Health Education Specialist Salary: What the Job Pays
Designing and running programmes that change health behaviour, in health systems, employers, schools and public agencies.
Last updated
- Median
- $64,070
- Bottom 10%
- $42,990
- Top 10%
- $118,200
- Employed
- 65,690
What a Health Education Specialist Earns
The national median is $64,070. Half of everyone in this occupation earns between $50,620 and $87,130, and the full published range runs from $42,990 at the tenth percentile to $118,200 at the ninetieth. The occupation employs 65,690 people.
A median is a midpoint, not an offer, and this occupation's range is wide for a specific reason. Employer type. Government and hospital roles sit at the top of this range and community non-profit roles at the bottom, and the gap between them is large relative to the median. This is the lowest-paying occupation on this site, and the bottom of its range overlaps with jobs that need no degree at all.
So the number to plan around is not the median. It is the quartile you can realistically reach given the setting you would work in, which for this occupation is the variable that moves pay most.
How a DHSc Degree Affects Health Education Specialist Pay
A common route for DHSc graduates whose interest is population-facing programme work rather than running a department. Note the pay: this is the lowest-paying occupation on this page, and choosing it is a choice about the work rather than about money.
The Full Pay Range for Health Education Specialists
Five percentiles and a mean, which is everything the wage survey publishes for this occupation nationally.
| Point in the Range | Annual Pay | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $42,990 | Nine in ten earn more than this |
| 25th percentile | $50,620 | The bottom of the middle half |
| Median | $64,070 | Half earn more, half earn less |
| 75th percentile | $87,130 | The top of the middle half |
| 90th percentile | $118,200 | One in ten earn more than this |
| Mean | $73,280 | The average, pulled upward by the top of the range |
The mean runs $9,210 above the median, a 14% gap, so the upper half of this occupation stretches further than the lower half. The distance from the median to the 75th percentile is $23,060, and from the 75th to the 90th another $31,070.
Where Health Education Specialists Jobs Are
The ten states with the most jobs, which is a different list from the ten that pay best. Together they hold 58% of the 65,690 jobs nationally.
| State | Employed | Median |
|---|---|---|
| California | 12,520 | $63,610 |
| Texas | 5,320 | $59,340 |
| New York | 4,150 | $62,560 |
| Georgia | 3,210 | $99,400 |
| Pennsylvania | 2,690 | $80,670 |
| Massachusetts | 2,420 | $57,510 |
| Maryland | 2,220 | $104,470 |
| North Carolina | 2,110 | $58,080 |
| Ohio | 1,970 | $64,860 |
| Washington | 1,750 | $77,420 |
Employment and pay do not line up. A state can hold a large share of the jobs and pay near the national median, and a small state can top the pay table on a few hundred posts. Read the two tables together: the first tells you what the work pays, the second tells you where the work is.
Health Education Specialists Pay by State
Every state and territory that publishes a median for this occupation, highest first.
| State | Median | Bottom 10% | Top 10% | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maryland | $104,470 | $56,160 | $161,470 | 2,220 |
| District of Columbia | $103,330 | $63,250 | $170,980 | 680 |
| Georgia | $99,400 | $51,800 | $153,630 | 3,210 |
| Pennsylvania | $80,670 | $45,720 | $120,640 | 2,690 |
| Minnesota | $78,400 | $45,730 | $106,780 | 1,250 |
| Washington | $77,420 | $52,910 | $95,680 | 1,750 |
| Iowa | $75,750 | $46,450 | $95,750 | 540 |
| Oregon | $75,500 | $54,430 | $111,860 | 840 |
| Rhode Island | $75,360 | $38,660 | $110,780 | 150 |
| Colorado | $74,150 | $41,710 | $117,170 | 750 |
| Wisconsin | $74,040 | $50,710 | $96,940 | 900 |
| New Jersey | $73,740 | $46,250 | $130,100 | 1,420 |
