Health Inspector: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.
The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.
10% of health inspectors earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $55,000
- Hourly
- $26.44
- Source
- BLS May 2025
25% of health inspectors earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $69,560
- Hourly
- $33.44
- Source
- BLS May 2025
Half of health inspectors earn more than this and half earn less.
- Annual
- $90,150
- Hourly
- $43.34
- Source
- BLS May 2025
75% of health inspectors earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $111,690
- Hourly
- $53.70
- Source
- BLS May 2025
90% of health inspectors earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $134,950
- Hourly
- $64.88
- Source
- BLS May 2025
Health Inspectors review, evaluate, and analyze work environments and design programs and procedures to control, eliminate, and prevent disease or injury caused by chemical, physical, and biological agents or ergonomic factors. The median pay is $90,150 a year ($43.34 an hour) (BLS, May 2025). The most commonly reported education requirement is a bachelor's degree (74% of occupation experts surveyed by O*NET).
- Median pay
- $90,150
- BLS May 2025
- Employed in the U.S.
- 140,610
- BLS May 2025
- Preparation
- Job Zone 4 of 5
- considerable preparation
- Most common education
- Bachelor's Degree
- 74% of occupation experts
Data Government data groups this job as Occupational Health and Safety Specialists (O*NET-SOC 19-5011.00). Figures on this page are for that occupation.
Health Inspectors at a glance
Occupational health and safety specialists in the United States earned a median annual wage of $90,150 in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
In its 2025–35 employment projections, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education for occupational health and safety specialists in the United States.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
BLS projects employment of occupational health and safety specialists in the United States to grow 18.5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 17,100 openings a year on average, including replacement openings.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
BLS estimates that 10.0% of occupational health and safety specialists in the United States had the ability to telework in 2025, a preliminary estimate of whether the job allows it, not a count of remote jobs.
Source: BLS Occupational Requirements Survey, 2025 preliminary
Every page for Health Inspectors
What health inspectors do day to day
Data Core tasks rated most important by occupation experts (O*NET).
- Recommend measures to help protect workers from potentially hazardous work methods, processes, or materials.
- Develop or maintain hygiene programs, such as noise surveys, continuous atmosphere monitoring, ventilation surveys, or asbestos management plans.
- Order suspension of activities that pose threats to workers' health or safety.
- Investigate accidents to identify causes or to determine how such accidents might be prevented in the future.
- Inspect or evaluate workplace environments, equipment, or practices to ensure compliance with safety standards and government regulations.
- Collect samples of dust, gases, vapors, or other potentially toxic materials for analysis.
- Collaborate with engineers or physicians to institute control or remedial measures for hazardous or potentially hazardous conditions or equipment.
- Investigate the adequacy of ventilation, exhaust equipment, lighting, or other conditions that could affect employee health, comfort, or performance.
Ranked by importance to the job
Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.
Knowledge areas: English Language, Chemistry, Education and Training, Mathematics, Customer and Personal Service, Engineering and Technology.
Software health inspectors use
Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.
- ESS Compliance SuiteCompliance software
- Mannus Compliance: EHSCompliance software
- Primatech AUDITWorksCompliance software
- Microsoft ExcelSpreadsheet softwareIn demand
- Microsoft Office softwareOffice suite softwareIn demand
- Microsoft OutlookElectronic mail softwareIn demand
- Microsoft PowerPointPresentation softwareIn demand
- Microsoft WordWord processing softwareIn demand
- Microsoft AccessData base user interface and query softwareHot technology
- Microsoft Active Server Pages ASPWeb platform development softwareHot technology
- Microsoft ProjectProject management softwareHot technology
- Microsoft SharePointDocument management softwareHot technology
Also called: Chemical Hygiene Officer, EHS Officer (Environmental Health and Safety Officer), Health and Safety Analyst, Industrial Hygiene Consultant, Industrial Hygienist, Industrial Hygienist Consultant.
How this page is built
Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the cosine similarity of the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level and subtract the average across all occupations, then compare the direction of the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 means unrelated or opposite (negative values are shown as 0). Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.
- How a specific employer defines the job.
- Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
- Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).
How TryHired builds this data: sources, methods and downloads. Spotted an error? Report a correction.