Community Health Workers Salary

The median community health workers salary in the United States is $51,850 per year ($24.93/hour). Salaries range from $38,810 at the entry level to $77,180+ for the top 10% of earners. There are 61,660 community health workers jobs nationwide. Employment is projected to grow 11.3% through 2034.

Last updated: June 2026 Β· Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Median Salary
$51,850
per year
Hourly Rate
$24.93
per hour
Employment
61,660
jobs in the U.S.

Salary Distribution

10th percentile
$38,810
25th percentile
$45,640
Median
$51,850
75th percentile
$62,540
90th percentile
$77,180

Job Growth (2024-2034)

+11.3%
Faster than average

Annual Openings

7,800
jobs/year (growth + replacements)

Education Required

High school diploma or equivalent

Training Needed

Short-term on-the-job training

Community Health Workers Career Guide

Interview questions, resume templates, and a career ladder written specifically for community health workerss.

Community health workers (CHWs, BLS SOC 21-1094) are trained frontline public-health workers who share lived experience, language, or cultural context with the populations they serve. They connect clients to primary care, help navigate SNAP / WIC / Medicaid enrollment, coach chronic-disease self-management (diabetes, hypertension, asthma, HIV), lead perinatal and postpartum outreach, drive vaccination and cancer-screening campaigns, and address social determinants of health (SDOH) β€” food, housing, transportation, interpersonal safety. Typical seats: CHW at a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) β€” HRSA-funded; Medicaid Managed Care Organization CHW at Molina, Centene, Anthem, UnitedHealthcare Community & State, CareSource; county or state health department CHW (STD/HIV outreach, WIC peer counselor, home-visiting maternal-child health, refugee health screening); Community-Based Organization CHW at YMCA, YWCA, Boys & Girls Club, National Council of La Raza affiliate, Urban League affiliate, faith-based coalitions, Meals on Wheels, or promotor(a) programs. BLS reports 61,660 employed at a median $51,850; p10 $34,760, p90 $76,780+. Entry CHW $34-46k; established CHW with certification $45-62k; Sr CHW / Team Lead / Community Health Navigator $58-78k; CHW Supervisor / Program Coordinator $68-95k; Program Manager / Director $88-125k+. The single biggest earning lever is completing state CHW certification (state-varying β€” Texas Promotor(a) Certification, Massachusetts Board of Certification, Ohio CHW Certification, Oregon Traditional Health Worker) plus CHES (Certified Health Education Specialist) or a state-community-health navigator credential, and moving from a grant-funded CBO seat into a Medicaid MCO or FQHC billing-eligible seat where CHW services are reimbursable under state Medicaid.

