Healthcare Jobs in San Diego, CA
Healthcare is where San Diego is adding jobs fastest, with healthcare and social assistance up 16,600 jobs in the year to June 2026. Sharp, Scripps, UC San Diego Health, Kaiser and Rady Children's are all hiring. Here are the current openings, followed by who is hiring, what it pays and how to get in.
Current healthcare Openings in San Diego, CA
Listings marked External are sponsored openings provided by the Jobs2Careers network.
Healthcare Work in San Diego
San Diego's hospital jobs cluster in a few places. Kearny Mesa, off SR-163 and Clairemont Mesa Boulevard, holds Sharp Memorial, Sharp Mary Birch, Rady Children's and Kaiser's San Diego Medical Center within a couple of miles of each other. Hillcrest has UC San Diego Health and Scripps Mercy, La Jolla and Torrey Pines have Jacobs Medical Center, Scripps Memorial, Scripps Clinic and the VA, and the South Bay and North County each have their own hospitals in Chula Vista, La Mesa, Escondido and Encinitas.
The San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce counts healthcare and social assistance as the largest source of new jobs in the region over the past year, with an average healthcare services wage of about $81,000. California's health care worker minimum wage also sets a floor well above the city's $17.75 general minimum, reaching $25 an hour on July 1, 2026 for workers at large health systems with 10,000 or more full-time staff.
Top San Diego Employers Hiring Healthcare Workers
These San Diego health systems are posting clinical and support roles on their own career sites right now:
- Sharp HealthCare - the nonprofit system hiring nurses and LVNs from Sharp Memorial in Kearny Mesa to Sharp Grossmont in La Mesa and Sharp Chula Vista.
- Scripps Health - runs Scripps Memorial La Jolla and Encinitas, Scripps Mercy in Hillcrest and Chula Vista, and the Scripps Clinic network, with nursing and LVN openings across them.
- UC San Diego Health - the region's academic medical center, hiring for Hillcrest Medical Center and the La Jolla campus around Jacobs Medical Center.
- Kaiser Permanente - staffs San Diego Medical Center on Clairemont Mesa Boulevard and Zion Medical Center, plus medical offices on Viewridge Court and Fordham.
- Rady Children's - the pediatric hospital on Children's Way hires RNs for its emergency department, medical, surgical and sub-acute units.
- Palomar Health - North County's public system, recruiting med-surg and float pool nurses at Palomar Medical Center Escondido with hiring incentives.
Healthcare Salaries in San Diego
- Entry level: about $23 to $28 an hour for nursing aides and similar support roles, based on a UC San Diego Health range, and never below the state health care minimum.
- Licensed support: about $31 to $44 an hour for LVNs, based on ranges posted by Sharp Rees-Stealy and Scripps Clinic.
- Registered nurses: roughly $58 to $92 an hour, based on ranges posted by Scripps, Sharp, UC San Diego Health and Rady Children's.
These are estimates drawn from employer postings, and pay moves with license, specialty, shift and union contract. Night shifts, critical care, emergency and pediatric units generally pay toward the top of each range, and some employers add hiring incentives, such as Palomar Health's for experienced med-surg nurses.
How to Start in Healthcare in San Diego
The route depends on the role. Registered nurses are licensed by the California Board of Registered Nursing after an approved program and the NCLEX-RN; locally that means programs such as the associate degree nursing programs at San Diego City College on Park Boulevard and Grossmont College in El Cajon, or the BS in Nursing at SDSU. Licensed vocational nurses are licensed by the Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians after an approved program, such as Southwestern College's vocational nursing program at its Otay Mesa center, and the NCLEX-PN. Many support roles need no state license, only on-the-job training and BLS certification.
What the Job Involves
Depending on the role, a healthcare shift can mean assessing and charting patients, giving medications, assisting physicians with exams and procedures, drawing blood, running lab or imaging tests, scheduling and checking in patients, or moving patients safely between units.
Skills Employers Look For
- Current California license or certification for the role
- AHA BLS, plus ACLS or PALS for many hospital units
- Electronic health record charting
- Clear communication with patients and families
- Bilingual English and Spanish, often listed as preferred
- Reliability on 12-hour, night and weekend shifts
Career Path and Advancement
San Diego has clear ladders inside its big systems. A common path runs from a support or LVN job to an RN through a bridge program, such as the LVN to RN tracks at San Diego City College and Southwestern College, then into a new-grad residency like Sharp's one-year Nurse Residency Program. From there, nurses move into specialty units, charge nurse, educator or management roles, or into advanced practice with a graduate degree.
Related Careers in San Diego
For a closer look at specific healthcare roles in San Diego, start with these guides:
Frequently Asked Questions
Who are the biggest healthcare employers in San Diego?
The largest are Sharp HealthCare, Scripps Health, UC San Diego Health, Kaiser Permanente and Rady Children's, with Palomar Health in North County and the VA in La Jolla. Each posts openings on its own career site.
What is the minimum wage for healthcare workers in San Diego?
California's health care worker minimum wage applies on top of the city's $17.75 general minimum. From July 1, 2026 it is $25 an hour at large health systems and dialysis clinics, $23 at most other covered facilities and $22 at community clinics, with a lower rate for certain hospitals with a high share of government payers.
Do I need a license to work in healthcare in San Diego?
Nurses do. RNs are licensed by the California Board of Registered Nursing and LVNs by the Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians. Many support and administrative roles need no state license, though employers usually require BLS certification.
Where can I train for a healthcare career in San Diego?
San Diego City College and Grossmont College offer associate degree nursing programs, SDSU offers a BS in Nursing, and Southwestern College runs a vocational nursing program at its Otay Mesa center. Family Health Centers of San Diego also runs a medical assistant institute.
Do San Diego hospitals hire new graduates?
Yes. Sharp runs a one-year Nurse Residency Program for new-grad RNs with cohorts through the year. Application windows are often only a week or two, so watch the career sites closely.
Ready to apply? Browse all Healthcare jobs in San Diego, CA on LocalJobPage and apply today.