Community and Social Service · Holland code SIC

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.

Also called: Clinical Instructor, Health Education Specialist, Health Educator, Public Health Educator, Certified Diabetes Educator, Community Health Consultant, Education Coordinator, Health Education Coordinator.

O*NET 21-1091.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $64,070; Middle half earn $50,620 to $87,130. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree; 62% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 4 of 5; Considerable preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034: +4% · As fast as average; 71,800 jobs in 2024, projected 75,000. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Health education specialists".

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

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.
Develop, conduct, or coordinate health needs assessments and other public health surveys.
Supervise professional and technical staff in implementing health programs, objectives, and goals.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Active Listening4.1 / 5
Writing4.1 / 5
Speaking4.1 / 5
Learning Strategies4.0 / 5
Active Learning3.9 / 5
Reading Comprehension3.8 / 5

Knowledge areas

Customer and Personal Service4.6 / 5
Education and Training4.5 / 5
English Language4.2 / 5
Administrative4.1 / 5
Psychology3.6 / 5
Public Safety and Security3.6 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic11
Investigative72
Artistic26
Social86
Enterprising37
Conventional49

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

epidemiologist · DE Epidemiologe/Epidemiologin · FR épidémiologiste
dietitian · DE Diätologe/Diätologin · FR diététicien/diététicienne
policy officer · DE Referent/Referentin · FR chargé de mission/chargée de mission
public health policy officer · DE Referent für Public Health/Referentin für Public Health · FR chargé de mission santé publique/chargée de mission santé publique
community development officer · DE Stadtteilentwickler/Stadtteilentwicklerin · FR agent de développement local/agente de développement local
healthcare consultant · DE Berater im Gesundheitswesen/Beraterin im Gesundheitswesen · FR consultant en santé publique/consultante en santé publique

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Social workers (2461)139,800 employed
Probation officers (2462)11,900 employed
Youth work professionals (2464)10,200 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€61,714
Germany	€59,529
Ireland	€56,877
Austria	€55,374
Netherlands	€53,595
Sweden	€43,567
France	€41,515
Spain	€35,735
Italy	€33,649
Portugal	€26,072
Poland	€14,380

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +0.69. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (21-1091).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test