Core Skills Hiring Managers Screen For

Motivational Interviewing (MI) as a core communication stance
Miller & Rollnick's OARS framework (Open questions, Affirmations, Reflections, Summaries) with rolling-with-resistance and eliciting change talk. Deploy for medication adherence, diabetes self-management, smoking cessation, HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake, prenatal-care attendance, weight management. CHW-adapted MI (Rollnick's brief 'Health Behavior Change' variant) is table stakes at every FQHC, MCO, and state health department CHW program.
Social determinants of health (SDOH) screening and navigation
Administer validated SDOH screeners β€” PRAPARE (National Association of Community Health Centers, primary care standard); AHC-HRSN (CMS Accountable Health Communities Health-Related Social Needs); The Everyone Project (AAFP). Screen for food, housing, transportation, utilities, interpersonal safety, education, employment. Warm-handoff to CBO partners (food banks, housing partners, domestic-violence shelters, workforce-development agencies). Track referral completion, not just referral generation.
Chronic-disease self-management coaching (diabetes, hypertension, asthma, CHF, HIV)
Stanford Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP) or Diabetes Self-Management Program (DSMP) 6-week peer-led group model. Motivational interviewing for medication adherence. Blood-glucose monitoring coaching for diabetes; blood-pressure self-monitoring for hypertension; peak-flow and inhaler-technique coaching for asthma; medication reconciliation for CHF. HIV: PrEP navigation for HIV-negative clients; anti-retroviral therapy adherence and viral-load monitoring for HIV-positive clients (U=U messaging β€” Undetectable = Untransmittable).
Medicaid / SNAP / WIC / Marketplace enrollment and re-certification navigation
State-specific Medicaid eligibility (MAGI Medicaid for adults post-ACA expansion in 40 states + DC; non-MAGI Medicaid for aged/blind/disabled; CHIP for children up to 200-400% FPL state-varying). SNAP application via state DHS or ebt.gov portal; WIC via state WIC office. ACA Marketplace via healthcare.gov or state-based marketplace (Covered California, NY State of Health, MNsure, Washington HealthPlanFinder). Recertification cycles are where clients lose coverage; the CHW who owns the calendar keeps clients enrolled.
Home visiting and safe-home assessment
Structured home-visit protocols (Nurse-Family Partnership peer-support variants; Healthy Families America; Parents as Teachers; Family Connects). Assess safe-sleep environment (Back-to-Sleep, no soft bedding, no bed-sharing per AAP); safe-medication storage; smoke and carbon-monoxide detectors; lead-paint risk (pre-1978 housing); fall-prevention for elders. De-escalation training for home visits (Vistelar / CPI Nonviolent Crisis Intervention variants). Two-CHW visits for higher-risk situations.
Vaccination and cancer-screening outreach and mobilization
COVID-19, seasonal influenza, HPV, Tdap, MMR, shingles, RSV outreach β€” community-tailored messaging, mobile-clinic coordination, VFC (Vaccines for Children) program navigation. Cancer-screening outreach β€” colorectal cancer screening (FIT / colonoscopy uptake), breast cancer (screening mammography), cervical cancer (Pap / HPV testing), lung cancer (LDCT for high-risk smokers). Partnership with local health department and Federally Qualified Health Center's Uniform Data System (UDS) reporting for screening rates.
Perinatal and postpartum outreach (Healthy Start, Doula-adjacent CHW models)
HRSA Healthy Start Initiative field CHW model β€” prenatal engagement pre-24 weeks, postpartum retention through 24 months. Doula-adjacent (non-clinical) coaching on labor preparation, breastfeeding, safe sleep, postpartum-depression screening (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale β€” EPDS). Warm-handoff to WIC, Medicaid, home-visiting programs (NFP, HFA, PAT, Family Connects). Maternal-mortality-review-committee data drives program design in many states post-2020.
Interpretation, cultural humility, and structural competence
Bilingual and bicultural (Spanish is table stakes at most seats; Vietnamese, Mandarin, Somali, Arabic, Haitian Creole, Nepali, Tagalog, Marshallese at state and region-specific programs). Cultural humility (Tervalon & Murray-GarcΓ­a) β€” lifelong learning + redress of power imbalances + institutional accountability. Structural competence β€” recognize how upstream policy (immigration status, housing policy, food-desert geography) shapes downstream health. Never a passthrough interpreter for clinical encounters β€” that role is a professional medical interpreter under CLAS Standards.
Documentation, HIPAA, and community-health-worker EHR fluency (Epic, Athena, eClinicalWorks, NextGen, Unite Us, findhelp/Aunt Bertha, myWiZDOM)
Progress-note quality is the observable output. Structure per FQHC or MCO template. Warm-handoff and closed-loop-referral documentation via Unite Us or findhelp.org (formerly Aunt Bertha) with referral status tracking (received, engaged, resolved). HIPAA fluency for release-of-information with CBO partners; 42 CFR Part 2 for substance-use-related referrals. Uniform Data System (UDS) reporting at FQHCs β€” CHWs contribute to Section E workforce reporting and Table 6B chronic-disease outcomes.

