Healthcare Jobs in San Jose, CA
San Jose healthcare jobs run from $25-an-hour support roles to registered nurse pay that tops $200,000 a year, and the county's own four-hospital system is hiring alongside Kaiser and Good Samaritan. Here are the current openings, followed by who is hiring and how to get in.
Current healthcare Openings in San Jose, CA
Listings marked External are sponsored openings provided by the Jobs2Careers network.
Healthcare Work in San Jose
San Jose's hospital market is unusual because so much of it is public. Santa Clara Valley Healthcare, the county system, runs Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and O'Connor Hospital in the Bascom and Forest Avenue corridor west of downtown, Regional Medical Center on North Jackson Avenue in East San Jose, and St. Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy. The county bought Regional from HCA and took over on April 1, 2025, restoring Level 2 trauma care for the east side.
The private side is just as busy. Kaiser Permanente's San Jose Medical Center sits off Santa Teresa Boulevard in south San Jose, Good Samaritan Hospital anchors Cambrian near SR 85, and El Camino Health runs a Magnet-designated hospital just over the line in Los Gatos. Pay reflects the cost of living: the BLS puts the average healthcare practitioner in this metro at $79.56 an hour, and California's health care minimum wage sets a $25 floor at large systems and county facilities.
Top San Jose Employers Hiring Healthcare Workers
These San Jose health systems hire across nursing, support and allied health roles:
- Santa Clara Valley Healthcare - the county system behind Valley Medical Center, O'Connor, Regional Medical Center and St. Louise, with a training program for new nurses.
- Kaiser Permanente - runs the San Jose Medical Center on Hospital Parkway and a Santa Clara medical center, both listed as sites for its Northern California RN residency.
- Good Samaritan Hospital - HCA's 470-plus-bed hospital in Cambrian hires nursing, nursing support and allied health staff.
- El Camino Health - the Magnet-designated Los Gatos and Mountain View hospitals recruit nurses across Santa Clara County.
- San Jose Behavioral Health - the Acadia Healthcare psychiatric hospital posts licensed nursing roles in San Jose.
Healthcare Salaries in San Jose
- Entry level: about $23 to $30 an hour for nursing assistants and medical assistants, with a $25 minimum at large health systems and county facilities.
- Experienced: roughly $37 to $54 an hour for licensed vocational nurses.
- Senior: about $60 to $113 an hour for registered nurses, with top-step pay near $195,000 to $216,000 a year at the big hospital employers.
These are estimates built from BLS 2025 wage data for the San Jose metro and the county's own nurse pay survey. Licensure moves pay the most, followed by union contracts, night and weekend differentials, and specialty units such as critical care and the emergency department.
How to Get a Healthcare Job in San Jose
Entry roles such as nursing assistant need a short state-approved course and certification through the California Department of Public Health. Nursing roles need a license: the Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians licenses LVNs, and the California Board of Registered Nursing licenses RNs after the NCLEX-RN. Local programs include the Associate Degree Nursing and CNA courses at Evergreen Valley College on Yerba Buena Road, the vocational nursing program at Mission College in Santa Clara, and the BSN at San Jose State's Valley Foundation School of Nursing downtown.
What the Job Involves
Healthcare work covers direct patient care, such as taking vital signs, giving medications, helping patients move and bathe, and charting in an electronic health record, plus the clinical support that keeps a hospital running: lab work, imaging, scheduling, billing and patient transport. Most hospital roles run on 8, 10 or 12-hour shifts that cover nights, weekends and holidays.
Skills Employers Look For
- Current California license or certification for the role
- Basic Life Support (CPR) certification
- Electronic health record charting experience
- Clear communication with patients, families and care teams
- Infection control and patient safety habits
- Reliability on rotating and weekend shifts
Career Path and Advancement
A common San Jose ladder starts with a CNA certificate, moves to an LVN license through Mission College, then to an RN through Evergreen Valley College's LVN-to-RN track, and on to a BSN at San Jose State. Hospital nurses then move into charge nurse, specialty, educator and management roles at the county hospitals, Kaiser or Good Samaritan.
Related Careers in San Jose
If healthcare interests you, this San Jose guide goes deeper:
Frequently Asked Questions
Who are the biggest healthcare employers in San Jose?
The county's Santa Clara Valley Healthcare system is the largest, with Valley Medical Center, O'Connor Hospital and Regional Medical Center in San Jose and St. Louise in Gilroy. Kaiser Permanente, Good Samaritan Hospital and El Camino Health's Los Gatos hospital are the other major hospital employers.
What is the minimum wage for healthcare workers in San Jose?
Under California's SB 525, large health systems, dialysis clinics and certain county facilities must pay covered health care workers at least $25 an hour from July 1, 2026. Smaller employers follow lower tiers, but no one can pay below the city's general minimum wage.
Can I get a healthcare job in San Jose without a degree?
Yes. Nursing assistant, medical assistant and patient transport roles need a short training program or on-the-job training rather than a degree. A CNA certificate from a program such as Evergreen Valley College's CNA-Home Health Aide course is a common first step.
How much do nurses make in San Jose?
BLS 2025 data puts the median registered nurse in the San Jose metro at about $216,740 a year. LVNs earn a median of about $45.83 an hour.
Do San Jose hospitals hire new graduate nurses?
Yes. The county hospitals run a Nurse Training Program for nurses with less than a year of acute care experience, hired as Clinical Nurse I. Good Samaritan offers a Nurse Residency Program, and Kaiser includes San Jose and Santa Clara in its Northern California RN residency.
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