| Alaska | $71,940 | $49,980 | $100,760 | 310 |
| New Hampshire | $69,990 | $46,550 | $108,210 | 250 |
| Vermont | $68,140 | $56,080 | $97,430 | 180 |
| Connecticut | $66,870 | $47,800 | $115,540 | 400 |
| Kentucky | $65,370 | $44,610 | $98,030 | 760 |
| Alabama | $65,210 | $40,580 | $97,180 | 540 |
| Ohio | $64,860 | $40,690 | $98,110 | 1,970 |
| South Carolina | $64,720 | $44,050 | $99,290 | 470 |
| Virginia | $64,040 | $42,640 | $137,980 | 690 |
| Hawaii | $63,740 | $35,500 | $99,130 | 190 |
| California | $63,610 | $49,020 | $113,170 | 12,520 |
| Arizona | $63,390 | $42,770 | $134,630 | 1,140 |
| Delaware | $63,300 | $37,400 | $99,360 | 340 |
| Kansas | $62,990 | $36,790 | $97,430 | 520 |
| West Virginia | $62,760 | $41,580 | $106,710 | 400 |
| Wyoming | $62,750 | $56,430 | $97,980 | 90 |
| New York | $62,560 | $44,830 | $95,980 | 4,150 |
| Oklahoma | $62,440 | $39,270 | $103,780 | 820 |
| Arkansas | $62,270 | $38,230 | $96,780 | 200 |
| Nevada | $62,120 | $33,830 | $111,840 | 270 |
| Idaho | $61,330 | $43,930 | $90,120 | 370 |
| Illinois | $60,120 | $41,480 | $105,660 | 1,010 |
| Utah | $59,790 | $48,290 | $110,430 | 490 |
| North Dakota | $59,650 | $47,410 | $90,660 | 200 |
| Texas | $59,340 | $45,790 | $112,320 | 5,320 |
| Maine | $58,300 | $45,290 | $82,490 | 490 |
| Indiana | $58,170 | $36,130 | $96,010 | 1,380 |
| North Carolina | $58,080 | $44,410 | $99,140 | 2,110 |
| New Mexico | $57,990 | $39,730 | $94,220 | 660 |
| Louisiana | $57,840 | $40,020 | $91,490 | 470 |
| Massachusetts | $57,510 | $37,460 | $142,860 | 2,420 |
| South Dakota | $57,370 | $46,400 | $78,360 | 190 |
| Missouri | $57,050 | $42,960 | $97,800 | |
| Nebraska | $56,800 | $38,570 | $83,520 | 230 |
| Michigan | $56,360 | $37,750 | $89,050 | 1,480 |
| Montana | $51,200 | $35,230 | $82,990 | 240 |
| Mississippi | $51,020 | $35,860 | $76,490 | 410 |
| Tennessee | $49,630 | $39,130 | $110,450 | 490 |
| Florida | $46,360 | $29,990 | $94,040 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. 51 states and territories publish a median for this occupation. A blank cell means BLS suppressed that figure.
State medians are not adjusted for cost of living here, and you should not read them as though they were. Maryland leads at $104,470 and Florida sits at $46,360, but a good deal of that gap is housing rather than spending power. Compare a state figure against local costs before treating it as a reason to move.
Compare Health Education Specialist Pay With Other DHSc Degree Careers
Every occupation this site tracks, by median. The group column matters: a destination role is one the doctorate moves you into, and an origin role is work DHSc students were already doing before they enrolled, so its pay is not a return on the degree.
| Occupation | Median | Middle Half | Employed | Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Physician Assistants | $135,880 | $120,670 to $163,980 | 162,150 | Origin |
| Medical and Health Services Managers | $123,860 | $94,700 to $166,100 | 597,080 | Destination |
| Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary | $107,310 | $75,690 to $210,370 | 221,270 | Destination |
| Education Administrators, Postsecondary | $104,590 | $80,870 to $144,370 | 180,470 | Destination |
| Physical Therapists | $102,760 | $86,160 to $121,160 | 267,330 | Origin |
| Occupational Therapists | $100,330 | $82,510 to $116,670 | 162,450 | Origin |
| Health Education Specialists | $64,070 | $50,620 to $87,130 | 65,690 | Destination |
Sources for Health Education Specialist Salary Data
Pay figures come from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics extract behind this site. Projections are not in that dataset and are cited to O*NET separately.
- O*NET OnLine: Health Education Specialists O*NET OnLine, U.S. Department of Labor, median pay and the 2024 to 2034 employment projection for this occupation.
- NCHEC on the CHES credential National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, what the Certified Health Education Specialist credential requires.