How to Become a Community Health Workers

  1. 1
    Complete a high school diploma or GED (bachelor's optional, not required)
    CHW is one of the few evidence-based public-health workforce roles that does not require a bachelor's. Many CHWs are hired based on shared lived experience with the community they serve (bilingual/bicultural, formerly homeless, formerly incarcerated, HIV-positive peer, person in long-term recovery, immigrant/refugee, teen-parent mentor). Community-based hiring is a strength of the workforce, not an exception.
  2. 2
    Complete state CHW certification where available (state-varying)
    Texas Promotor(a) or Community Health Worker Certification (DSHS-administered; 160 hours training + exam); Massachusetts Board of Certification of Community Health Workers (voluntary; 80 hours training + supervised practice); Ohio CHW Certification (Ohio Board of Nursing; 100 hours core + 40 hours clinical experience); Oregon Traditional Health Worker (state Health Authority-administered; CHW, Peer Support Specialist, Doula, Navigator sub-certifications); Minnesota CHW Certificate (14-credit college certificate β€” required for Medicaid billing eligibility); New York, California, and 20+ other states have some form of state certification pathway with variable rigor.
  3. 3
    Complete Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) β€” National Commission for Health Education Credentialing
    CHES exam is the national credential for health education specialists; increasingly required or preferred for CHW Team Lead / Supervisor seats. $260-320 exam fee + $200-500 prep material. Complements state CHW certification with a nationally-portable credential. MCHES (Master Certified Health Education Specialist) requires master's degree + 5 years experience for the senior track.
  4. 4
    Complete Community Health Worker Common Indicators (CHW CI) or state-equivalent CE curriculum
    Regular continuing education is required for state CHW certification renewal (typically 20-40 hours per 2-year cycle). NACHW (National Association of Community Health Workers), Rural Health Information Hub, and state-level CHW associations offer approved CE. Motivational Interviewing continuing education is a career-long thread.
  5. 5
    Move into a target seat: FQHC CHW β†’ MCO CHW β†’ county/state health department
    FQHC CHW $38-52k with strong benefits + PSLF eligibility + Medicaid-billing exposure. Medicaid MCO CHW at Molina, Centene, Anthem, UnitedHealthcare Community & State $46-62k with corporate benefits + performance bonus. County/state health department CHW $42-58k with state benefits + pension + PSLF. Community-based organization CHW $34-48k with mission alignment but typically weaker benefits and grant-dependent job stability.
  6. 6
    Advance to Sr CHW / Team Lead / Community Health Navigator
    Sr CHW / Team Lead $55-72k at FQHC, MCO, health department; often with LCSW-Supervisor-adjacent supervision credential for CHW workforce. Community Health Navigator is the emerging seat title at MCOs, ACOs, and integrated health systems for the CHW-plus-care-coordination role covering high-utilizer / complex-social-needs populations. Bilingual premium of 8-15% at most seats.
  7. 7
    Advance to CHW Supervisor / Program Coordinator / Program Manager
    CHW Supervisor $65-85k at FQHC or MCO β€” supervises 6-15 CHWs, owns training and CE program, manages closed-loop-referral tech (Unite Us / findhelp) contracts. Program Coordinator $72-92k at health department or MCO β€” owns grant reporting (HRSA Healthy Start, CDC 1815, state Medicaid quality metrics). Program Manager $85-115k+ at integrated health system, state health department, or Medicaid MCO β€” owns budget, staff, and outcome accountability for a CHW program serving 5,000-40,000 clients.
  8. 8
    Advance to Director / Sr Program Officer / Chief CHW Officer
    Program Director $105-155k+ at state/federal health system or large MCO β€” statewide or multi-state CHW program leadership. Sr Program Officer $110-165k at foundation or federal grantmaker (CDC, HRSA, Kellogg Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation) β€” CHW-workforce-development grantmaking. Chief CHW Officer / Chief Community Health Officer $135-215k+ at integrated health systems (Kaiser Permanente, Providence, CommonSpirit, Ascension) β€” emerging seat as health systems build CHW infrastructure as a core value-based-care capability.

