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Phlebotomists

Also called Blood draw technician, Venipuncture technician, Phlebotomy technician, Laboratory phlebotomist, Mobile phlebotomist

In brief

In May 2025, BLS counted 143,540 US phlebotomists, with median pay of $45,230 a year. Of the BLS counts since 2012, the May 2025 count is the highest. The earliest figure here is an estimate of 15,000 from 1960, not measured the same way as today's count. The last full technology era for phlebotomists: Electronic health records and barcode positive patient identification, 2005 to 2018. Specimen labeling errors fell substantially at institutions implementing PPID workflows.

What the sources say

Official outlook

BLS projects employment to grow 6.8% from 2025 to 2035.

BLS Employment Projections 2025-35

AI exposure studies

Data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35. BLS publishes these counts as yearly survey snapshots and cautions against reading them as a precise trend. In May 2021 BLS changed how it estimates these counts (a model-based method using three years of survey data) and moved fully to the 2018 occupation codes, so part of a change across 2021 can come from the method rather than the work.

Last updated .

Cite this page
APA

Future History. (2026, October 11). Phlebotomists: jobs and pay since 1960 [Data set; data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35]. https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/31-9097

Chicago

Future History. "Phlebotomists: jobs and pay since 1960." Data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35. Last modified October 11, 2026. https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/31-9097.

BibTeX

@misc{futurehistory_31_9097, author = {{Future History}}, title = {Phlebotomists: jobs and pay since 1960}, year = {2026}, month = oct, howpublished = {\url{https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/31-9097}}, note = {Last updated 2026-10-11. Data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35}, }

The access date is today's date on your device.

drag to travel through time
195019752000now
2026
Known then as Laboratory Technician / Blood Drawing Technician (informal specialization)
Known then as Phlebotomist / Phlebotomy Technician (emerging dedicated role)
Known then as Phlebotomist / Venipuncture Technician (certification era)
Known then as Phlebotomists (BLS SOC 31-9097)
Known today as Phlebotomists (BLS SOC 31-9097)
Projected to still be called Phlebotomists (BLS SOC 31-9097)
Data from the May 2025 survey
US Employment
144K
Est.

Stated in source: BLS OEWS

Official statistic
Report an error
Median Annual Wage
$45,230
Est.

≈ $44,070 in 2024 prices (derived by us, CPI-adjusted)

Official statistic
Report an error
Beat · 1940

The American Red Cross launches its first national blood donor program in response to World War II, creating the logistical infrastructure for large-scale blood collection in the United States. Dedicated staff to manage donor draws were required for the first time at scale, laying the organizational template for the phlebotomist role in civilian hospitals.

Beat · 1957

Becton Dickinson's Vacutainer evacuated tube system reaches widespread hospital adoption by the late 1950s. The pre-evacuated tube makes multi-tube collection from a single venipuncture routine, and the standardized format enables centralized laboratory processing at scale. The Vacutainer is the enabling technology of the modern phlebotomist role: it made high-throughput blood collection by non-physician staff operationally feasible for the first time.

Beat · 1975

The ASCP Board of Certification introduces the Phlebotomy Technician (PBT) credential, the first formal national certification specifically for blood-draw personnel. The credential establishes competency standards for venipuncture technique, patient identification, specimen handling, and safety procedures, crystallizing phlebotomy as a distinct credentialed occupation rather than an informal duty performed by various healthcare workers.

Beat · 1978

The National Phlebotomy Association is founded, establishing a second major credentialing body and advocacy organization for the profession. The NPA's founding reflects the growing workforce size and professional identity of phlebotomists in the post-Medicare/Medicaid era, when hospital outpatient laboratory volume had grown substantially and reference laboratories were beginning to centralize specimen collection on a regional basis.

