There isn’t a single universal answer, because different organizations use different numbers for “career clusters,” but the most widely cited figures come from the National Career Clusters Framework. Direct answer
- The commonly cited count is 14 career clusters in the National Career Clusters Framework, with 72 sub-clusters or pathways linked under them in the modern version used by many state Departments of Education and career-technical education programs.
Context and variations
- Some sources and older materials historically described 16 clusters, especially in earlier iterations of the framework or in certain state-level adaptations. If you encounter 16, it’s often from those older/alternative mappings.
- Some organizations or articles outside the U.S. education system describe different numbers (e.g., 6 clusters in some private guides or 16 in others), but these are not aligned with the current widely adopted national framework.
What to do next
- If you need the exact cluster list for a particular context (state, district, or program), specify the region or program, and I can pull the precise 14-cluster roster used there and note any deviations from the national framework.
