Epidemiologists
Also called: Epidemiologist, Infection Control Practitioner (ICP), Nurse Epidemiologist, Research EpidemiologistInvestigate and describe the determinants and distribution of disease, disability, or health outcomes. May develop the means for prevention and control.
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What the data says: AI could halve the time on 10 of its 14 rated tasks, yet jobs are projected to grow 18.7% by 2035. How to think about this →
About this projection
BLS builds AI into its projections where the research supports it: “BLS generally applies adjustments based on this research conservatively, where there is convincing evidence for a change.”
It also notes a limit: “BLS projection methods are not designed to capture extremely rapid technological change.”
On its AI exposure groups, BLS says exposure “does not imply job loss.”
Recent conditions
- In 2024, 1.6% of people in this work were unemployed, against 3.8% across all occupations Census ACS 2024, all workers in the Census group “Medical scientists”
- From Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, 4.3 hires for every 10 job openings in government, which employs about 56% of people in this work, against 7.3 across all industries BLS JOLTS
One box per opening, filled for each hire; hires beyond the openings are added in a lighter shade. Higher can mean openings get filled, or that people leave often; lower, that jobs go unfilled, or hiring is slow.4.3 this industry7.3 all industries
Median pay by state BLS OEWS May 2025, state estimates
Tap a state for its figures.
Median pay in every state
| State | Median | Middle half earn | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $74,740 | $59,560 to $88,200 | 70 |
| Arizona | $67,260 | $54,490 to $79,750 | 340 |
| California | $110,760 | $86,310 to $133,970 | 1,480 |
| Colorado | $73,750 | $68,830 to $82,040 | 430 |
| Connecticut | $83,670 | $71,160 to $104,860 | 160 |
| District of Columbia | $112,370 | $92,660 to $130,130 | 90 |
| Florida | $79,460 | $63,130 to $104,160 | 300 |
| Georgia | $70,880 | $53,210 to $87,480 | 510 |
| Hawaii | $76,780 | $63,080 to $86,370 | 70 |
| Idaho | $66,280 | $62,440 to $88,930 | 40 |
| Illinois | $102,720 | $77,580 to $106,230 | 240 |
| Indiana | $77,250 | $69,320 to $87,560 | 170 |
| Iowa | $79,880 | $60,150 to $87,160 | 90 |
| Kansas | $79,620 | $64,560 to $89,760 | 70 |
| Kentucky | $78,810 | $67,630 to $83,700 | 120 |
| Louisiana | $73,850 | $61,180 to $84,100 | 120 |
| Maine | $68,850 | $64,540 to $84,760 | 60 |
| Maryland | $101,830 | $81,910 to $132,610 | 600 |
| Massachusetts | $115,890 | $93,870 to $154,840 | 660 |
| Michigan | $84,990 | $66,450 to $97,260 | 280 |
| Minnesota | $104,460 | $85,750 to $112,650 | 310 |
| Mississippi | $56,930 | $48,690 to $80,850 | 40 |
| Missouri | $66,890 | $59,300 to $78,400 | 120 |
| Montana | $79,500 | $62,940 to $84,290 | 100 |
| Nebraska | $83,240 | $68,140 to $97,240 | 80 |
| Nevada | $99,880 | $83,450 to $118,560 | 80 |
| New Jersey | $109,760 | $84,990 to $121,880 | 290 |
| New Mexico | $79,980 | $75,210 to $89,150 | 80 |
| New York | $80,220 | $67,600 to $104,600 | 670 |
| North Carolina | $84,770 | $65,010 to $124,410 | 220 |
| Ohio | $76,480 | $61,780 to $99,060 | 300 |
| Oklahoma | $72,590 | $61,590 to $84,090 | 120 |
| Oregon | $93,620 | $84,860 to $113,350 | 140 |
| Pennsylvania | $87,860 | $78,310 to $105,850 | 360 |
| Puerto Rico | $48,380 | $44,500 to $57,870 | 40 |
| South Carolina | $84,660 | $69,010 to $100,490 | 50 |
| Tennessee | $97,310 | $82,370 to $111,950 | 220 |
| Texas | $77,170 | $64,040 to $96,420 | 1,160 |
| Utah | $76,960 | $65,830 to $95,600 | 190 |
| Vermont | not published | not published | 30 |
| Virginia | $84,930 | $74,030 to $101,280 | 220 |
| Washington | $108,240 | $96,760 to $130,970 | 1,010 |
| West Virginia | $70,540 | $55,690 to $81,860 | 100 |
| Wisconsin | $88,770 | $85,130 to $96,800 | 90 |
Nationally: $87,220. Shades run from the lowest state median to the highest; a territory below that range takes the lightest. How to read this
How AI touches the work
What AI could speed up, task by task, and where people already use it.
