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Epidemiologists

Typical education: Master's degreeLower pressure Bright Outlook

What they do

Investigate and describe the determinants and distribution of disease, disability, or health outcomes. May develop the means for prevention and control.

Kinds of work

  • Investigative: Science, research, figuring out how things work and solving complex problems.
  • Social: Helping, teaching, caring for and supporting other people.
  • Conventional: Organizing information, following clear procedures and working with data and details.

Lower pressure: How much pressure workers in this job report: deadlines, conflict, dealing with upset people, the cost of mistakes, responsibility for others' safety, competition and long hours. It varies a lot from one employer to the next. Source: U.S. Department of Labor worker surveys.

Pay, tasks and more

Salary

United States $87,220 Median per year · $41.93/hr Most earn $61,270–$138,800

BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025.

What you might do

  • Plan, administer and evaluate health safety standards and programs to improve public health, conferring with health department, industry personnel, physicians, and others.
  • Educate healthcare workers, patients, and the public about infectious and communicable diseases, including disease transmission and prevention.
  • Conduct research to develop methodologies, instrumentation, and procedures for medical application, analyzing data and presenting findings.
  • Investigate diseases or parasites to determine cause and risk factors, progress, life cycle, or mode of transmission.
  • Plan and direct studies to investigate human or animal disease, preventive methods, and treatments for disease.
  • Plan and direct studies to investigate human or animal disease, preventive methods, and treatments for disease.

Job outlook

Bright Outlook Rapid Growth

United States
19% more jobs by 2035, much faster than average · about 800 openings a year

Openings include new jobs and jobs left by workers who retire or change careers. Projections: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Bright Outlook": U.S. Department of Labor.

Where they work

  • State government, excluding education and hospitals33.3%
  • Local government, excluding education and hospitals21.9%
  • Colleges, universities, and professional schools8.5%
  • General medical and surgical hospitals8.1%
  • Research and development in the physical, engineering, and life sciences7.5%

Share of all workers in this career. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Employment Matrix.

Experience before this job: 1 to 2 years

Career path

How people usually get into this career, from school to their first job and beyond.

Typical education: Master's degreeExperience before this job: 1 to 2 years

Epidemiologist is not usually an entry-level job. Most people earn a master's degree and then spend about 1 to 2 years in related research or public health work before stepping into the role. Your path will likely take 7 to 9 years from the start of college.

  1. Bachelor's degree in public health, biology, statistics, or a related field

    4 years

    You build the science and math basics, such as biology, statistics, and research methods, that epidemiology is built on.

  2. Research Assistant or Public Health Assistant

    1-2 years

    You gain hands-on experience collecting and cleaning health data, helping with studies, and writing reports, which makes your graduate program application stronger.

  3. Master's degree in epidemiology or public health

    2 years

    You learn study design, disease surveillance, and data analysis in depth, which is the training employers usually expect for this career.

  4. Epidemiologist

    Ongoing career

    You investigate how diseases and health problems spread and who is affected, then use your findings to help plan prevention and control efforts.

Where it can lead

  1. Senior Epidemiologist

    3-5 years of experience first

    You take on bigger projects, lead teams or studies, and advise decision makers, which usually calls for a strong track record in the field.

  2. Preventive Medicine Physician

    2 to 4 years of experience first

    Some epidemiologists go to medical school and train in preventive medicine, which adds a doctoral degree and residency to the path and focuses on keeping whole populations healthy.

What you can do now

Ideas for high school and college students.

In high school

  • Take biology, chemistry, and statistics or AP mathThese classes build the science and number skills you will use in every epidemiology course later.
  • Join a science, debate, or health clubClubs like these help you practice research, teamwork, and explaining ideas clearly.
  • Enter a science fair with a health or disease topicA project that asks a real question and collects data shows the kind of thinking epidemiologists use.
  • Volunteer at a clinic, hospice, or community health eventYou will see how health problems affect real people and can ask whether you would enjoy that kind of work.
  • Get a starter job that builds people skillsWorking as a cashier or tutor helps you practice communication and reliability, which matter in any health career.

In college

  • Major in public health, biology, or statisticsAny of these majors gives you the science and data background that master's programs in epidemiology look for.
  • Take a statistics or data analysis courseStrong stats skills are central to the work, and they will help you in graduate school and on the job.
  • Look for a research assistant job in a campus lab or with a professorHelping with real studies gives you the 1 to 2 years of related experience that employers and programs often want.
  • Seek an internship at a health department or public health nonprofitYou will see how disease surveillance and outbreak response work in practice and build contacts in the field.
  • Join a public health student group or attend campus health talksThese groups help you learn about the field, meet people who already work in it, and find out about graduate programs.

Tips for getting started

  • Look for part-time or volunteer work with a local health department, a university research lab, or a community health group. Real data experience is one of the things that gets people into graduate programs.
  • Get comfortable with statistics and a data tool such as R, SAS, Stata, or Excel. Many epidemiology jobs ask for these skills.
  • Practice explaining health findings in plain language. Epidemiologists often have to share results with the public, doctors, and leaders who are not scientists.

Related jobs that often lead here

Related jobs a step up

Education, experience and related careers: U.S. Department of Labor. The step-by-step path, where it can lead and what you can do now were written by AI as typical examples; many people take other ways.

College majors that lead here

Majors: U.S. Department of Education and BLS (CIP–SOC crosswalk). Earnings and debt: College Scorecard, typical across U.S. colleges.

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