Community Health Workers: Salary, Job Description, How To Become One, and Quiz

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Community Health Workers

Community Health Workers promote health within a community by assisting individuals to adopt healthy behaviors. Serve as an advocate for the health needs of individuals by assisting community residents in effectively communicating with healthcare providers or social service agencies. Act as liaison or advocate and implement programs that promote, maintain, and improve individual and overall community health. May deliver health-related preventive services such as blood pressure, glaucoma, and hearing screenings. May collect data to help identify community health needs.

Salary
$46000
Becoming One
Hard
Education
Bachelor's degree
Job Satisfaction
Job Growth

Personality



Job description

Community Health Workers assist individuals and communities to adopt healthy behaviors. Conduct outreach for medical personnel or health organizations to implement programs in the community that promote, maintain, and improve individual and community health. May provide information on available resources, provide social support and informal counseling, advocate for individuals and community health needs, and provide services such as first aid and blood pressure screening. May collect data to help identify community health needs.

  • Perform basic diagnostic procedures, such as blood pressure screening, breast cancer screening, or communicable disease screening.
  • Maintain updated client records with plans, notes, appropriate forms, or related information.
  • Advise clients or community groups on issues related to diagnostic screenings, such as breast cancer screening, pap smears, glaucoma tests, or diabetes screenings.
  • Advise clients or community groups on issues related to risk or prevention of conditions, such as lead poisoning, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), prenatal substance abuse, or domestic violence.
Read more about what does a Community Health Worker really do at work and what is it like being and working as one.



Salary

Average salary
$43480 per year

Average hourly wage
$21 per hour


Community Health Workers with little to no experience tend to make between $26070 and $32280 while the more experienced ones can earn over $51650 per year.

Top 5 paying states Hourly Annual
DC $30 $61,770
NJ $25 $51,560
MD $24 $50,160
CA $24 $49,260
NH $24 $49,050

One of the easiest ways to increase your salary as a Community Health Worker is to move to a higher paying state like DC. Right now, the highest paying states for Community Health Workers are DC, NJ, MD, CA and NH.

However, a higher pay at DC doesn’t guarantee that you will make more because the living expenses at DC might be twice as high than where you are currently at now.

Three other factors that can increase your salary as a Community Health Worker is the degree you hold, the industry you work in, and lastly the company you work for.


Requirements

Recommended degree level
Bachelor’s degree

We asked other Community Health Workers what degree they had when they got the job and most of them said they had a Bachelor’s Degree followed by an Associate’s Degree.

Other than that, we also asked them what did they major in and here are the most popular majors that came up.

Health Communication
Health and Wellness, General
Community Health Services/Liaison/Counseling
Public Health, General
Public Health Education and Promotion
Read more about how to become a Community Health Worker and the degree, training and education you need.

Pros and Cons

Here are some of the pros and cons of being a Community Health Worker.

PROS
Suitable for people who likes to help and teach others
Suitable for people who values relationships between co-workers and customers and wants to work in a friendly non-competitive environment
This career is perfect for people who love to work indoors.
One of the fastest growing careers
CONS
Not suitable for people who likes practical and hands-on work
Salary is below average
It is hard to get into this career. A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for this career.

What is the job like

Job satisfaction
74%

Is this job meaningful
84%


74% of Community Health Workers said they were satisfied with their job and 84% said they feel like their job is making other people’s lives better.


Is this right for me

Best personality for this career
The Helpers and The Thinkers

You can read more about these career personality types here.

People who are suitable for this job tends to like working with, communicating with, and teaching people. They like helping or providing service to others..

They also like working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. They like searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.



Learn more about Community Health Workers

Summary (You are here)
Job Description
Salary
Requirements
Quiz

Related career information

Community Health Workers job description, Community Health Workers salary, Community Health Workers information, what is the job of a Community Health Worker like, pros and cons about Community Health Workers, colleges and universities for Community Health Workers, is Community Health Workers the right career for me, careers in Human and Social Service

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