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Boston Career Explorer

Life, Physical, and Social Science

Epidemiologists

Investigate and describe the determinants and distribution of disease, disability, or health outcomes. May develop the means for prevention and control.

Also called: Chronic Disease Epidemiologist, Communicable Diseases Specialist, Environmental Epidemiologist, Epidemiologist, Epidemiology Investigator, Infection Control Practitioner (ICP)

Median pay in Greater Boston
$115,890
$55.72/hr
Jobs in Greater Boston
620
Massachusetts 2024–2034
+18.4%
40 openings a year
Typical U.S. entry requirement
Master's degree

Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.

Pay range in Greater Boston

Yearly pay in Greater Boston by percentile
10th25thMedian75th90th
$81,380$93,870$115,890$154,840$212,890

10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.

What you’d do

  • Communicate research findings on various types of diseases to health practitioners, policy makers, and the public.
  • Oversee public health programs, including statistical analysis, health care planning, surveillance systems, and public health improvement.
  • Investigate diseases or parasites to determine cause and risk factors, progress, life cycle, or mode of transmission.
  • Educate healthcare workers, patients, and the public about infectious and communicable diseases, including disease transmission and prevention.
  • Monitor and report incidents of infectious diseases to local and state health agencies.
  • Plan and direct studies to investigate human or animal disease, preventive methods, and treatments for disease.

AI and this job

AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.

Higher exposure91 of 100

The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:

  • AIOE 98
  • Language-model AIOE 86
  • GPTs-are-GPTs 88

Observed AI use today: Little or none (Anthropic Economic Index)

Epidemiologists have higher AI exposure, so AI tools may help with parts of the job like analyzing health data and drafting reports. Observed AI use in this job is little or none so far. Investigating how diseases spread, working with health agencies, and teaching the public still rely on people's judgment and trust.

Likely to change

  • Analyzing disease and health data
  • Drafting reports on research findings

Still relies on people

  • Investigating outbreaks and finding causes
  • Educating the public and health workers

Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.

Next steps from here

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Training near Boston

College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).

1 program near Boston (plus 14 graduate)

Related occupations

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