Health Education Specialists
Human ServicesO*NET 21-1091.00United States
Provide and manage health education programs that help individuals, families, and their communities maximize and maintain healthy lifestyles. Use data to identify community needs prior to planning, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating programs designed to encourage healthy lifestyles, policies, and environments.
- Median annual earnings
- $63,860
- Projected change
- +9.1%
- Typical education
- Associate degree
- Employment
- 70.79K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
62.2% of the workforce
Growing to 77.21K by 2035
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These courses and certificates are connected through catalog career relationships and Lightcast skill tags.
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The work
What health education specialists do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- Develop and maintain cooperative working relationships with agencies and organizations interested in public health care.
- Prepare and distribute health education materials, such as reports, bulletins, and visual aids, to address smoking, vaccines, and other public health concerns.
- Maintain databases, mailing lists, telephone networks, and other information to facilitate the functioning of health education programs.
- Document activities and record information, such as the numbers of applications completed, presentations conducted, and persons assisted.
- Develop and present health education and promotion programs, such as training workshops, conferences, and school or community presentations.
- Collaborate with health specialists and civic groups to determine community health needs and the availability of services and to develop goals for meeting needs.
- Supervise professional and technical staff in implementing health programs, objectives, and goals.
- Develop, conduct, or coordinate health needs assessments and other public health surveys.
- Develop operational plans and policies necessary to achieve health education objectives and services.
- Provide program information to the public by preparing and presenting press releases, conducting media campaigns, or maintaining program-related Web sites.
- Develop and maintain health education libraries to provide resources for staff and community agencies.
- Design and conduct evaluations and diagnostic studies to assess the quality and performance of health education programs.
- Develop, prepare, and coordinate grant applications and grant-related activities to obtain funding for health education programs and related work.
- Provide guidance to agencies and organizations on assessment of health education needs and on development and delivery of health education programs.
- Design and administer training programs for new employees and continuing education for existing employees.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $42,654
- 25th percentile
- $50,399
- 50th percentile
- $63,860
- 75th percentile
- $87,353
- 90th percentile
- $120,027
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $63,860 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+9.1%faster than average
202570,789 jobs
2035 projected77,208 jobs
6,419 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- Associate degree
- 62.2%
- Bachelor's degree
- 30.9%
- Master's or Professional degree
- 3.4%
- High school diploma or less
- 2.6%
- Doctoral degree or more
- 0.9%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
In the market
Job titles and employers
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Top employers
- 01YMCA470 postings
- 02Sharecare325 postings
- 03Colleyville Lifetime Fitness274 postings
- 04MedStar204 postings
- 05Trustmark National Bank185 postings
- 06America Usjedu Group184 postings
- 07Life Time171 postings
- 08Edjoin.Org153 postings
- 09Telecare146 postings
- 10School District Of Palm Beach County139 postings
- 11Health Fitness Corporation126 postings
- 12Cintas114 postings
- 13Maximus108 postings
- 14Serenity Mental Health Centers106 postings
- 15State of Florida100 postings
- 16Elevance Health95 postings
- 17Albany Medical Center94 postings
- 18Crestwood Behavioral Health78 postings
- 19Mercy78 postings
- 20St George Tanaq Corporation77 postings
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