Career Progression

Community Health Worker (entry)
0-2 yrs$34-46k at CBO / county / state; $38-52k at FQHC; $42-56k at Medicaid MCO + benefits + retirement
  • β€’Direct outreach and engagement β€” home visits, community events, mobile clinics, phone/text outreach
  • β€’SDOH screening (PRAPARE, AHC-HRSN) and warm-handoff to CBO partners via Unite Us / findhelp closed-loop referral tech
  • β€’Chronic-disease self-management coaching (Stanford CDSMP variants) and Medicaid / SNAP / WIC / Marketplace navigation
  • β€’Documentation in FQHC / MCO EHR (Epic, Athena, eClinicalWorks, NextGen) within 24-72 hr per program policy
Next: Sr CHW / Team Lead at 2-5 years with state CHW certification + CHES.
Sr CHW / Team Lead / Community Health Navigator
2-6 yrs$52-72k salaried at FQHC / MCO / health department + benefits + retirement
  • β€’Own a specialty caseload (Healthy Start perinatal outreach, HIV linkage-to-care, high-utilizer diabetes-cluster) or a lead role coaching 3-6 junior CHWs
  • β€’Structured MI + CDSMP + PRAPARE workflow ownership across the team
  • β€’Represent the CHW team at interdisciplinary huddles and community-partnership meetings
  • β€’Contribute to grant reporting (HRSA UDS Section E workforce data, HRSA Healthy Start indicator reporting, MCO quality metrics β€” HEDIS controlling high BP, diabetes A1c, colorectal cancer screening)
Next: CHW Supervisor / Program Coordinator at 5-9 years.
CHW Supervisor / Program Coordinator
5-10 yrs$68-95k salaried at FQHC / MCO / health department + benefits + retirement + performance bonus at MCO
  • β€’Supervise 6-15 CHWs β€” hiring, coaching, performance management, CE program stewardship, state-certification-renewal tracking
  • β€’Own program-level metrics β€” referral-closure rate, chronic-disease HEDIS metrics, Medicaid quality bonus performance
  • β€’Manage vendor relationships β€” Unite Us / findhelp contracts, MI training vendors, EBP consultation contracts, state CHW-cert-renewal continuing education
  • β€’Represent the CHW program at state Medicaid quality meetings, HRSA grantee cluster meetings, or MCO market-lead operations reviews
Next: Program Manager at 8-13 years.
Program Manager / Assistant Director
8-15 yrs$88-125k salaried at large FQHC network / MCO / state health department + benefits + retirement + performance bonus
  • β€’Own an entire CHW program β€” 25-80 CHWs across multiple counties / MCO markets / clinic sites
  • β€’Own budget management ($1.5M-8M annual), grant applications and renewals (HRSA, CDC, state Medicaid), and outcome accountability
  • β€’Represent the program at C-suite operations meetings, state Medicaid quality reviews, and NACHW / state CHW association leadership
  • β€’Own strategic partnerships with major CBOs (United Way, YMCA, food banks, housing partners, faith-based coalitions) and academic partners
Next: Director / Chief CHW Officer at 12-20 years.
Director / Chief CHW Officer / Sr Program Officer (Foundation)
12+ yrs$115-215k+ salaried at integrated health system / state health department / national foundation + benefits + retirement + performance/LTIP
  • β€’Statewide or multi-state CHW program leadership β€” 80-500 CHWs and $12-60M annual budget
  • β€’C-suite representation of the CHW function; own the value-case for CHW investment in a value-based-care contract portfolio
  • β€’Grant strategy (HRSA, CDC 1815, RWJF, Kellogg, Kaiser Community Health, state Medicaid 1115 waivers) and philanthropic partnerships
  • β€’Alternative track: Sr Program Officer at CDC, HRSA, Kellogg, RWJF, Kaiser Community Health portfolio β€” CHW-workforce-development grantmaking

Interview Questions & Answers

5 free questions below. Career Kit unlocks 13 total plus resume bullets for every level.

