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

What is a public health worker and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Sara Oswalt Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a public health worker. For example, did you know that they make an average of $20.44 an hour? That's $42,507 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 12% and produce 15,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a public health worker?

Sara Oswalt Ph.D.

Department Chair and Professor, University of Texas at San Antonio

Try to get as much experience as you can, even if it's volunteering. Experiencing different roles and settings provides a better understanding of what kind of organization you want to work for and what kind of job you want. This can be especially important if that first job isn't ideal. The reality is many folks take a first job just to get one, and this is okay because you need experience in the field. Continuing to volunteer allows you to learn more about yourself, your community and how you fit. It can also help make connections that allow you to learn about new opportunities when they do occur.

ScorePublic Health WorkerUS Average

Salary

3.3

Avg. Salary $42,507

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.1

Growth rate 12%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

9.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.94%

Asian 5.78%

Black or African American 10.59%

Hispanic or Latino 16.48%

Unknown 6.35%

White 59.85%

Gender

female 19.24%

male 80.76%

Age - 42

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 - 42

Stress level

7.1

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.1

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.9

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a public health worker

Explore public health worker education requirements

Most common public health worker degrees

High School Diploma

36.0 %

Bachelor's

34.3 %

Associate

13.6 %

Start to develop specific public health worker skills

Skills	Percentages
Social Work	11.14%
Public Works	10.79%
GRASS	8.15%
Manual Labor	7.18%
CDL	6.69%

Complete relevant public health worker training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New public health workers 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 public health worker based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real public health worker resumes.

Research public health worker duties and responsibilities

Maintain village right of ways, mowing grass, trimming trees, plowing snow, paving and patching roadways.
Mow or edge lawns using power mowers/Edgers.
Obtain CDL license through city and operate tandem dump trucks.
Prepare events by setting up bases, dragging, mowing, cleaning and transporting utilities.

Prepare your public health worker resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your public health worker 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 public health worker resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable public health worker resume templates

Build a professional public health worker 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 public health worker resume.