How To Become A Health Inspector: What It Is and Career Path

What is a health inspector and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

The average health inspector salary is $47,982. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an public health major. It usually takes 4-6 years of experience to become a health inspector. Health inspectors with a Food Safety Manager Certification certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 7,500 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreHealth InspectorUS Average

Salary

3.7

Avg. Salary $47,982

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.9

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.24%

Asian 5.80%

Black or African American 9.48%

Hispanic or Latino 14.93%

Unknown 6.22%

White 62.34%

Gender

female 49.85%

male 50.15%

Age - 45

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 45

Stress level

7.9

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.6

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a health inspector

Explore health inspector education requirements

Most common health inspector degrees

Bachelor's

64.9 %

Master's

13.0 %

Associate

12.2 %

Start to develop specific health inspector skills

Skills	Percentages
Home Health	20.42%
Food Establishments	8.76%
Regulatory Compliance	7.71%
Health Care Facilities	6.15%
State Regulations	5.52%

Complete relevant health inspector training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New health inspectors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a health inspector based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real health inspector resumes.

Research health inspector duties and responsibilities

Manage organization's injury/illness recordkeeping and handle worker's compensation claims.
Ensure compliance of HACCP regulations.
Experience in Medicare surveys of end stage renal disease facilities.
Review and evaluates documents, licensure applications and site plans/drawings for compliance.

Prepare your health inspector resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your health inspector resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a health inspector resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable health inspector resume templates

Build a professional health inspector resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your health inspector resume.