Community and Social Service

Health Education Specialists

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. May link health systems, health providers, insurers, and patients to address individual and population health needs. May serve as resource to assist individuals, other health professionals, or the community, and may administer fiscal resources for health education programs.

MAY 2025 · OCCUPATIONAL WAGES

A wage reference for United States.

Published wage percentiles describe a distribution within the source occupation group. They provide context for a career decision; employer packages and job offers have their own terms.

Source wage group: Health Education Specialists

This wage group may include multiple detailed occupations. The figures are for the source group, which may be broader than Health Education Specialists. They are not an exact-title, employer, experience or seniority match.

May 2025 · USD · United States. Annual and hourly figures are shown only when the source publishes them; neither is calculated from the other.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage data, distributed through the O*NET® OnLine service.

Median annual wage$64,070USD per year · Published 50th percentile
Median hourly wage$30.80USD per hour · Published 50th percentile

Annual wage thresholds

USD per year

Hourly wage thresholds

USD per hour

Published occupational wage percentiles · United States · May 2025
PercentileAnnual wage (USD/year)Hourly wage (USD/hour)
10th$42,990$20.67
25th$50,620$24.34
50th · Median$64,070$30.80
75th$87,130$41.89
90th$118,200$56.83

“≥” means at least the published amount; “≤” means at most that amount. These are bounds, not exact values. “Not published” means the source did not provide that figure. Occupational wages follow the source definition and do not establish an employer’s base salary, equity or total compensation.

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THE WORK BEHIND THE TITLE

What this career involves.

Occupation definitions describe common work. Responsibilities and requirements vary by employer and specific job.

Selected title examples

Behavioral Health EducatorBLS Instructor (Basic Life Support Instructor)Breastfeeding EducatorBreastfeeding Peer CounselorCertified Breastfeeding Educator (CBE)Certified Diabetes EducatorCertified Health Education SpecialistCertified Lactation Counselor (CLC)Certified Lactation EducatorClinical EducatorClinical InstructorClinical Nurse Educator
Expand more title examples (39)
Clinical Trial EducatorCommunity EducatorCommunity Health ConsultantCommunity Health Education CoordinatorCommunity Health EducatorCommunity Health Worker (CHW)CPR and First Aid Instructor (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and First Aid Instructor)CPR Instructor (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Instructor)Diabetes EducatorEarly Breastfeeding Care SpecialistEducation CoordinatorEducation SpecialistEducatorFitness CoachHealth CoachHealth Education CoordinatorHealth Education SpecialistHealth EducatorHealth Promotion SpecialistHealth ScreenerHealthcare EducatorHealthcare SpecialistInstructorLactation ConsultantLactation SpecialistLamaze International Breastfeeding Support SpecialistNurse EducatorNutrition EducatorPCT Preceptor (Patient Care Technician Preceptor)Public Health AdvisorPublic Health AnalystPublic Health EducatorPublic Health InstructorPublic Health OfficerPublic Health RepresentativePublic Health SpecialistPublic Health TechnologistPublic Information OfficerRegistered Nurse Educator (RN Educator)

Typical tasks

  • Prepare and distribute health education materials, such as reports, bulletins, and visual aids, to address smoking, vaccines, and other public health concerns.
  • Develop and maintain cooperative working relationships with agencies and organizations interested in public health care.
  • 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.
Expand more tasks (10)
  • Develop, conduct, or coordinate health needs assessments and other public health surveys.
  • Supervise professional and technical staff in implementing health programs, objectives, and goals.
  • 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.
  • Develop educational materials and programs for community agencies, local government, and state government.

Skills used in this work

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.
Speaking
Talking to others to convey information effectively.
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.
Active Learning
Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Social Perceptiveness
Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Expand more skills (29)
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.
Instructing
Teaching others how to do something.
Time Management
Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Judgment and Decision Making
Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
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.
Complex Problem Solving
Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
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.
Management of Personnel Resources
Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
Negotiation
Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
Operations Analysis
Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
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.
Science
Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
Management of Financial Resources
Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
Management of Material Resources
Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
Mathematics
Using mathematics to solve problems.
Operations Monitoring
Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
Technology Design
Generating or adapting equipment and technology to serve user needs.
Operation and Control
Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
Programming
Writing computer programs for various purposes.
Quality Control Analysis
Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
Equipment Maintenance
Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
Equipment Selection
Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.
Installation
Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or programs to meet specifications.
Repairing
Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
Troubleshooting
Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
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Sources and citation.

Cite this page: Wages.fyi, “Health Education Specialists career and wage guide.” Link to this Wages.fyi page

This page includes information from the O*NET® 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Wages.fyi has selected and organized this information and added wage navigation and explanations. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. Database license and attribution requirements.

Official occupation profile · Official wage reference . Wage reference: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, distributed through the O*NET® OnLine service. Source data and publication dates can differ from the date this page is accessed.