Epidemiologist
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
An Epidemiologist collects information and investigates diseases, infections or other health problems that appear in a community. Analyzes data gathered from surveys, interviews, observations or samples, and reports findings. May direct studies of public health problems and advise on ways to prevent or treat problems or reduce risks.
Job Outlook
There were 275 Epidemiologist job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 9735 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Epidemiologist industry, which includes the Epidemiologist career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2016:
Salary
Many new Epidemiologist jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $101,035.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $106,938.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Epidemiologist postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $82,320.
Education and Experience
Posted Epidemiologist jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 47.55% |
| Master's Degree | 34.58% |
| Doctoral Degree | 9.7% |
| Other | 2.47% |
Posted Epidemiologist jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 45.96% |
| 3 to 5 years | 46.88% |
| 6 to 8 years | 4.98% |
| 9+ years | 2.19% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Epidemiologist positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Communication (28.85%)
- Leadership (28.14%)
- Management (26.85%)
- Research (20.22%)
- Investigation (16.66%)
- Planning (15.98%)
- Coordinating (14.44%)
- Presentations (12.25%)
- Writing (12.16%)
- Problem Solving (9.56%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Nursing (49.83%)
- Infection (45.25%)
- Infection Control (65.57%)
- Infectious Diseases (24.67%)
- Communicable Diseases (21.13%)
- Public Health (34.05%)
- Epidemiology (52.9%)
- Auditing (8.11%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Disinfecting (9.24%)
- Stata (2.49%)
- Statistical Software (4.84%)
- Statistics (12.81%)
- SAS (Software) (8.98%)
- Risk Analysis (11.73%)
- Population Health (1.87%)
- Performance Improvement (14.05%)
- Microbiology (19.63%)
- Long-Term Care (8.5%)
- Risk Management (3.78%)
- Project Management (7.02%)
- Health Risk Assessments (5.73%)
- Health Sciences (4.57%)
- Health Technology (8.01%)
- Patient Safety (9.89%)
- R (Programming Language) (4.98%)
- Sterilization (9.86%)
- Data Collection (13.14%)
- Data Management (7.59%)
- Clinical Practices (2.39%)
- Medical Records (7.27%)
- Biostatistics (7.38%)
- Data Analysis (15.58%)
- Asepsis (5.27%)
- Acute Care (7.68%)
- Quality Improvement (8.65%)
- Policy Development (3.53%)
- Clinical Experience (9.49%)
- Statistical Analysis (6.19%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Outbreak Control (5.65%)
- Hospital-Acquired Infection (4.69%)
- Epidemiological Method (1.54%)
- Disease Surveillance (3.47%)
- Reportable Disease (3.72%)
- Epidemiological Investigations (5.73%)
Salary Boosting Skills
A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.
- Hospital-Acquired Infection (100%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Epidemiologist skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Infection Preventionist
- Nurse Epidemiologist
- Infection Prevention Manager
- Infection Prevention Coordinator
- Director of Infection Prevention
- Infection Control Manager
- Infection Prevention Specialist
- Infection Control Preventionist
- Infection Control Coordinator
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Epidemiologist jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- HCA Healthcare (185)
- ScionHealth (145)
- Genesis HealthCare (122)
- Clinical Management Consultants (104)
- Encompass Health (97)
- Stryker (82)
- City of New York (81)
- Geisinger Health System (65)
- PruittHealth (64)
- Providence (54)
North Carolina
- PruittHealth (22)
- State of North Carolina (17)
- Novant Health (11)
- Atrium Health (11)
- Encompass Health (10)
- UNC Health (10)
- IQVIA (9)
- Consulate Health Care (8)
- Duke University (8)
- WakeMed (7)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.