Health Education Specialists
Also called: Clinical Instructor, Health Education Specialist, Health Educator, Public Health EducatorProvide 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.
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What the data says: AI could halve the time on 12 of its 16 tasks, yet jobs are projected to grow 5.6% by 2035. In the most exposed occupations, the squeeze shows up first among early-career workers. 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, 3.6% of people in this work were unemployed, against 3.8% across all occupations Census ACS 2024, all workers in the Census group “Other community and social service specialists”
- From Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, 5.0 hires for every 10 job openings in health care and social assistance, which employs about 46% 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.5.0 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 | $65,210 | $45,500 to $78,760 | 540 |
| Alaska | $71,940 | $61,520 to $81,750 | 310 |
| Arizona | $63,390 | $48,210 to $84,020 | 1,140 |
| Arkansas | $62,270 | $44,390 to $81,700 | 200 |
| California | $63,610 | $54,850 to $85,000 | 12,520 |
| Colorado | $74,150 | $57,490 to $98,740 | 750 |
| Connecticut | $66,870 | $62,270 to $88,720 | 400 |
| Delaware | $63,300 | $49,510 to $76,530 | 340 |
| District of Columbia | $103,330 | $74,470 to $132,620 | 680 |
| Florida | $46,360 | $29,990 to $64,950 | not published |
| Georgia | $99,400 | $66,770 to $133,720 | 3,210 |
| Guam | $73,070 | $56,800 to $76,390 | 30 |
| Hawaii | $63,740 | $49,380 to $73,680 | 190 |
| Idaho | $61,330 | $56,160 to $71,400 | 370 |
| Illinois | $60,120 | $49,670 to $77,100 | 1,010 |
| Indiana | $58,170 | $44,650 to $79,360 | 1,380 |
| Iowa | $75,750 | $58,510 to $85,260 | 540 |
| Kansas | $62,990 | $50,920 to $79,130 | 520 |
| Kentucky | $65,370 | $58,450 to $79,650 | 760 |
| Louisiana | $57,840 | $45,550 to $74,900 | 470 |
| Maine | $58,300 | $49,510 to $66,990 | 490 |
| Maryland | $104,470 | $65,850 to $140,670 | 2,220 |
| Massachusetts | $57,510 | $43,100 to $85,740 | 2,420 |
| Michigan | $56,360 | $43,280 to $70,370 | 1,480 |
| Minnesota | $78,400 | $60,190 to $99,130 | 1,250 |
| Mississippi | $51,020 | $40,960 to $69,610 | 410 |
| Missouri | $57,050 | $49,580 to $75,640 | not published |
| Montana | $51,200 | $37,620 to $62,760 | 240 |
| Nebraska | $56,800 | $46,520 to $71,220 | 230 |
| Nevada | $62,120 | $45,890 to $85,690 | 270 |
| New Hampshire | $69,990 | $52,320 to $91,580 | 250 |
| New Jersey | $73,740 | $58,530 to $115,420 | 1,420 |
| New Mexico | $57,990 | $44,430 to $72,700 | 660 |
| New York | $62,560 | $51,600 to $77,560 | 4,150 |
| North Carolina | $58,080 | $48,730 to $74,670 | 2,110 |
| North Dakota | $59,650 | $48,250 to $75,640 | 200 |
| Ohio | $64,860 | $47,300 to $81,810 | 1,970 |
| Oklahoma | $62,440 | $50,130 to $83,540 | 820 |
| Oregon | $75,500 | $66,420 to $94,870 | 840 |
| Pennsylvania | $80,670 | $58,530 to $98,010 | 2,690 |
| Puerto Rico | $39,650 | $35,180 to $46,530 | 600 |
| Rhode Island | $75,360 | $56,570 to $98,240 | 150 |
| South Carolina | $64,720 | $50,550 to $86,820 | 470 |
| South Dakota | $57,370 | $54,350 to $72,780 | 190 |
| Tennessee | $49,630 | $40,690 to $69,470 | 490 |
| Texas | $59,340 | $48,180 to $81,370 | 5,320 |
| Utah | $59,790 | $50,340 to $82,850 | 490 |
| Vermont | $68,140 | $61,960 to $81,640 | 180 |
| Virginia | $64,040 | $51,980 to $93,040 | 690 |
| Washington | $77,420 | $64,040 to $84,600 | 1,750 |
| West Virginia | $62,760 | $50,190 to $83,150 | 400 |
| Wisconsin | $74,040 | $61,950 to $84,960 | 900 |
| Wyoming | $62,750 | $57,140 to $72,270 | 90 |
Nationally: $64,070. 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 12 of its 16 tasks
| AI rating | Its main tasks | Share of Claude conversations May 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| AI + software | Document activities and record information, such as the numbers of applications completed, presentations conducted, and persons assisted. | Not published |
| AI + software | Develop and present health education and promotion programs, such as training workshops, conferences, and school or community presentations. | Not published |
| Not much | Develop and maintain cooperative working relationships with agencies and organizations interested in public health care. | Not published |
| AI alone | Prepare and distribute health education materials, such as reports, bulletins, and visual aids, to address smoking, vaccines, and other public health concerns. | Not published |
| AI + software | Maintain databases, mailing lists, telephone networks, and other information to facilitate the functioning of health education programs. | Not published |
| Not much | Collaborate with health specialists and civic groups to determine community health needs and the availability of services and to develop goals for meeting needs. | Not published |
See all 16 tasks
