Skip to main content
. 2022 Oct 12;29(Suppl 1 Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey 2021):S22–S34. doi: 10.1097/PHH.0000000000001659

TABLE 1. Demographic and Workforce Characteristics of the Big Cities Health Coalition Governmental Public Health Workforce, 2017 and 2021a.

2017 2021
Genderb
Man 24 23-25 22 21-24
Woman 75 74-76 76 75-77
Some other way 1 1-1 2 2-2
Race and ethnicityb
American Indian or Alaska Native 0 0-0 1 0-1
Asian 12 12-13 15 14-16
Black or African American 22 21-23 24 22-25
Hispanic or Latino 26 25-27 24 23-25
Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander 1 1-1 0 0-1
White 33 31-34 32 31-33
Two or more races 7 6-7 5 5-6
Race and ethnicity collapsed
White 33 31-34 32 31-33
BIPOC 67 66-69 68 67-69
Age, yb
Up to 25 3 2-3 3 3-4
26-34 19 18-20 19 18-21
35-44 24 23-25 27 26-29
44-54 27 26-28 24 23-25
55-64 23 22-24 21 19-22
65-74 5 4-5 5 4-5
≥75 0 0-0 0 0-1
Age collapsed, yb
<31 12 11-13 13 12-14
31+ 88 87-89 87 86-88
Highest educational degree attainedb
No college degree 16 15-17 11 10-12
Associates 11 10-11 8 7-8
Bachelors 36 35-37 35 34-37
Masters 31 30-32 38 37-40
Doctoral 6 6-7 8 7-8
Public health degree (bach/mast/doc)
Yes 19 18-20 20 19-21
Supervisory statusb
Nonsupervisors 73 72-74 71 70-72
Supervisors, managers, and executives 27 26-28 29 28-30
Employment statusb
Contractor providing third-party services to the health department 2 1-2 7 6-8
Permanent staff employed directly by the health department 95 94-95 85 84-86
Intern employed directly by the health department 1 0-1 1 0-1
Temporary staff employed directly by the health department 3 3-4 7 6-7
Federal employee detailed to the health department 0 ... 0 0-1
Tenure in current position, yb
0-5 59 58-60 66 65-67
6-10 16 15-17 14 13-15
11-15 10 10-11 7 7-8
16-20 8 7-9 6 5-6
21+ 7 6-7 7 7-8
Tenure in current agency, yb
0-5 43 42-44 51 49-52
6-10 17 16-18 17 16-18
11-15 14 13-15 11 10-12
16-20 13 12-13 9 8-10
21+ 14 13-15 13 12-13
Tenure in public health practice, yb
0-5 30 29-31 35 34-37
6-10 18 17-19 19 18-20
11-15 15 14-16 14 13-15
16-20 14 13-15 11 10-12
21+ 23 21-24 20 19-21
Tenure in public health management, yb
0-5 31 27-34 37 33-41
6-10 22 19-25 25 21-28
11-15 19 16-22 14 11-17
16-20 14 12-17 13 10-16
21+ 15 12-18 12 10-14
Annualized salaryb
<$25 000 1 0-1 0 0-0
$25 000-$35 000 9 9-10 3 3-4
$35 000.01-$45 000 16 15-17 10 9-10
$45 000.01-$55 000 16 15-17 13 12-14
$55 000.01-$65 000 14 13-15 14 13-15
$65 000.01-$75 000 11 10-12 13 12-14
$75 000.01-$85 000 10 10-11 11 10-12
$85 000.01-$95 000 8 7-8 10 10-11
$95 000.01-$105 000 6 6-7 9 8-10
$105 000.01-$115 000 4 3-4 6 5-6
$115 000.01-$125 000 2 2-2 3 3-4
$125 000.01-$135 000 1 1-1 3 2-3
$135 000.01-$145 000 1 0-1 2 1-2
>$145 000 2 1-2 4 3-4
Job classification (categories)b
Administrative 33 32-35 27 26-28
Clinical and lab 27 26-28 27 25-28
Public health sciences 37 36-38 44 43-45
Social services and all other 3 3-3 2 2-3
Primary program area (categories)b
Chronic disease and injury 6 6-7 5 4-5
Communicable disease 14 13-15 29 28-30
Environmental health 13 12-13 8 7-9
Maternal and child health 14 13-15 10 9-11
Other health care 11 10-11 17 16-19
All hazards 2 1-2 2 1-2
Assessment 9 8-10 7 6-7
Communications 5 4-5 2 1-2
Organizational competencies 20 19-21 17 16-18
Other 7 6-8 4 3-4

Abbreviation: BIPOC, Black, Indigenous, and people of color.

aEstimates shown as estimate (95% confidence interval) by year.

bStatistically significant differences, in aggregate, across years for a given item at P < .05.