Q1. Walk me through how you'd approach a first home visit with a newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetes patient in a food-insecure household who speaks Spanish as her first language.technical
Structured framework. (1) Language and cultural preparation β€” I'm bilingual and bicultural (or I would arrange qualified Spanish-fluent CHW coverage). Do not assume; ask how the patient wants to communicate. Never use a family member as interpreter for clinical content. (2) Rapport before assessment β€” introduce myself, my role (that I am a CHW, not a nurse or doctor), the length of the visit (typically 45-75 minutes), the confidentiality frame (HIPAA + release-of-information basics), and share a bit of my own connection to the community. (3) Explore the patient's own understanding of diabetes and her goals β€” 'What does your doctor say about the diabetes? What worries you most? What do you want to be able to do that this makes hard?' Motivational Interviewing stance from the first sentence. (4) SDOH screening β€” PRAPARE or the FQHC-specific screener covering food, housing, transportation, utilities, safety. Given the referral flag (food insecurity), open that door specifically: 'Sometimes families we work with have trouble getting enough food. Has that been a concern for your family?' (5) Warm-handoff to food resources β€” food-bank partner, SNAP application status (are you enrolled? recertification date?), WIC eligibility for children in the household, community garden or farmer's-market voucher programs. Document the referral in Unite Us / findhelp with closed-loop tracking. (6) Introduce diabetes self-management basics without overloading β€” one behavior change target for the next 2 weeks (blood-glucose monitoring, medication adherence, one specific dietary change). Set an SMART goal with the patient. (7) Schedule the next visit or check-in call within 14 days. Document the encounter within the 24-72 hr window per program policy. Interviewers screen for candidates who lead with rapport and MI, who screen SDOH systematically, and who don't overload the first visit with clinical content.
Q2. Describe a time you had to advocate for a client with a system that was denying them a service they were entitled to.behavioral
STAR. Situation: pregnant client at 22 weeks gestation was denied Medicaid coverage during pregnancy despite meeting eligibility (state MAGI Medicaid at 200% FPL threshold for pregnant women). The denial letter cited missing verification documents that the client had actually submitted twice. Task: as CHW at an FQHC Healthy Start site, get the coverage approved before the client hit 24 weeks (when clinical care for gestational-diabetes screening and prenatal-labs escalates significantly). Action: (1) Sat with the client to reconstruct the timeline β€” I confirmed she had submitted the documents via the state eligibility portal on two occasions and had confirmation numbers from both. (2) Called the state Medicaid eligibility office (not the county β€” the state) with the client on the line for the release-of-information verbal consent; escalated to a supervisor after the first-line worker cited the same missing documents. (3) Coordinated with the FQHC's certified application counselor (CAC) to submit a formal appeal via the state eligibility portal with all documentation attached. (4) Escalated to the state's Managed Care ombudsman when the appeal was in Day 12 with no response (state statutory response window is 10 business days). (5) Warm-handoff to the local Legal Aid office β€” the client's case was one of six similar denials that Legal Aid was tracking across the county as a possible pattern of MCO administrative errors. (6) Coverage was approved at Day 17; retroactive to the original application date; gestational-diabetes screening completed at 26 weeks; no lapse in prenatal care. Legal Aid took the pattern-case forward to the state Medicaid director. Interviewers screen for candidates who advocate structurally (through documented channels, appropriate partners, escalation ladders) not emotionally (yelling at the eligibility worker on the phone).
Q3. A client is not taking their hypertension medication despite three prior conversations about it. How would you approach the next conversation using Motivational Interviewing?situational
MI stance. (1) Reset the frame β€” I am not going to lecture. 'I want to try something different today. Instead of me giving you information, I want to ask you some questions.' (2) Elicit the client's perspective β€” 'Tell me what you know about how the medication is supposed to work. What do you like about taking it? What do you not like?' Roll with resistance; do not fight it. (3) Explore ambivalence explicitly β€” decisional balance conversation. Not stacked. 'What are the reasons you might want to keep taking it? What are the reasons you might want to stop?' Reflect both sides. (4) Ask about barriers β€” cost, side effects, forgetfulness, mistrust of the medical system, family/community skepticism, cultural remedies being used in parallel. Sometimes the barrier is a specific side effect the doctor doesn't know about; a warm-handoff to the primary care team with a documented CHW note gets the doctor to switch to a different medication class. (5) Elicit change talk β€” DARN-C (Desire, Ability, Reasons, Need, Commitment). When commitment language emerges, transition to concrete next steps (a pill-organizer, a daily-alarm, a family member reminder, pairing the medication with an existing daily routine like coffee or brushing teeth). (6) If the client remains ambivalent, book the next check-in and hold the door open. Do not deliver an ultimatum. (7) Consider culturally-adapted community-based hypertension self-management group (Stanford CDSMP variant); sometimes peer-group engagement moves the needle when 1:1 does not. (8) Coordinate with the PCP with a documented CHW note. Interviewers screen for candidates who understand MI as a stance not a technique and who don't confuse MI with confrontational adherence-focused models.
Q4. Why community health work rather than nursing, social work, or medical assisting?culture
Honest answer. 'CHW work is the frontline public-health role that bridges the clinical system and the community. What makes it distinct is that I bring lived experience, language, and cultural context that the clinical team can't replicate β€” and that lived experience is exactly what the clients need to build trust. Nursing and MA work is inside the clinic; social work spans clinic and community; CHW work is community-first and community-grounded. I have seen family members and neighbors who fell out of care because the clinical system didn't reach them where they live. I want to be the person who reaches them β€” with training in MI, SDOH screening, and closed-loop referral tech β€” and closes the gap. Long term, I want to grow into a CHW Supervisor and then Program Manager role, because CHW workforce development is one of the highest-leverage public-health investments and the field needs experienced practitioners in the leadership seats.' Interviewers screen for candidates who chose the CHW role with clarity, not who defaulted to it as a stepping-stone.
Q5. Where do you see your career in 5 years?closer
Show a clear track. 'I'm on the FQHC β†’ Medicaid MCO track. Year 1-2: CHW at an FQHC completing state CHW certification and CHES exam; owning a caseload of 60-90 chronic-disease and perinatal clients; documented outcomes on Stanford CDSMP completion, chronic-disease control (HbA1c under 8.0%, BP under 140/90), and referral-closure rate. Year 2-4: Sr CHW / Community Health Navigator at a Medicaid MCO (Molina, Centene, Anthem, UnitedHealthcare Community & State) covering high-utilizer / complex-social-needs populations at $58-72k with performance bonus; CHW-Supervisor-track training. Year 4-6: CHW Supervisor $72-92k managing 8-15 CHWs and $2M grant portfolio. If your program has a documented pipeline into MCO Community Health Navigator or an FQHC Sr CHW / Supervisor pathway, that's the trajectory.'