| AI + software | Develop operational plans and policies necessary to achieve health education objectives and services. | Not published |
| AI alone | Develop and maintain health education libraries to provide resources for staff and community agencies. | Not published |
| AI + software | Design and conduct evaluations and diagnostic studies to assess the quality and performance of health education programs. | Not published |
| Not much | Supervise professional and technical staff in implementing health programs, objectives, and goals. | Not published |
| Not much | Develop, conduct, or coordinate health needs assessments and other public health surveys. | Not published |
| AI alone | Design and administer training programs for new employees and continuing education for existing employees. | under 0.01% |
| AI + software | Provide program information to the public by preparing and presenting press releases, conducting media campaigns, or maintaining program-related Web sites. | Not published |
| AI + software | Develop educational materials and programs for community agencies, local government, and state government. | Not published |
| AI + software | Develop, prepare, and coordinate grant applications and grant-related activities to obtain funding for health education programs and related work. | Not published |
| AI alone | Provide guidance to agencies and organizations on assessment of health education needs and on development and delivery of health education programs. | 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. 1 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 14 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.
- #5 Provide information or assistance to the public
- #26 Research healthcare issues
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Provide information or assistance to the public | |||
| Maintain operational records | |||
| Develop educational programs, plans, or procedures | |||
| Distribute materials, supplies, or resources | |||
| Develop public or community health programs | |||
| Develop health assessment methods or programs | |||
| Research healthcare issues | |||
| Evaluate programs, practices, or processes |
Show all 14 activities
| Advise others on educational or vocational matters | |||
| Assess living, work, or social needs or status of individuals or communities | |||
| Develop professional relationships or networks | |||
| 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
- A document or report51%
- A presentation or slides14%
- Ideas or a brainstorm6%
- An app or website4%
- A chart or visualization4%
How they worked with Claude
65% 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 health education specialists 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 97,711 moves out
- 1 Registered Nurses High +5.6% 12%
- 2 Medical and Health Services Managers High +24.2% 6%
- 3 Postsecondary Teachers, All Other Very high +2.0% 5%
- 4 Managers, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 4%
- 5 Management Analysts Very high +10.1% 3%
Where people moved in from
of 107,907 moves in
- 1 Registered Nurses High +5.6% 12%
- 2 Medical and Health Services Managers High +24.2% 5%
- 3 Managers, All Other (2010 group) an older group BLS has since split; no exposure group today 4%
- 4 Postsecondary Teachers, All Other Very high +2.0% 3%
- 5 Nursing Assistants Low +2.6% 2%
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
- 3% high school
- 62% associate's
- 31% bachelor's
- 3% master's
- 1% research doctorate
O*NET 31.0 survey of workers in this occupation · 18 people answered.
Census survey (American Community Survey)
- 2% less than high school
- 11% high school
- 15% some college
- 10% associate's
- 36% bachelor's
- 23% master's
- 2% professional degree
- 2% doctorate
Census ACS 2024, all workers in the Census group “Other community and social service specialists” · 1,448 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 “Other community and social service specialists”
9 programs, such as Health Communication, Health and Wellness, General and Dental Public Health and Education.
See all
- Health Communication
- Health and Wellness, General
- Dental Public Health and Education
- Community Health Services/Liaison/Counseling
- Public Health, General
- Public Health Education and Promotion
- Maternal and Child Health
- International Public Health/International Health
- Behavioral Aspects of Health
Jobs that require a credential BLS Occupational Requirements Survey 2023
74.9% this occupation
45.3% all occupations
| By kind | This occupation | All occupations |
|---|---|---|
| a certification | 6.6% | 5.8% |
| an educational certificate | <0.5% | 2.8% |
| a license | not published |
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
- Apprenticeships: DOL's list of apprenticeable occupations doesn't include this one.
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 · Brynjolfsson, Chandar and Chen, Stanford (Aug 2026)
See it online, and explore any career: https://www.pathmosaic.com/card/21-1091.00