Find the questions people keep asking
Sort survey answers and talk with community partners, then pick a new health program's topics from repeat questions.
Career profile
Health Educator
Health education specialists shape lessons and outreach around audience knowledge gaps, then judge what worked.
Survey answers become your workshop, and leading it shows which explanation to redo. The job blends people work and finding ways to reach an audience.
A day in the life
Turn health facts into handouts
Rewrite health information as a handout or slide deck, choosing words and pictures the people attending will understand.
Teach a topic and take questions
You explain a health topic, invite the group's questions, and try a new example if reactions show confusion.
Track attendance and fix weak spots
Record who came and review participants' answers on a spreadsheet, then rework any section people keep misunderstanding.
Draft a grant application
Some roles have you draft grant applications covering the health need, proposed program, and evaluation plan.
Quick facts
Usually a bachelor's degree
United States
$64,070 a year
United States · May 2025
6% projected growth
United States · 2025–2035
Quick orientation
Preparation, pay & outlook
Preparation
Usually a bachelor's degreeSome employers also require or prefer certification.
Pay
$64,070 a yearNational median, equivalent to $30.80 an hour.
Outlook
6% projected growthAbout 6,900 openings a year on average, including replacements.
Fit, tradeoffs & changing tools
You might like this if…
- You enjoy making a complicated explanation easier to understand.
- You can listen to someone's concerns before deciding what to say.
- You want to examine results and improve a plan after trying it.
Things to weigh
- Community programs and meetings can put work into evenings or weekends.
- A useful program can still meet resistance or exceed the budget, leaving you to rethink the plan.
- Teaching comes with desk work: attendance records, reports, and program updates need attention too.
Where AI may help
Spreadsheets help organize results, and presentation tools help build lessons. For advocacy work, tools that generate text—generative artificial intelligence (AI)—can also help draft talking points.
What people still lead
You check the facts and possible bias, listen to the audience, and decide whether the message fits the people you want to reach.
What we can’t predict yet
How much campaign writing can be handed to AI remains unsettled: a draft may save time but still need substantial checking and rewriting.
Pay in context
Earnings
Workplace and location matter when comparing offers. These national wages describe health education specialists across experience levels.
The median and spread
The median was $64,070 a year, or $30.80 an hour. The middle half earned $50,620–$87,130; the 10th and 90th percentiles were $42,990 and $118,200. These are wage ranges across workers, not a starting-to-senior pay ladder.
Compare workplace types
Annual medians were $83,040 in hospitals, $69,740 in government, $62,370 in educational services, $60,500 in ambulatory healthcare, and $50,230 in social assistance. Hospital and education figures include public and private employers; government excludes state and local education and hospitals.
Openings include replacement jobs
Employment is projected to grow 6%, with about 6,900 openings annually. Many openings replace people who change occupations or leave the workforce; they are not all newly created jobs.
Getting started
Study health education or health promotion
- What the route involves
- Complete a bachelor's degree in health education or health promotion, and use an internship to gain practical experience.
- What it can lead to
- This meets the typical degree preparation for entering health educator positions.
Enter through another relevant major
- What the route involves
- Earn a bachelor's degree in a field such as social science or healthcare, and compare your preparation with employers' stated requirements.
- What it can lead to
- You can pursue positions that accept related majors, without necessarily completing a second bachelor's degree.
- What to check
- Acceptance varies by employer. Some positions require a master's or doctoral degree.
Plan on a bachelor's degree. Some employers also want the Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) credential: qualifying education establishes exam eligibility, passing the exam earns certification, and continuing education maintains it. Check the credential authority's coursework rules before choosing classes.
After entry
Career paths
This starts where the entry routes leave off: early work, growing capability, and advancement or specialization.
Get established
Learn the program's materials and community partners. Build confidence leading sessions and keeping clear participation records.
Take a program from idea to results
Develop a needs survey, plan the lessons, coordinate delivery, and evaluate what participants learned.
Lead staff or specialize
Move toward supervising educators and coordinating the plans that guide a larger program.
- Focus on evaluation: design studies that help an organization decide which programs to improve.
Where you can work
Hospitals and healthcare facilities
Work directly with patients and families who need understandable health information. Some roles also involve teaching medical staff how to communicate more effectively with patients.
- Indoors
Public health departments
Build community campaigns and work with public officials or local committees. Some roles include overseeing grants as well as delivering education.
- Office
- Field work
Nonprofit organizations
A particular disease or community may shape your whole program. Alongside education, you may help secure grant funding and explain health needs to policymakers.
- Office
- Field work
Try it
See whether the job clicks before you commit to the path.
Choose a public health agency's handout and redesign it as a one-page lesson for students. Ask a willing reader to explain its main point, then revise whatever confused them. Notice whether you enjoy both creating the lesson and testing its clarity.
Stay safe: Keep the original health guidance intact and avoid asking the reader for personal medical information.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Health Education Specialists. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- O*NET OnLine. 21-1091.00 — Health Education Specialists. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- O*NET OnLine / U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. National Wages: 21-1091.00 — Health Education Specialists. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- National Commission for Health Education Credentialing. CHES Exam Eligibility. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- National Commission for Health Education Credentialing. Certified Health Education Specialist Exam. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- National Commission for Health Education Credentialing. Harnessing Generative AI for Public Health Advocacy: Revolutionizing Advocacy Efforts. Accessed 2026-10-03.