MPH Salary: What Public Health Jobs Pay

Search for “MPH salary” and you’ll find one confident number after another. None of them is quite right, because the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the main source of U.S. pay data, reports wages by occupation, not by degree. An MPH graduate who becomes a hospital administrator and one who becomes a community health worker hold the same degree and earn very different pay. So the useful question is what the jobs an MPH leads to pay, and that’s what this page answers.

MPH Salary by Career

These are seven common MPH career paths, with BLS pay from the May 2025 wage survey. The median is the middle worker: half earn more, half less.

Career (BLS occupation)	Jobs	10th percentile	Median	90th percentile	Median hourly
Health services manager (medical and health services managers)	597,080	$73,390	$123,860	$224,340	$59.55
Biostatistician (statisticians)	29,030	$64,000	$105,650	$174,050	$50.79
Environmental health specialist (occupational health and safety specialists)	140,610	$55,000	$90,150	$134,950	$43.34
Epidemiologist	12,090	$61,270	$87,220	$138,800	$41.93
Health informatics specialist (health information technologists and medical registrars)	38,100	$39,830	$68,020	$117,420	$32.70
Health education specialist	65,690	$42,990	$64,070	$118,200	$30.80
Community health worker	61,660	$38,810	$51,850	$77,180	$24.93

Two patterns stand out. First, the spread inside each career is wide: health services managers run from $73,390 at the 10th percentile to $224,340 at the 90th. Second, two of the top four medians belong to the careers where BLS lists a master’s degree as the typical entry point (statisticians and epidemiologists), and the top one, health services manager, is a career where BLS says top executive roles may require a master’s.

Highest Paying Jobs With a Public Health Degree

Ranked by median pay, the top three careers are health services manager ($123,860), biostatistician ($105,650) and environmental and occupational health specialist ($90,150). Mean pay runs higher than the median in every career, because a smaller group of high earners pulls the average up. For health services managers, the mean is $140,970; for statisticians, $115,700.

If pay is your main goal, the numbers point to two strategies. One is the management track: an MPH with a health policy or management focus, aimed at leadership in hospitals and health systems. The other is the quantitative track: a biostatistics or epidemiology concentration, aimed at research and data roles.

MPH Salary by State

Location moves pay as much as career choice. Here are the highest- and lowest-paying states for each career, by median pay in May 2025:

Career	Top-paying state	Median there	Lowest-paying area	Median there
Health services manager	New York	$164,120	Puerto Rico	$82,580
Biostatistician	District of Columbia	$140,670	Puerto Rico	$49,730
Epidemiologist	Massachusetts	$115,890	Puerto Rico	$48,380
Environmental health specialist	District of Columbia	$111,530	Puerto Rico	$45,630
Health education specialist	Maryland	$104,470	Puerto Rico	$39,650
Health informatics specialist	Arkansas	$93,300	Puerto Rico	$27,040
Community health worker	New Hampshire	$66,680	Puerto Rico	$36,900

Puerto Rico sits at the bottom of every list. Among the 50 states, the lowest medians include epidemiologists in Mississippi at $56,930, health services managers in Alabama at $97,790, and community health workers in West Virginia at $37,950.

Where the Jobs Are, Not Just the Pay

A high median in a small market can mislead. The District of Columbia pays epidemiologists $112,370, but BLS counts only 90 epidemiologist jobs there. California pays slightly less at $110,760 and has 1,480. For biostatisticians, Maryland combines a $132,620 median with 2,730 jobs, more than any other state in the top-paying list. For health services managers, California has 75,090 jobs at a $141,480 median. If you want both pay and openings, look at the large markets near the top of the list.

Why No One Can Tell You the Average MPH Salary

Every figure on this page comes from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program, May 2025 release. OEWS surveys business establishments and publishes employment and wage estimates for about 830 occupations each year, with a May reference date. It does not count the self-employed, owners and partners in unincorporated firms, household workers or unpaid family workers, so consultants who work for themselves aren’t in these numbers.

