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

What is a public health sanitarian and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted Experts

Dr. Amy Carroll-Scott Ph.D.,

Tracey Spinato

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a public health sanitarian. For example, did you know that they make an average of $25.22 an hour? That's $52,465 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 7,500 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a Public Health Sanitarian?

Dr. Amy Carroll-Scott Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health

I can't resist the opportunity to tell graduates that this is a critical time to join the public health workforce. While there are always jobs in medicine, and our medical systems are an important part of our public health infrastructure, research has shown for a long time that our health is 80% determined by these social determinants of health I mentioned above, and only 20% by genetics and health care. That means that to create sustainable improvements to the public's health, these issues will need to be addressed. This is always true, but never more true than in a global pandemic where living conditions and economic resources are such dramatic protective or risk factors. Public health is the field - both in research and in practice - that works across disciplines in a truly collaborative way.

People can't be healthy if they don't have stable housing or enough nutritious food to eat, and so the solutions require collaboration, curiosity, and creativity. And your colleagues will be passionate. My advice is to seek a public health major or minor in college to see what it's about, or think about a 5-year degree where you will graduate with a bachelor's and master's in public health. And if you've recently graduated, look for MPH programs or spend a year or two in one of the above kinds of public health settings to kick-start your public health career. We will be excited to have you! We know it will take all of our passionate public health workforce to manage the COVID response and longer-term recovery, and finally address the generations of racial and socioeconomic health inequities that a country like the United States has the capacity to solve.

ScorePublic Health SanitarianUS Average

Salary

4.1

Avg. Salary $52,465

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

7.9

Growth Rate 6%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.22%

Asian 5.72%

Black or African American 10.35%

Hispanic or Latino 14.47%

Unknown 6.06%

White 62.17%

Gender

female 43.00%

male 57.00%

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

Newest jobs for Public Health Sanitarian in Columbus, OH

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Key steps to become a public health sanitarian

Explore public health sanitarian education requirements

Most common public health sanitarian degrees

Bachelor's

78.7 %

Master's

15.0 %

Associate

4.8 %

Start to develop specific public health sanitarian skills

Skills	Percentages
Inspection Reports	9.99%
NYC	9.39%
Swimming Pools	7.61%
Public Health Hazards	7.61%
Environmental Health Programs	6.64%

Complete relevant public health sanitarian training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New public health sanitarians 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 sanitarian based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real public health sanitarian resumes.

Research public health sanitarian duties and responsibilities

Review medical records of patients who suffer serious injuries in automobile accidents and classify injury by type.
Collect and process food samples using aseptic techniques, complete appropriate documentation and deliver to IDPH food borne illness investigation laboratory.

Prepare your public health sanitarian resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your public health sanitarian 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 sanitarian 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 Sanitarian Resume templates

Build a professional Public Health Sanitarian 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 Sanitarian resume.

Apply for public health sanitarian jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a public health sanitarian job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do public health sanitarians rate their job?