Public Health Career · BLS May 2025

Health Educator Jobs, Salary and Certification

What Do Health Educator Jobs Pay, and What Education Do You Need?

Health educator jobs paid a median $64,070 in May 2025 across 65,690 positions, according to BLS data for health education specialists. A bachelor's degree is the usual entry point, while a master's such as an MPH opens supervisory roles and the advanced MCHES credential. Georgia stands out, with a $99,400 median across 3,210 jobs. Compare programs in community health and health promotion MPH programs.

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Health Education Specialist Pay: $42,990 to $118,200

Health Education Specialists, annual wages, United States (BLS OEWS, May 2025)

The median is the midpoint: half of health education specialists earned more and half less. The 90th percentile shows where experienced and senior roles land; the 10th, where many new graduates start.

What a Health Educator Does

Health educators, whom the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) calls health education specialists, assess what a community needs to know about its health and then build, run and evaluate the programs that teach it. The health educator job description in the BLS handbook covers eight core tasks:

  • Assess the health needs of a community or group
  • Develop programs, materials and events on health topics
  • Evaluate whether those programs and materials work
  • Help people find health services or information
  • Train community health workers and other staff
  • Supervise staff who run health education programs
  • Collect and analyze data about a community
  • Advocate for better health resources and policies

In practice, a public health educator at a county health department might plan a diabetes prevention series, write the handouts, run the sessions and then measure whether participants changed their habits. A hospital-based educator might focus on patients leaving care. Most work full time, and BLS notes that evening and weekend programs and meetings are part of the job.

Where Health Educator Jobs Are

Employer Share of jobs
Government (excluding schools and hospitals) 24%
Ambulatory healthcare services 18%
Hospitals 16%
Educational services 14%
Social assistance 7%

Source: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025.

Government agencies are the biggest single employer, and clinics, outpatient centers and hospitals follow close behind. That mix matters when you choose a program: a clinically focused health promotion degree suits hospital and clinic roles, and a community health MPH suits health department work.

Health Educator Salary by State

Pay swings widely by state. Nationally, the median was $64,070, but three markets pay far more: Maryland ($104,470 median, 2,220 jobs), the District of Columbia ($103,330, 680 jobs) and Georgia ($99,400, 3,210 jobs). Georgia is the standout because it pairs a near-six-figure median with the fourth-largest job count.

The biggest job markets tell a different story:

State Jobs Median pay
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

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025.

California has by far the most health educator jobs, but its median ($63,610) sits just under the national figure. Texas, New York, Massachusetts and North Carolina also pay below the national median despite large job counts. At the bottom, Puerto Rico ($39,650, 600 jobs), Tennessee ($49,630, 490 jobs), Mississippi ($51,020, 410 jobs) and Montana ($51,200, 240 jobs) have the lowest medians.

The spread inside the occupation is wide too: a quarter of health education specialists earned less than $50,620, and a quarter earned more than $87,130.

Health Educator Education Requirements

BLS sets the baseline clearly: health education specialists typically need at least a bachelor’s degree in health education or health promotion, and some positions require a master’s or doctoral degree. So a master’s isn’t required to get hired. It’s the route to jobs that supervise staff, run programs or require the advanced credential.

Route What you need What it leads to
Bachelor’s in health education or promotion Four-year degree Entry-level health educator jobs; CHES eligibility
Bachelor’s in another field Degree plus 25 semester credits of health education coursework CHES eligibility
Master’s (MPH, MA or MS) Graduate degree with 25 semester credits of health education coursework CHES now; MCHES after five years of health education work

Credit rules from NCHEC’s CHES and MCHES eligibility pages.

If your bachelor’s is in something else, such as biology or psychology, a health education master’s can supply the coursework you need for CHES eligibility. Check the transcript rules before you enroll: NCHEC requires a grade of C or better and at least 12 semester credits of health education process courses.

Health Educator Certification: CHES and MCHES

The Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) is the credential behind “certified health education specialist” job postings. BLS notes that employers may require or prefer certification. The National Commission for Health Education Credentialing (NCHEC) runs the exam and sets these eligibility routes:

  • CHES: a bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree with either a health education major (NCHEC names Community Health Education and Public Health Education as examples) or at least 25 semester credits of health education coursework. Students within 90 days of graduating can sit with a faculty advisor’s verification.
  • MCHES (Master Certified Health Education Specialist): five continuous years of active CHES status, or a master’s degree with 25 semester credits of health education coursework plus five years of documented work as a health education specialist. You don’t need to hold CHES first.

For exam dates, fees and recertification, see the full CHES certification guide. Public health graduates can also add the broader CPH credential.