Beat · 2000

The Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act is signed into law on November 6, 2000, requiring US employers to implement engineering controls to reduce needlestick injuries among healthcare workers. The law mandates use of retractable and needle-shielding devices where feasible and requires employers to involve frontline workers in device selection. Phlebotomists, along with nurses, were among the highest-risk occupational groups for needlestick injuries prior to the mandate; the safety-needle transition substantially reduced this occupational hazard over the following decade.

Beat · 2010

AccuVein launches the AV400 near-infrared vein visualization device, building on the AV300 (2008). The device projects a live map of subcutaneous veins onto the skin surface using infrared absorption by hemoglobin. Hospitals in pediatric, oncology, and emergency settings adopt it for difficult-access patients. AccuVein publishes data showing an 18% improvement in first-attempt success rates on documented difficult-venous-access cases. The technology represents the first augmentation tool designed specifically for the phlebotomist's core skill.

Beat · 2021

Quest Diagnostics launches Scarlet Health, a mobile phlebotomy service that dispatches credentialed phlebotomists to draw blood in patients' homes. The service reflects a structural shift in where blood is collected: the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021) accelerated demand for at-home collection as patients avoided clinical settings for routine testing. Scarlet Health, Getlabs, and competing platforms transform the phlebotomist from a facility-bound worker into a mobile professional whose draw station is wherever the patient is.

Beat · 2026

Vitestro raises a $70 million Series B to fund US pivotal clinical trials of the Aletta autonomous robotic phlebotomy device at Northwestern Medicine, Mayo Clinic, and Baylor Scott and White. The device is CE-marked in Europe and reports a 95% first-stick success rate. The trials represent the first serious commercial attempt to bring a fully autonomous venipuncture device into mainstream US clinical use, and their outcome will be a significant data point for the long-term trajectory of the human phlebotomist role.

How to read this number

OEWS is a point-in-time survey snapshot, not a continuous time series; BLS advises against using it for year-over-year trend comparison.

Each dot is a cited figure over time; the dotted line only links them (values between aren't measured). Hollow dots are estimates.

Official statistic: Copied by a script from a statistics agency table or a published study's table, not retyped by hand. BLS figures and the forecast and exposure tables are also re-checked against that table on every data run. Researched context: Researched from the cited source rather than copied from it by a script, so it is not machine-checked yet. Spot a mistake? Each figure has a “Report an error” link.

Cited forecasts · present → 2035

Will AI replace phlebotomists? What the research says

Each figure is stated by the named source; we publish no forecasts of our own. Where sources disagree, we show the disagreement rather than an average.

Each figure is stated by the named source; we publish no forecasts of our own. Where sources disagree, the spread is the honest signal.

What published forecasts say
Forecast change in the number of people doing this work, as published by each named source. Bars share one scale on every role, centred on zero and reaching the end at ±30%. Grey marks a small change, 3% or less either way.
BLS Employment Projections 2025-35
→ 2035
+6.8%
BLS National Employment Matrix, 2025-35 cycle, line for SOC 31-9097 (Phlebotomists): 143.9 thousand jobs in 2025, projected 153.7 thousand in 2035, a change of +9.8 thousand (+6.8%). Matrix employment counts all jobs in the occupation, including self-employed workers. The average for all occupations in this cycle is +3.5%.
Official statisticReport an error
How exposed is this work to AI (research measures)
Scores as published by each study. Each row says what it measures. These measure what AI could technically do, not forecasts of jobs lost.
Eloundou et al. (2023), "GPTs are GPTs"
2023 study · Share of tasks exposed to LLMs (β, human-rated)
11%
of tasks
What this measures

Published occupation-level exposure from the paper's occ_level.csv for O*NET-SOC 31-9097.00 Phlebotomists. Shown: human-rated β = 0.11, the share of the occupation's tasks an LLM could do in at least half the time at equal quality, counting tasks that need LLM-powered software at half weight (β = E1 + 0.5 × E2). Other published measures for this occupation: human-rated α (LLM alone) 0.049 and γ (all LLM-assisted) 0.171; GPT-4-rated β 0.183. This measures how much of the work an LLM could touch, not how many jobs disappear.