Two limits matter when you read an MPH salary figure anywhere. OEWS groups workers into standard occupations, so a job titled “public health analyst” or “public health administrator” has no category of its own; it is counted in whichever occupation matches its duties, such as epidemiologists, statisticians or medical and health services managers. And it doesn’t record degrees, so no federal source can tell you what MPH holders earn as a group. Treat any site that quotes one “average MPH salary” with caution.

What Drives Public Health Pay

Five factors drive the gap between two MPH graduates:

1. Occupation. The biggest factor. Medians run from $51,850 to $123,860 across these seven careers.
2. Location. Epidemiologists earn a $115,890 median in Massachusetts and $66,890 in Missouri.
3. Industry. BLS reports that epidemiologists in scientific research and development earn a $127,410 median, against $104,470 in hospitals. Government employs the most epidemiologists, with state government at 33% and local government at 22%.
4. Experience and seniority. The gap between the 10th and 90th percentiles partly reflects junior versus senior roles. For epidemiologists it runs from $61,270 to $138,800.
5. Concentration and skills. Quantitative training points toward the data careers, where statisticians earn a $105,650 median. Within health informatics, pay runs from $39,830 to $117,420, and BLS notes that some of these jobs call for a bachelor’s or master’s and that certification may be required or preferred.

Mid-Career MPH Salary: The Middle Half of Each Field

The 25th and 75th percentiles bracket the middle half of workers in each career, which is a realistic range for someone a few years in. They also show how much room each career gives you to grow:

Career	25th percentile	75th percentile	Mean
Health services manager	$94,700	$166,100	$140,970
Biostatistician (statisticians)	$82,220	$141,490	$115,700
Environmental health specialist	$69,560	$111,690	$93,860
Epidemiologist	$71,090	$112,640	$97,890
Health informatics specialist	$48,940	$95,630	$74,970
Health education specialist	$50,620	$87,130	$73,280
Community health worker	$45,640	$62,540	$56,180

Community health work has the tightest band, from $45,640 to $62,540, so pay rises slowly within the role. Health services management has the widest, from $94,700 to $166,100, so moving up the ladder there changes pay the most.

How to Raise Your Earning Power With an MPH

The data suggests a few practical moves, each tied to a number above:

• Aim at the higher-paying occupations. Statisticians earn a $105,650 median and health services managers $123,860, against $64,070 for health education specialists.
• Build quantitative skills whatever your concentration. Epidemiology and statistics, the two careers where BLS lists a master’s degree as typical entry, both center on analyzing data.
• Consider where you live. Health education specialists earn a $104,470 median in Maryland and $99,400 in Georgia.
• Look beyond government. Government hires the most epidemiologists, but research and development pays them the most.
• Look at professional credentials. The CPH and CHES guides explain who can sit each exam and what it covers.

Master of Public Health Salary vs Bachelor’s

BLS doesn’t publish pay by degree level within these occupations, so any “MPH vs bachelor’s salary” figure you see is an estimate from outside the federal data. What BLS does publish is the typical entry education. A high school diploma is typical for community health workers, a bachelor’s degree for health education specialists, occupational health and safety specialists and health services managers, and a master’s degree for epidemiologists and statisticians. BLS also notes that some health education specialist positions require a master’s, and that top health services executive roles may too.

Put simply: the MPH raises your pay mainly by opening the higher-paying careers and senior roles, not by adding a fixed premium to the job you already have.

Weighing Salary Against What an MPH Costs

The degree pays off faster when tuition is low. Across 213 MPH programs with a published per-credit rate, the median is $841.50 per credit. Some CEPH-accredited programs charge far less:

• UTHealth Houston MPH: $287 per semester credit hour for Texas residents, plus fees.
• UNLV MPH: $383.25 per credit for residents, plus fees.
• University of West Florida online MPH: $385.85 per credit hour for Florida residents.
• Ponce Health Sciences University online MPH in International Health: $400 per credit for residents.

Compare more options on the affordable MPH programs page, and use the is an MPH worth it guide to set likely pay against total cost. The public health careers hub explains what each job involves day to day.