Choosing a Health Education or Community Health Program

This site lists 228 programs in community health, health promotion and health education: 199 MPH degrees and 29 related master’s degrees (19 MS, 5 MA and a few others). Common concentration names include Community Health, Community Health Education, Health Promotion, Health Education and Promotion, and Social and Behavioral Sciences.

Cost is where they differ most. Among 95 programs that publish a per-credit rate, the median is $730 a credit, and estimated tuition (published per-credit rate times credits, before fees) has a median of $32,079 across 87 programs.

Program Credits Per credit Estimated tuition
UTHealth Houston MPH (Texas resident rate) 45 $287 $12,915
CUNY Brooklyn College MA in Community Health (online) 30 $470 $14,100
University of Alabama MA in Health Studies (online) 30 $480 $14,400
CUNY Lehman College MA in Health Education and Promotion 33 $470 $15,510
NYU MPH: Community Health Science and Practice 46 $2,507 $115,322

The shorter MA and MS degrees (30 to 33 credits) are cheaper and quicker than a 42-credit MPH. The MPH adds the public health foundations and field experience that every CEPH-accredited MPH requires, which matters if you want health department roles or the CPH credential.

For a flexible MPH, the University of Alabama MPH in Health Education and Promotion runs 42 credits online or on campus at $480 a credit, and the University of West Florida online MPH offers a Health Promotion, Education and Behavior concentration over an estimated 18 to 24 months at $385.85 a credit. See more online MPH programs.

Where to Study Near the Jobs

If you plan to work where you study, program supply roughly follows the big job markets. California has the most community health and health promotion programs on this site (28), followed by New York (18), Texas (14), Illinois (12) and Pennsylvania (11). Georgia, the high-paying outlier, has 8, as do Massachusetts and Ohio.

That overlap is useful for a practicum. Every CEPH-accredited MPH includes applied practice experience, so studying in the state where you want to work lets that placement double as local experience. Pennsylvania is worth a look on both counts: 11 programs and a $80,670 median across 2,690 jobs, well above the national figure.

Faster and Part-Time Options

Twenty-three of the 228 programs are accelerated. A few built for speed or for working adults:

Browse the full list of accelerated MPH programs if time matters more than cost.

Health Educator Job Outlook

BLS projects employment of health education specialists to grow 6 percent from 2025 to 2035, faster than the average for all occupations, with about 6,900 openings a year.

If you’re deciding between this career and a neighbor, compare the community health worker path, which starts without a degree, and the health services manager path, which pays more but moves you away from direct teaching.

Highest-Paying States for Health Education Specialists

StateMedian90th percentileJobs
Maryland$104,470$161,4702,220
District of Columbia$103,330$170,980680
Georgia$99,400$153,6303,210
Pennsylvania$80,670$120,6402,690
Minnesota$78,400$106,7801,250
Washington$77,420$95,6801,750
Iowa$75,750$95,750540
Oregon$75,500$111,860840
Rhode Island$75,360$110,780150
Colorado$74,150$117,170750

BLS publishes 21-1091 estimates for 53 states. Full list on the MPH salary page.

The MPH Path: Community Health and Health Promotion

228 programs we verified offer community health and health promotion, as an MPH concentration or a related master's degree. These online MPH programs at CEPH-accredited schools are a place to start:

All community health and health promotion programs

Frequently Asked Questions

How Much Does a Health Educator Make an Hour?

The median hourly wage for health education specialists was $30.80 in May 2025. The mean annual wage was $73,280.

Is Health Education a Growing Field?

Yes, modestly. BLS projects employment of health education specialists to grow 6 percent from 2025 to 2035, faster than the average for all occupations, with about 6,900 openings a year on average.

Do You Have to Be Certified to Work as a Health Educator?

Not by law, but BLS says employers may require or prefer certification. The main credential is the Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES), awarded by NCHEC to candidates with a qualifying degree who pass its exam.

Can You Earn a Health Education Master's Online?

Yes. Of the 228 community health and health promotion programs on this site, 109 offer an online format and 59 are online only, including the University of Alabama's MPH in Health Education and Promotion (42 credits, $480 a credit).

What Is the Difference Between a Health Educator and a Community Health Worker?

Health education specialists usually need a bachelor's degree and design and evaluate programs; community health workers usually start with a high school diploma and work directly with people in their community. The median pay was $64,070 for health education specialists and $51,850 for community health workers in May 2025.

Sources

  1. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 21-1091 Health Education Specialists, May 2025
  2. Official program pages of the schools listed, reviewed September 2026
  3. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Health Education Specialists
  4. NCHEC: CHES exam eligibility
  5. NCHEC: MCHES exam eligibility

Every program here was checked against the school's own website. Accreditation comes from the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) list, and graduate counts from the U.S. Department of Education (IPEDS). Sponsored listings are labeled and never change which programs we list. How we verify programs