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The differences between environmental protection specialists and environmental health specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both an environmental protection specialist and an environmental health specialist. Additionally, an environmental protection specialist has an average salary of $59,771, which is higher than the $54,789 average annual salary of an environmental health specialist.
The top three skills for an environmental protection specialist include hazardous waste, CFR and DOD. The most important skills for an environmental health specialist are environmental health, EHS, and OSHA.
| Environmental Protection Specialist | Environmental Health Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $59,771 | $54,789 |
| Hourly rate | $28.74 | $26.34 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 26,135 | 69,497 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Average age | 39 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
The duties of an environmental protection specialist depend on their line of work or place of employment. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around assessing and determining the level of pollution or damage in an area, gathering samples for scientific purposes, reviewing data and results, and providing recommendations to clients or government agencies. Furthermore, there are also instances where they have to summarize results and produce reports or presentations, coordinate with other specialists and scientists, and develop programs or projects to raise environmental awareness.
An Environmental Health Specialist is responsible for determining the existence of possible health hazards and taking measures to prevent or corect them. They monitor health and safety conditions in resedential, industrial, commercial, and recreational settings.
Environmental protection specialists and environmental health specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Environmental Protection Specialist | Environmental Health Specialist | |
| Average salary | $59,771 | $54,789 |
| Salary range | Between $39,000 And $91,000 | Between $38,000 And $77,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Santa Rosa, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Booz Allen Hamilton | ICU Medical |
| Best paying industry | Government | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between an environmental protection specialist and an environmental health specialist in terms of educational background:
| Environmental Protection Specialist | Environmental Health Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Most common major | Environmental Science | Public Health |
| Most common college | Duke University | University of California, Berkeley |
Here are the differences between environmental protection specialists' and environmental health specialists' demographics:
| Environmental Protection Specialist | Environmental Health Specialist | |
| Average age | 39 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 61.6% Female, 38.4% | Male, 62.8% Female, 37.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 6.2% Asian, 5.0% White, 81.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 5.7% White, 62.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 16% | 7% |