Health and Safety Specialist Salary & Requirements (2026)
Advertised pay, starting pay, skills and experience from 7,666 US job postings by 2,675 employers. Data as of October 2026.
What US employers post for health and safety specialists: advertised pay, the skills and experience they ask for, and the job titles they use, from 7,666 open job postings (October 2026).
- The median advertised pay for health and safety specialists in US job postings is $100,000 a year (1,671 postings from 723 employers, October 2026).
- The middle half of those postings offer $78,000 to $120,000.
- The skills that most set health and safety specialist postings apart are osha, incident investigations, Microsoft Office.
- Postings that state a minimum ask for a median of 3 years of experience.
Health and Safety Specialist job postings in the US, October 2026
- $100,000
- Median advertised pay (1,671 postings)
- $78,000–$120,000
- Middle 50% of postings
- 7,666
- US job postings from 2,675 employers
- 3 years
- Median experience asked
How much does a health and safety specialist make?
The median advertised pay is $100,000 a year, from 1,671 US job postings by 723 employers that state pay. One in ten postings offers $145,000 or more.
Advertised pay in 1,671 US health and safety specialist job postings: median $100,000 a year, middle half $78,000 to $120,000.
- Median: $100,000
- 25th percentile: $78,000
- 75th percentile: $120,000
The figures as a table
| Annual pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| $30K–$40K | 0.4% |
| $40K–$50K | 4.8% |
| $50K–$60K | 6.3% |
| $60K–$70K | 5.9% |
| $70K–$80K | 9.7% |
| $80K–$90K | 13.3% |
| $90K–$100K | 8.6% |
| $100K–$110K | 11.6% |
| $110K–$120K | 13.8% |
| $120K–$130K | 8.0% |
| $130K–$140K | 5.5% |
| $140K–$150K | 3.9% |
| $150K–$160K | 3.0% |
| $160K–$170K | 1.6% |
| $170K–$180K | 1.7% |
| $180K–$190K | 0.8% |
| $190K–$200K | 0.4% |
Midpoint of each posting's pay range, hourly pay × 2,080 hours; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
| Median | Middle 50% | Postings | Most common titles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Postings that state an hourly rate | $29.42 | $24.73–$40.00 | 314 | Safety Intern, Safety Coordinator, Safety Specialist |
| Postings that state an annual salary | $108,000 | $86K–$125K | 1,242 | Safety Manager, EHS Manager, EHS Specialist |
| All pay postings, annualised | $100,000 | $78K–$120K | 1,671 | – |
For comparison, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the national median annual wage of Occupational Health and Safety Specialists (19-5011) at $90,000 (May 2025). Postings advertise pay; the BLS measures what people earn, across all employers and levels.
What is the starting salary for a health and safety specialist?
Figure withheld: fewer than 250 US postings list pay. How we decide.
Health and safety specialist levels and pay
Levels as they appear in job titles, ordered by the median experience asked.
| Level in title | Share of postings | Median experience asked | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| No level in title | 92.7% | 3 years | $99,000 |
| Senior | 4.2% | 5 years | – |
Highest-paying health and safety specialist jobs
Specializations with at least 250 postings that state pay.
| Specialization | Median pay | Postings with pay | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| EHS Manager | $119,000 | 298 | 183 |
| Safety Manager | $112,000 | 270 | 137 |
Health and safety specialist pay by state
Single-location US postings; states with at least 100 postings that state pay. States with pay-transparency laws (such as California, Colorado, New York and Washington) are over-represented among postings that state pay.
| State | Median pay | Middle 50% | Postings with pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | $115,000 | $84,000–$146,000 | 165 | 7.8% |
Skills employers ask for in health and safety specialist job postings
| Skill | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| Communication | 51% |
| Excel | 25% |
| Microsoft Office | 25% |
| Organizational skills | 24% |
| Problem-solving | 19% |
| Interpersonal skills | 19% |
| Word | 18% |
| Powerpoint | 16% |
| Analytical skills | 15% |
| Osha | 15% |
Skills named in the posting text; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026. Methodology.
Skills that set health and safety specialists apart
- Osha31.4× as often as in all postings · 15%
- Incident investigations193.3× as often as in all postings · 5%
- Osha regulations40.4× as often as in all postings · 7%
- Powerpoint4.3× as often as in all postings · 16%
- Epa98.3× as often as in all postings · 5%
- Word3.2× as often as in all postings · 18%
- Root cause analysis12× as often as in all postings · 6%
Skills named in at least 5% of these postings and at least 3 times as often as in job postings overall.
Have a health and safety specialist job posting in front of you? See which of its skills your resume is missing.
What does a health and safety specialist do?