Official statisticReport an error
Today, in this role

What's changing day to day for phlebotomists

Three parts of your work where AI is already doing real lifting, and what stays yours.

AI is sitting alongside you herePrint and affix specimen labels, log collection times, and document chain-of-custody in the laboratory information system (LIS), ensuring the specimen tracker shows real-time location from bedside through analysis.

Print and affix specimen labels, log collection times, and document chain-of-custody in the laboratory information system (LIS), ensuring the specimen tracker shows real-time location from bedside through analysis.[6]

Where your edge is

Learn LIS-level audit-trail features; understand how AI-powered anomaly detection in modern LIS platforms flags mislabeled or improperly timed specimens so you can correct at source.

AI is sitting alongside you hereConfirm patient identity via two-factor positive patient identification (PPID): name-plus-date-of-birth verbal check and barcode wristband scan, before every collection event using the EHR mobile app (e.g., Epic Rover).

Confirm patient identity via two-factor positive patient identification (PPID): name-plus-date-of-birth verbal check and barcode wristband scan, before every collection event using the EHR mobile app (e.g., Epic Rover).[6],[2]

Where your edge is

Complete Epic Rover or equivalent mobile-LIS training; champion PPID compliance as a quality metric, as AI-flagged mislabel events increasingly route to human review.

AI is sitting alongside you hereTriage and escalate specimen-quality rejections: recognize hemolysis, clotting, incorrect tube type, or insufficient volume before the sample reaches the analyzer, and re-collect or communicate recollection instructions to the ordering provider.

Triage and escalate specimen-quality rejections: recognize hemolysis, clotting, incorrect tube type, or insufficient volume before the sample reaches the analyzer, and re-collect or communicate recollection instructions to the ordering provider.[7]

Where your edge is

Learn the pre-analytical error taxonomy and how AI-powered analyzer interfaces auto-reject substandard samples; position yourself as the human who prevents recollects by catching errors at the source.

Where phlebotomists go next

Natural next steps for someone with your foundation: not exits, evolutions.

What each move takes

Phlebotomists already operate within the clinical lab workflow and understand specimen integrity. An associate degree in clinical laboratory science plus ASCP MLT certification adds analytical bench skills (urinalysis, CBC interpretation, microbiology) and opens higher-paying, more AI-augmented roles with broader automation upside.

What you'd add
  • · Clinical laboratory science coursework (associate degree or certificate)
  • · ASCP MLT or AMT MLT certification
  • · Hematology and urinalysis analyzer operation
  • · Quality-control documentation and CLIA compliance
What it takesSome new skills to pick up
Tools of the era

How has the work of phlebotomists changed since 1940?

The tools that defined the work, one line per era. Select an era to see how it reshaped the work.

  • Manual venipuncture with reusable glass syringes and needles

    Through the 1940s and into the 1950s, blood was drawn using glass syringes with reusable steel needles that had to be sterilized between patients by boiling or autoclaving. The phlebotomist's skill resided entirely in the manual act: vein selection by palpation, angle of entry, back-pressure control to avoid hemolysis, and the social skill of calming anxious patients. There were no standardized collection tubes, no vacuum systems, and no chain-of-custody documentation beyond a handwritten requisition slip. The risk of disease transmission via inadequately sterilized needles was real and not yet fully understood.

  • BD Vacutainer evacuated tube system (commercialized 1957)

    The evacuated blood-collection tube, invented by Joseph Kleiner in the 1940s and commercialized by Becton Dickinson as the Vacutainer system starting in the late 1940s and reaching widespread hospital adoption by the late 1950s, transformed the mechanics of phlebotomy. A pre-evacuated glass tube with a rubber stopper replaced the push-pull syringe: blood flowed by vacuum into the tube without the collector needing to maintain a plunger. Multiple tubes could be drawn from a single venipuncture using a dual-ended needle and a holder, reducing the number of patient sticks needed for a multi-test order. The Vacutainer separated the skill of needle placement from the mechanical management of specimen volume, making it possible to train non-nurses to reliably collect blood at scale.

