Health Education Specialists
What Health Education Specialists Do
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.
See full salary breakdown & percentiles →
Career Outlook
National employment outlook, 2024–2034.
- Related work experience
- None
- On-the-job training
- None
- Self-employed
- 0.6%
Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.
How Much Preparation Does This Take?
Job Zone 4 of 5Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
- Experience
- A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations.
- Education
- Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
- Job training
- Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Source: O*NET Job Zones.
Key Knowledge Areas
Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.
- Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 4.6/5
- Education and Trainingimportance 4.5/5
- English Languageimportance 4.2/5
- Administrativeimportance 4.1/5
- Psychologyimportance 3.6/5
- Public Safety and Securityimportance 3.6/5
- Mathematicsimportance 3.6/5
- Sociology and Anthropologyimportance 3.5/5
Work Environment
What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.
- E-Mail5.0/5
- Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams4.9/5
- Telephone Conversations4.8/5
- Contact With Others4.7/5
- Freedom to Make Decisions4.4/5
- Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team4.3/5
Careers With Similar Skills
Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.
- Social and Community Service Managers98% skill match
- Training and Development Specialists98% skill match
- Obstetricians and Gynecologists97% skill match
- Sales Managers97% skill match
- Recreational Therapists97% skill match
- Directors, Religious Activities and Education96% skill match
- Entertainment and Recreation Managers, Except Gambling96% skill match
- Management Analysts96% skill match
Transferable Skills
Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.
- Social Perceptivenessimportance 3.9/5
- Coordinationimportance 3.6/5
- Instructingimportance 3.4/5
- Time Managementimportance 3.4/5
- Service Orientationimportance 3.3/5
- Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 3.3/5
- Persuasionimportance 3.1/5
- Complex Problem Solvingimportance 3.1/5
Software & Technologies
Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.
Hot Technologies
Other Software Used
- Blackbaud The Raiser's Edge
- Blackboard software
- Blogging software
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC WONDER
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Epi Info
- Edpuzzle
- JamBoard
- LogMeIn GoToWebinar
Work Style
Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.
- Dependability
- Empathy
- Social Orientation
- Cooperation
- Sincerity
- Integrity
- Intellectual Curiosity
Career Interests
This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.
- SocialHigh
- InvestigativeHigh
- ConventionalMedium
- EnterprisingMedium
- ArtisticLow
- RealisticLow
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 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.
Where This Career Is Most Concentrated
Metro areas where health education specialists make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).
- 1Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA18.32× national avg
- 2Chico, CA6.28× national avg
- 3Jefferson City, MO5.93× national avg
- 4San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA5.03× national avg
- 5Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA3.04× national avg
Possible Career Moves
A computed starting point, not observed job-change data — see the full list for why each one might fit.
- Social and Community Service ManagersCareer Change
- Financial ManagersCareer Change
- Management AnalystsCareer Change
- Training and Development SpecialistsCareer Change
See the full career path from Health Education Specialists →
Related Education Programs
Schools that offer related fields of study, based on the NCES CIP-SOC crosswalk — not a guarantee that graduates enter this specific career.
Environmental Health
- George Washington University (Washington, DC)grads earn ~$92,573
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, NC)grads earn ~$86,115
- Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD)grads earn ~$99,605
- University of South Carolina-Columbia (Columbia, SC)grads earn ~$58,715
- Columbia University in the City of New York (New York, NY)grads earn ~$98,728
Health and Wellness, General
- University of South Florida (Tampa, FL)grads earn ~$56,452
- University of Central Florida (Orlando, FL)grads earn ~$56,148
- Purdue University Global (West Lafayette, IN)grads earn ~$54,526
- Sierra College (Rocklin, CA)
- University of Missouri-Columbia (Columbia, MO)grads earn ~$69,333
Clinical/Medical Social Work
- Capella University (Minneapolis, MN)grads earn ~$59,050
- Grand Canyon University (Phoenix, AZ)grads earn ~$58,045
- Walden University (Minneapolis, MN)grads earn ~$60,034
- Liberty University (Lynchburg, VA)grads earn ~$53,721
- Grand Canyon University (Phoenix, AZ)grads earn ~$51,490