Statistics for Careers & Jobs in Chiropractic

Chiropractic Career Statistics

Chiropractors held about 49,000 jobs in 2002. That number is predicted to double by 2010 (Agency for Health Care Policy and Research).

Salaried workers earned, on average, $65,330 that year. The middle fifty-percent earned between $44,140 and $102,400.
The average earnings for all chiropractors, including the self-employed, were $81,500 after expenses. Chiropractors are required to be licensed. They need 2-4 years of undergraduate education in order to enter a 4-year chiropractic program. After graduating, they need to pass both state and national examinations.

The field is expected to grow faster than the average through 2012.
The Commission on Accreditation of the Council on Chiropractic Education is the national accrediting body for chiropractic programs in American colleges.
Changing attitudes toward alternative healthcare (by people, doctors, and insurance companies) should result in faster-than-average employment growth in the field.
According the American Chiropractic Association, more than 30 million people visited a chiropractor in 2004. This means that about 11% of Americans visited a chiropractor.
Newly-minted chiropractors should consider setting up practice in areas with low concentrations of chiropractors
As with any independent practice, a chiropractor's earnings are bound to be lower in the beginning, but should improve as the practice grows.
Chiropractors are also known as "doctors of chiropractic" or "chiropractic physicians."
There are three basic branches of medical thought: Allopathic (what we think of as "Western medicine"); Osteopathic (emphasizes the musculoskeletal system, holistic care, and preventive medicine); and Chiropractic (treats disturbances of the spine which cause or exacerbate problems within the body). The branches are meant to work together, at different times or for different purposes, to heal the whole body.
"Chiropractic" comes from the Greek "cheir" and "praktkos," meaning "done by hand."