    Effect on the work

    The Vacutainer system is widely credited among clinical laboratory historians as the enabling technology for the standalone phlebotomist role: it standardized collection enough that dedicated, specifically trained non-nurses could reliably perform it, reducing the cost of specimen collection and enabling the high-throughput models that reference laboratories would later require.

  • Formal phlebotomy certification (ASCP 1975, NPA 1978) and tube-color standardization

    The founding of phlebotomy-specific certification programs in the mid-1970s was a technology of knowledge organization as much as equipment. The ASCP Board of Certification introduced the phlebotomy technician credential in 1975, establishing for the first time a formal competency standard for the role. National standardization of tube-top color codes (red for serum chemistry, lavender for CBC with EDTA anticoagulant, blue for coagulation studies, green for plasma heparinized) created a shared visual language that reduced pre-analytical errors and made phlebotomy procedures transferable between institutions. The NPA's founding in 1978 and the National Credentialing Agency for Laboratory Personnel's entry in 1989 created a competitive multi-credentialing landscape that persists today.

  • Plastic Vacutainer tubes + retractable safety needles (OSHA Needlestick Safety Act 2000)

    Two safety advances reshaped the physical toolkit of phlebotomy in the 1980s and 1990s. First, glass Vacutainer tubes were progressively replaced by plastic tubes (BD introduced plastic Vacutainers in the 1980s), eliminating the risk of tube breakage and glass-related needlestick injuries while reducing shipping weight for reference laboratories. Second, the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act of 2000 mandated that employers use safer needle designs where feasible, driving rapid adoption of retractable-needle and needle-shielding devices for phlebotomy. BD's Eclipse needle (retractable shielding) and similar devices became standard issue. The 2000 Act also required employers to solicit frontline healthcare workers' input on safety device selection, making phlebotomists active participants in equipment specification.

    Effect on the work

    Needlestick injury rates in healthcare workers fell in the decade following the 2000 Act, according to CDC surveillance data. Phlebotomists and nurses were the occupational groups with the highest needlestick incidence prior to the mandate; the safety-needle transition substantially reduced this occupational hazard.

  • Electronic health records and barcode positive patient identification (PPID)

    The HITECH Act of 2009 and subsequent Medicare/Medicaid incentive payments accelerated mass adoption of electronic health records across US hospitals. For phlebotomists, EHR integration introduced the barcode-based positive patient identification workflow: at the bedside, the phlebotomist scans the patient's wristband and the requisition barcode to electronically confirm identity before drawing, and the LIS prints a matching label that travels with the tube. This workflow, pioneered by Epic's Beaker LIS and Rover mobile app, dramatically reduced specimen mislabeling, which had historically been one of the most common and dangerous pre-analytical laboratory errors. Epic Rover enabled the phlebotomist to carry the entire collection workflow on a handheld device: order retrieval, patient verification, label printing, and real-time specimen tracking.

    Effect on the work

    Specimen labeling errors fell substantially at institutions implementing PPID workflows. A 2012 study in the American Journal of Clinical Pathology found that barcode-assisted PPID reduced wrong-blood-in-tube events at implementing institutions, improving patient safety while adding a documentation workload component to the phlebotomist's role.

  • Near-infrared vein visualization devices (AccuVein AV300 2008, AV400 2012)

    Near-infrared vein visualization devices, led by AccuVein (founded 2005; AV300 cleared 2008, AV400 2012, AV500 2015), project a real-time map of subcutaneous veins directly onto the skin surface. The technology uses infrared light absorbed by hemoglobin to create a live map of the vein network, allowing the phlebotomist to identify veins that are invisible and non-palpable on difficult-access patients: children, elderly patients with fragile veins, obese patients, oncology patients with chronic IV access, and patients with chronic illness-related vascular changes. AccuVein published data showing an improvement in first-attempt success rates in documented difficult-venous-access cases. These devices do not automate the venipuncture itself; they augment the human's visual information, improving skill outcomes on the cases that most frequently require multiple attempts.