AI could halve the time on 10 of its 14 rated tasks
| AI rating | Its main tasks | Share of Claude conversations May 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| AI + software | Communicate research findings on various types of diseases to health practitioners, policy makers, and the public. | Not published |
| AI alone | Plan and direct studies to investigate human or animal disease, preventive methods, and treatments for disease. | Not published |
| AI alone | Provide expertise in the design, management and evaluation of study protocols and health status questionnaires, sample selection, and analysis. | Not published |
| Not much | Oversee public health programs, including statistical analysis, health care planning, surveillance systems, and public health improvement. | Not published |
| AI + software | Investigate diseases or parasites to determine cause and risk factors, progress, life cycle, or mode of transmission. | under 0.01% |
| AI alone | Educate healthcare workers, patients, and the public about infectious and communicable diseases, including disease transmission and prevention. | Not published |
See all 16 tasks
| AI + software | Monitor and report incidents of infectious diseases to local and state health agencies. | Not published |
| Not rated | Write articles for publication in professional journals. | 0.03% |
| Not rated | Write grant applications to fund epidemiologic research. | Not published |
| AI + software | Conduct research to develop methodologies, instrumentation, and procedures for medical application, analyzing data and presenting findings. | under 0.01% |
| AI + software | Identify and analyze public health issues related to foodborne parasitic diseases and their impact on public policies, scientific studies, or surveys. | under 0.01% |
| AI alone | Plan, administer and evaluate health safety standards and programs to improve public health, conferring with health department, industry personnel, physicians, and others. | Not published |
| Not much | Supervise professional, technical, and clerical personnel. | Not published |
| AI alone | Consult with and advise physicians, educators, researchers, government health officials and others regarding medical applications of sciences, such as physics, biology, and chemistry. | under 0.01% |
| Not much | Teach principles of medicine and medical and laboratory procedures to physicians, residents, students, and technicians. | Not published |
| Not much | Prepare and analyze samples to study effects of drugs, gases, pesticides, or microorganisms on cell structure and tissue. | Not published |
Ordered by how important O*NET's respondents rate each task (1 to 5) times the share who say it is part of their job. The ordering is ours. 5 of the 16 have a published share of Claude conversations; “not published” means too few conversations for Anthropic to publish a figure.
Where people already use AI
The tasks above say what AI could speed up. This shows what people are using it for. Its 16 tasks fall under 15 work activities that many occupations share, and Microsoft counted how often each one came up in 200,000 conversations with its Copilot assistant in 2024.
- #4 Maintain current knowledge in area of expertise
- #10 Write material for artistic or commercial purposes
- #20 Present research or technical information
- and 1 more, in the table below
| Work activity | This occupation's tasks under it | People asked AI for help in 10,000 conversations |
AI did it for them in 10,000 conversations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct scientific or technical activities | |||
| Present research or technical information | |||
| Research biological or ecological phenomena | |||
| Analyze health or medical data | |||
| Develop research plans or methodologies | |||
| Coordinate activities with clients, agencies, or organizations | |||
| Maintain current knowledge in area of expertise | |||
| Write material for artistic or commercial purposes |
Show all 15 activities
| Teach academic or vocational subjects | |||
| Advise others on healthcare or wellness issues | |||
| Analyze biological or chemical substances or related data | |||
| Develop operational or technical procedures or standards | |||
| Train others on operational or work procedures | |||
| Prepare proposals or grant applications | |||
| Supervise personnel activities |
How people in this work use Claude
What people in this work made with Claude % of conversations
- An academic paper or thesis60%
- A document or report16%
- An explanation or answer10%
- A blog post or article2%
- A chart or visualization1%
How they worked with Claude
44% of these conversations were about work. Anthropic Economic Index, May 2026.
