Environmental Health Specialist
Impact: Public health protection, environmental quality, community safety
Investigates environmental factors that could affect public health, conducts inspections, and enforces regulations to ensure community safety and well-being.
What the day looks like
- People interaction
- Extensive
- Team vs solo
- 70% Team / 30% Solo
- Client facing
- Frequent
- Impact visibility
- High
- Travel
- 20-40% local travel for inspections and site visits
- Schedule flexibility
- Structured
- Remote work
- Limited Remote
- Typical work hours
- 40-50 hours/week
- Stress level
- Moderate
At a glance
- Median salary
- $78,000
- Entry-level
- $50,000 - $65,000
- Senior
- $95,000+
- Growth by 2033
- 6% (average)
- Demand
- Stable
- Freelance potential
- Low
- Salary growth potential
- High to 90-120% growth from entry to senior
- Typical student debt
- $25,000 - $40,000
Skills you'll use
Hard skills
- Environmental Regulations
- Public Health Principles
- Risk Assessment
- Data Analysis
- Inspection Procedures
- Toxicology
- Epidemiology
- GIS
Soft skills
- Problem-solving
- Communication
- Critical Thinking
- Attention to Detail
- Adaptability
- Interpersonal Skills
Technical complexity: High
How to get there
- Minimum education
- Bachelor's Degree
- Licensing
- Varies by State
- Years to mid-career
- 3-5 years
- Years to senior
- 7-10 years
- Career switching
- Moderate
Where this career leads
How people arrive here
Where you can go from here
Typical progression
- Environmental Health Specialist
- Senior Environmental Health Specialist
- Environmental Health Manager
- Director of Environmental Health
Future outlook
- Automation probability
- 15% to moderate risk
- AI disruption risk
- Low
- Demand trend
- Stable
How people feel about it
- Overall satisfaction
- 3.9/10
- Meaning
- 4.2/10
- Work-life balance
- 3.5/10
- Prestige
- 7.5/10
- Social perception
- High