    Effect on the work

    Vein visualization adoption has been concentrated in pediatric, oncology, and emergency settings where difficult access is most common. The devices reduced patient discomfort and time per difficult draw, improving throughput on the most time-consuming cases without reducing overall phlebotomist staffing needs.

  • Mobile phlebotomy platforms and at-home blood collection services (Getlabs, Scarlet Health, Dispatch Health)

    The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated demand for at-home and mobile phlebotomy as patients avoided clinical settings and telehealth visits multiplied. Startups including Getlabs (founded 2019), Scarlet Health (backed by Quest Diagnostics, launched 2021), and LetsGetChecked expanded the phlebotomist's workplace from the hospital or laboratory drawing station to the patient's home, workplace, or hotel. Dispatch Health integrated mobile phlebotomy into its acute-care-at-home model. These platforms use scheduling apps, GPS dispatch, and mobile LIS connectivity to replicate the specimen chain-of-custody workflow in non-clinical settings. Mobile phlebotomy represents a structural expansion of the role rather than a displacement: new employer types emerged, but the core venipuncture skill remained unchanged.

  • Robotic phlebotomy prototypes under clinical evaluation (Vitestro Aletta, Rutgers Veebot)

    Autonomous robotic phlebotomy devices entered clinical trials in the mid-2020s. Rutgers University's Veebot prototype, an earlier academic effort, demonstrated robot-executed venipuncture in laboratory settings but did not advance to commercial deployment. These devices represent a real long-term scenario for routine low-complexity draws in high-volume settings. The barriers to widespread deployment include FDA clearance, capital cost per installation, patient acceptance of non-human needle insertion, and the irreducibly human component of patient communication and anxiety management, which the robotic devices do not address.

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Phlebotomists employment and pay by year

On record since1940
Latest US employment143,540 (May 2025)Source: BLS OEWS May 2025Official statisticReport an error
Latest US median pay$45,230 (May 2025)Source: BLS OEWS May 2025Official statisticReport an error
Outlook+6.8% by 2035Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35Official statisticReport an error
View all 18 years of cited US data, each linked to its source
YearUS employmentAnnual pay (median unless marked)SourceReport
196015,000n/aEst., ASCP Researched contextReport
198055,000$11,500Est., National Phlebotomy Association (employment) Researched contextEst., University of Missouri Libraries (pay) Researched contextReport
199080,000n/aEst., Quest Diagnostics Researched contextReport
200095,000n/aEst., O*NET 31-9097.00 Researched contextReport
2012100,380$29,730BLS OEWS May 2012 Official statisticReport
2013108,210$30,150BLS OEWS May 2013 Official statisticReport
2014111,950$30,670BLS OEWS May 2014 Official statisticReport
2015118,160$31,630BLS OEWS May 2015 Official statisticReport
2016120,970$32,710BLS OEWS May 2016 Official statisticReport
2017122,550$33,670BLS OEWS May 2017 Official statisticReport
2018125,280$34,480BLS OEWS May 2018 Official statisticReport
2019128,290$35,510BLS OEWS May 2019 Official statisticReport
2020128,020$36,320BLS OEWS May 2020 Official statisticReport
2021132,750$37,380BLS OEWS May 2021 Official statisticReport
2022137,090$38,530BLS OEWS May 2022 Official statisticReport
2023137,080$41,810BLS OEWS May 2023 Official statisticReport
2024138,880$43,660BLS OEWS May 2024 Official statisticReport
2025143,540$45,230BLS OEWS May 2025 Official statisticReport
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