Employers post these jobs as Safety Manager, EHS Manager, Safety Coordinator, EHS Specialist, Safety Specialist and other titles. The largest specializations are Safety Manager (17%), EHS Manager (16%), Safety Specialist (18%), EHS Specialist (9%), Safety Coordinator (8%), Health & Safety Specialist (8%), HSE Manager (7%).
The closest official occupation is Occupational Health and Safety Specialists (19-5011.00). Its most important tasks:
- 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.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (CC BY 4.0).
How much experience do you need to be a health and safety specialist?
Among 3,756 postings that state a minimum, the median is 3 years. 2% say 0 years and 13% ask for 1 year or less.
Minimum experience asked in 3,756 US health and safety specialist job postings: median 3 years, and 13% ask for 1 year or less.
The figures as a table
| Minimum experience asked | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| 0 yr | 2% |
| 1 yr | 11% |
| 2 yrs | 16% |
| 3-4 yrs | 28% |
| 5-7 yrs | 35% |
| 8-9 yrs | 3% |
| 10+ yrs | 5% |
Postings that state a minimum (required or preferred); at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
We do not show a degree figure: in our checks, degree requirements in posting text were found too rarely to publish one. Why.
Full-time 97%, Part-time 3% of the 711 postings that state working hours.
Other names for a health and safety specialist: job titles employers use
| Job title | Employers using it |
|---|---|
| Safety Manager | 404 (15.1%) |
| EHS Manager | 190 (7.1%) |
| Safety Coordinator | 188 (7.0%) |
| EHS Specialist | 140 (5.2%) |
| Safety Specialist | 117 (4.4%) |
| Safety Intern | 65 (2.4%) |
| HSE Manager | 63 (2.4%) |
| Environmental Health & Safety Manager | 62 (2.3%) |
| Industrial Hygienist | 61 (2.3%) |
| Safety Supervisor | 56 (2.1%) |
| EHS Coordinator | 55 (2.1%) |
| Safety Professional | 51 (1.9%) |
| Environmental Health and Safety Manager | 49 (1.8%) |
| Safety Engineer | 47 (1.8%) |
| Regional Safety Manager | 46 (1.7%) |
| Health & Safety Manager | 45 (1.7%) |
| Site Safety Manager | 44 (1.6%) |
| Safety Technician | 44 (1.6%) |
| HSE Specialist | 43 (1.6%) |
| Director of Safety | 40 (1.5%) |
Titles read in our audit and used by at least 3 employers.
Health and safety specialist job titles compared
The titles people search for most, from the US job postings that use each exact title (October 2026).
| Job title | Open postings | Employers | Median pay | Median experience | Skills named most |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EHS Manager | 312 | 190 | – | – | communication, osha, leadership |
| EHS Specialist | 289 | 140 | – | – | communication, Excel, organizational skills |
| Safety Manager | 764 | 404 | – | 5 years | communication, Microsoft Office, organizational skills |
| Safety Coordinator | 345 | 188 | – | – | communication, organizational skills, Excel |
Health and Safety Specialist compared with similar careers
| Career | Median pay | Median experience | Postings | Shares N of top 25 skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health and Safety Specialist | $100K | 3 years | 7,666 | – |
| Training Specialist | $84K | 3 years | 3,747 | 16 |
| Environmental Specialist | $105K | 5 years | 1,582 | 17 |
| Operations Manager | $85K | 3 years | 12,850 | 17 |
| Compliance Specialist | $113K | 3 years | 2,331 | 16 |
Similar careers
| Career | Shares N of the top 25 skills | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Training Specialist | 16 | $84K |
| Environmental Specialist | 17 | $105K |
| Operations Manager | 17 | $85K |
| Compliance Specialist | 16 | $113K |
| Production Manager | 15 | $86K |
| Laboratory Technician | 19 | $22.84/hr |
Applying for health and safety specialist jobs?
- Health and safety specialist resume examples: one-page examples for these roles
- Match your resume to a job: paste a posting and see the skills your resume is missing
- Check your resume: see how an applicant tracking system reads it
- Find health and safety specialist jobs: search open postings
Frequently asked questions
How much does a health and safety specialist make?
Source and method
Open US job postings collected from employers' applicant tracking systems, de-duplicated, counted only when their job title was read in our audit. Shares count at most 20 postings per employer, and franchise locations of one brand count as one employer. Pay uses hourly and annual figures only; a figure is shown when leaving out the largest employer moves it by 10% or less. Every figure states its number of postings. Methodology and measured accuracy.
Accuracy check: we read 19 randomly chosen postings counted on this page in full; 19 of them were this career or a closely related one (October 2026).
Download the figures on this page (CSV): every number above with its count of postings. Aggregate figures are licensed CC BY 4.0; cite the page when you reuse them.