How to read this
Work activities come from O*NET, which links every task to the broader activities it involves. Microsoft's figures are for the activity across everyone who used Copilot, not for epidemiologists specifically. Copilot is a general chat assistant; dedicated coding tools are not included, so programming help is under-counted here. Activities are listed by how many of this occupation's tasks fall under them.
The task ratings say whether AI could halve the time a task takes: on its own (“AI alone”), or with software built on it (“AI + software”). They were made by people in 2023 (Eloundou et al.). Claude's share is the task's share of all Claude.ai conversations in May 2026; Anthropic doesn't publish a task with too few conversations. None of these add up to the BLS exposure group, which combines five research measures.
More in the Guide: task ratings · task order · work activities · Copilot figures · Claude
High exposure doesn't mean fewer jobs
BLS projects most occupations in its two most exposed groups to grow: 141 of 206 rated Very high and 165 of 206 rated High. Each dot is one of the 831 occupations BLS rates.
Career moves into and out of this occupation
From moves between occupations found in online resumes, 2002–2016. Career changes only: a first job after school isn't a move.
Where people moved next
of 1,660 moves out
- 1 Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists Very high +12.6% 9%
- 2 Medical and Health Services Managers High +24.2% 8%
- 3 Registered Nurses High +5.6% 8%
- 4 Postsecondary Teachers, All Other Very high +2.0% 7%
- 5 Management Analysts Very high +10.1% 6%
Where people moved in from
of 1,782 moves in
- 1 Registered Nurses High +5.6% 9%
- 2 Operations Research Analysts Very high +11.9% 9%
- 3 Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists Very high +12.6% 8%
- 4 Postsecondary Teachers, All Other Very high +2.0% 5%
- 5 Management Analysts Very high +10.1% 5%
Resumes over-represent younger, white-collar job-seekers and moves into management. Schubert, Stansbury and Taska (resume data).
Education and training for the occupation
O*NET survey of workers in this occupation
- 67% master's
- 11% research doctorate
- 22% post-doctoral training
O*NET 31.0 survey of workers in this occupation · 18 people answered.
Census survey (American Community Survey)
- 2% less than high school
- 1% high school
- 1% some college
- 33% bachelor's
- 24% master's
- 7% professional degree
- 33% doctorate
Census ACS 2024, all workers in the Census group “Medical scientists” · 1,723 people surveyed.
Why the two can differ
O*NET asks about 20 people in each occupation, which makes its shares uncertain, but it reports the exact occupation and counts certificates. The Census survey reaches thousands, but it groups some occupations together and counts degrees only. More in the Guide
Median pay by highest degree full-time, year-round · Census ACS 2024, all workers in the Census group “Medical scientists”
6 programs, such as Cell/Cellular Biology and Histology, Infectious Disease and Global Health and Epidemiology.
See all
- Cell/Cellular Biology and Histology
- Infectious Disease and Global Health
- Epidemiology
- Epidemiology and Biostatistics
- Medical Science/Scientist
- Environmental Health
Jobs that require a credential BLS Occupational Requirements Survey 2023
48.3% this occupation
45.3% all occupations
| By kind | This occupation | All occupations |
|---|---|---|
| a license | 4.4% | 19.1% |
| a certification | 15.2% | 5.8% |
| an educational certificate | <0.5% | 2.8% |
Share of jobs whose employer requires it. BLS doesn't say which credential. How to read this
Look up certifications, training and licenses U.S. Department of Labor
- Certification Finder ↗ certifications CareerOneStop lists for this occupation
- Training Finder ↗ schools and programs, nationwide; narrow the place there
- License Finder ↗ licenses by state
- Apprenticeship Finder ↗ DOL lists 1 registered apprenticeship in this occupation (Infection Preventionist (NOF)). Apprenticeship.gov can't be linked to one occupation, so search for “Epidemiologists” there.
These open in a new tab and send only the occupation's public code. More in the Guide
BLS AI exposure categories (Aug 2026) · BLS Employment Projections 2025–35 · O*NET 31.0 · Task ratings: Eloundou et al., Science (2024) · Microsoft "Working with AI" v1.1 · Anthropic Economic Index (2026-06-26) · Schubert, Stansbury and Taska · NCES CIP–SOC · Census ACS 2024 · BLS JOLTS
See it online, and explore any career: https://www.pathmosaic.com/card/19-1041.00