Health Education Specialists salary

SOC 21-1091 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$64,070

per year, nationally

Middle half

$50,620–$87,130

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

65,690

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+4.5%

7,900 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$42,990$118,200

10th: $42,990
25th: $50,620
Median: $64,070
75th: $87,130
90th: $118,200

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Bachelor's degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: None

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where health education specialists earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Maryland	$104,470	105.0	2,220	1.90×
2	District of Columbia	$103,330	109.9	680	2.30×
3	Georgia	$99,400	96.3	3,210	1.55×
4	Pennsylvania	$80,670	97.6	2,690	1.05×
5	Minnesota	$78,400	98.6	1,250	1.00×
6	Washington	$77,420	107.0	1,750	1.16×
7	Iowa	$75,750	87.8	540	0.81×
8	Oregon	$75,500	103.4	840	1.01×
9	Rhode Island	$75,360	102.3	150	0.72×
10	Colorado	$74,150	103.1	750	0.61×
11	Wisconsin	$74,040	94.1	900	0.73×
12	New Jersey	$73,740	108.8	1,420	0.78×
13	Alaska	$71,940	102.4	310	2.26×
14	New Hampshire	$69,990	104.2	250	0.87×
15	Vermont	$68,140	98.0	180	1.38×
16	Connecticut	$66,870	103.6	400	0.56×
17	Kentucky	$65,370	90.2	760	0.90×
18	Alabama	$65,210	88.8	540	0.61×
19	Ohio	$64,860	92.8	1,970	0.84×
20	South Carolina	$64,720	93.7	470	0.49×
21	Virginia	$64,040	101.1	690	0.40×
22	Hawaii	$63,740	110.0	190	0.71×
23	California	$63,610	110.7	12,520	1.63×
24	Arizona	$63,390	100.7	1,140	0.83×
25	Delaware	$63,300	99.8	340	1.67×
26	Kansas	$62,990	90.1	520	0.85×
27	West Virginia	$62,760	89.5	400	1.36×
28	Wyoming	$62,750	92.7	90	0.76×
29	New York	$62,560	107.9	4,150	1.01×
30	Oklahoma	$62,440	87.8	820	1.14×
31	Arkansas	$62,270	86.9	200	0.36×
32	Nevada	$62,120	100.0	270	0.41×
33	Idaho	$61,330	95.5	370	1.03×
34	Illinois	$60,120	100.0	1,010	0.39×
35	Utah	$59,790	98.9	490	0.66×
36	North Dakota	$59,650	89.0	200	1.08×
37	Texas	$59,340	97.1	5,320	0.89×
38	Maine	$58,300	97.0	490	1.80×
39	Indiana	$58,170	93.3	1,380	1.02×
40	North Carolina	$58,080	94.3	2,110	1.01×
41	New Mexico	$57,990	92.2	660	1.78×
42	Louisiana	$57,840	88.2	470	0.58×
43	Massachusetts	$57,510	105.8	2,420	1.58×
44	South Dakota	$57,370	88.6	190	0.97×
45	Missouri	$57,050	90.8	—	—
46	Nebraska	$56,800	90.1	230	0.54×
47	Michigan	$56,360	96.2	1,480	0.79×
48	Montana	$51,200	94.6	240	1.11×
49	Mississippi	$51,020	87.0	410	0.83×
50	Tennessee	$49,630	91.9	490	0.36×
51	Florida	$46,360	103.4	—	—

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where health education specialists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for health education specialists

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$124,590	108.9	2,100	1.58×
2	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$112,450	100.1	2,580	2.11×
3	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$102,680	103.2	60	0.63×
4	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$99,260	115.6	1,850	1.84×
5	Eugene-Springfield, OR	$94,870	101.6	60	0.89×
6	Corvallis, OR	$87,370	104.0	40	2.26×
7	Lancaster, PA	$87,190	98.3	70	0.67×
8	Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA	$84,070	98.7	430	3.04×
9	St. Cloud, MN	$83,200	87.6	60	1.28×
10	Vallejo, CA	$81,630	108.5	130	2.18×
11	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$80,990	104.8	770	0.93×
12	Rochester, MN	$80,960	90.8	140	2.68×
13	Charleston, WV	$80,850	88.7	50	1.13×
14	Killeen-Temple, TX	$80,840	91.1	50	0.86×
15	Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ	$80,820	100.0	150	0.97×
16	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$80,060	105.8	450	0.66×
17	Madison, WI	$79,910	97.3	160	0.94×
18	Merced, CA	$79,830	98.3	40	1.33×
19	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$78,670	111.1	410	0.47×
20	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$78,640	109.9	80	1.91×
21	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$78,460	103.7	1,010	18.32×
22	Huntsville, AL	$78,400	93.1	50	0.48×
23	Auburn-Opelika, AL	$77,950	87.9	40	1.15×
24	Charleston-North Charleston, SC	$77,740	101.0	100	0.57×
25	York-Hanover, PA	$77,610	96.0	70	0.87×
26	Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV	$77,570	94.2	50	1.16×
27	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$76,920	100.3	90	0.80×
28	Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC	$76,400	91.9	70	0.76×
29	Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	$76,380	97.6	330	2.27×
30	Appleton, WI	$76,170	92.4	40	0.80×
31	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$75,910	96.9	180	0.52×
32	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$75,810	110.4	610	1.27×
33	Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA	$75,750	91.7	220	1.29×
34	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$75,500	105.4	510	1.01×
35	Pittsburgh, PA	$75,480	94.7	490	1.03×
36	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$75,350	98.6	1,040	0.75×
37	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$75,220	102.6	1,270	1.04×
38	Reading, PA	$74,640	97.1	50	0.62×
39	Reno, NV	$74,590	101.0	50	0.43×
40	Colorado Springs, CO	$73,990	100.7	80	0.59×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where health education specialists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors$59,350
Social and Human Service Assistants$45,930
Child, Family, and School Social Workers$59,550
Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors$64,330
Healthcare Social Workers$67,880
Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers$60,280
Community and Social Service Specialists, All Other$56,730
Rehabilitation Counselors$46,850