guarantee that graduates enter this specific career.
Chiropractic
- Palmer College of Chiropractic (Davenport, IA)grads earn ~$62,214
- Life University (Marietta, GA)grads earn ~$57,734
- Parker University (Dallas, TX)grads earn ~$62,795
- Logan University (Chesterfield, MO)grads earn ~$60,806
- Life Chiropractic College West (Hayward, CA)grads earn ~$55,900