How to hire a community health educator

How to hire a community health educator, step by step

Here's a step-by-step community health educator hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a community health educator job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new community health educator
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a community health educator do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the community health educator you need to hire. Certain community health educator roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a community health educator to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a community health educator that fits the bill.

   This list shows salaries for various types of community health educators.

   Type of Community Health Educator	Description	Hourly rate
   Community Health Educator	Health educators teach people about behaviors that promote wellness. They develop and implement strategies to improve the health of individuals and communities... Show more	$15-28
   Health Coach	A Health Coach is a professional health educator who provides lifestyle and behavior guidance. They work with clients to help them feel their best through food and lifestyle changes.	$12-26
   Health Promoter	A health promoter has a myriad of responsibilities. They may be expected to promote medical services, information on topics like maternal health and hygiene, or information on malnutrition, malaria, HIV/AIDS, or other common but worrisome diseases... Show more	$12-26

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • Public Health
   • Health Promotion
   • Community Outreach
   • Disease Prevention
   • Community Health Education
   • Data Collection
   • Health Education Programs
   • Community Organizations
   • Mental Health
   • Community Resources
   • STI
   • Social Work
   • CPR

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Engage with members' telephonically, using motivational interviewing techniques to assist members' in achieving their health goals.
   • Educate low-income populations as to proper nutrition on a budget in an effort to reduce diabetes and obesity rates.
   • Educate local community via verbal presentations on nutrition guidelines and neonatal screenings by creating PowerPoint presentations and visual aids.
   • Provide case management of enrollee participation to ensure completion of schedule mammograms and cervical testing.

   More community health educator duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your community health educator job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A community health educator can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, community health educators' average salary in florida is 42% less than in california.
   • Seniority. Entry-level community health educators 46% less than senior-level community health educators.
   • Certifications. A community health educator with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a community health educator's salary.

   Average community health educator salary

   $43,889yearly

   $21.10 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level community health educator salary

   $32,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 21, 2025

   Average community health educator salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$59,306	$29
   2	Washington	$56,366	$27
   3	District of Columbia	$56,203	$27
   4	Oregon	$49,927	$24
   5	Indiana	$49,787	$24
   6	Maryland	$49,019	$24
   7	Virginia	$48,724	$23
   8	Kansas	$47,509	$23
   9	North Dakota	$47,110	$23
   10	Wisconsin	$46,969	$23
   11	Minnesota	$46,214	$22
   12	Maine	$45,336	$22
   13	Texas	$44,146	$21
   14	Pennsylvania	$44,006	$21
   15	Massachusetts	$43,870	$21
   16	Utah	$42,901	$21
   17	Nebraska	$41,342	$20
   18	Illinois	$39,699	$19
   19	Tennessee	$38,065	$18
   20	Florida	$35,030	$17

   Average community health educator salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	University of Massachusetts Boston	$54,807	$26.35	1
   2	Self Regional Healthcare	$52,788	$25.38	6
   3	Georgetown University	$49,673	$23.88	4
   4	UMiami Health System	$48,715	$23.42
   5	Texas Health Resources	$47,405	$22.79	27
   6	Planned Parenthood	$46,055	$22.14	19
   7	Dana-Farber Cancer Institute	$45,572	$21.91
   8	Sanford Health	$45,163	$21.71	75
   9	BayCare Health System	$43,861	$21.09	103
   10	Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center	$43,742	$21.03
   11	AmeriHealth Caritas	$43,598	$20.96	7
   12	CARE of Southeastern Michigan	$42,508	$20.44
   13	Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare	$41,716	$20.06	8
   14	University of Massachusetts Amherst	$41,220	$19.82	3
   15	AIDS Walk & Run San Diego	$40,838	$19.63
   16	Fred Hutch	$40,228	$19.34
   17	Indian Health Service	$40,223	$19.34	27
   18	Indian Health Board of Minneapolis	$40,078	$19.27
   19	Select Source International	$40,060	$19.26
   20	PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF NORTHERN CENTRAL	$40,024	$19.24

4. Writing a community health educator job description

   A good community health educator job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a community health educator job description:

   Community health educator job description example

   MAS Community Health is seeking compassionate and kindhearted individuals to provide in-home support for children with varied levels of behavioral/mental health diagnoses. MAS Community Health has an office in Westbrook, ME. Part-time hours are available in
   Portland, ME and surrounding areas including:
   Buxton Kennebunk Biddeford Saco OOB- Old Orchard Beach Kittery Cumberland So. Portland As an entry-level Behavioral Health Professional, you will complete the BHP certification course including instruction and observation hours. After completion of your certification, you will be helping children and their families learn new skills and meet goals directly contributing to the child’s autonomy, safety, and skill development.
   Responsibilities of a BHP include:
   Working with clients ages 0 to 21 who have a mental or behavioral health diagnosis Providing individualized support within the clients' personal homes and surrounding communities Safely transporting your client within your own personal, and reliable vehicle Following the client’s treatment plan, outlined, and created by family and the case management team Completion of daily progress notes
   All our employees enjoy industry-leading benefits including:
   Hourly rate up to $18 Productivity bonuses! Earn up to $20/hr! Sign-on Bonus up to $500 Referral bonus opportunities Mileage reimbursement Flexible hours Accrued time off
   Position Requires:
   GED, or High School Diploma Clean driving records and valid driver's license Some experience working with children (For example: working as a nanny, daycare worker, coach, camp counselor, etc.) Reliable, registered, and insured transportation Proof of COVID Vaccination
   Make a difference in your community- apply today!
   
   MASCH

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right community health educator for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your community health educator job on Zippia to find and recruit community health educator candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting community health educators requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new community health educator

   Once you've decided on a perfect community health educator candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   To prepare for the new community health educator first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a community health educator?