Resume Template β€” Community Health Worker (0-2 yrs)

Copy these bullets into your resume as a starting point. Career Kit includes bullets for every level of the ladder.

Community Health Worker (0-2 yrs)
  • β–ΈCHW at [FQHC name] Healthy Start program; managed 82-client caseload across prenatal outreach, postpartum retention (24-month), and chronic-disease coaching (Stanford CDSMP).
  • β–ΈDelivered 340+ home visits over 22 months with 100% PRAPARE SDOH screening completion; 68% closed-loop-referral closure rate via Unite Us (vs 42% program baseline).
  • β–ΈContributed to program-level UDS Table 6B improvements β€” controlled BP under 140/90 rose from 58% to 71% of hypertensive clients across 18 months; A1c under 9.0% for diabetic clients rose from 62% to 74%.
  • β–ΈState CHW certification (Texas Promotor(a) DSHS or state equivalent) + CHES exam passed + Motivational Interviewing 40-hour intensive + Bilingual Spanish/English (fluent). $46k base + full FQHC benefits + PSLF eligibility.

What Gets You Rejected

  • βœ—No state CHW certification in a state where it exists (TX, MA, OH, MN, OR, and 20+ others) β€” signals a candidate who hasn't done the credentialing work.
  • βœ—Cannot articulate an MI OARS framework and rolling-with-resistance stance in an interview β€” the interviewer will roleplay a resistant-client scenario.
  • βœ—Weak SDOH-screening fluency β€” cannot name PRAPARE or the AHC-HRSN by name or describe a closed-loop-referral workflow with a specific platform (Unite Us / findhelp).
  • βœ—Poor documentation timeliness β€” 'I document at the end of the week' fails HIPAA / MCO audit and is a leading termination cause in CHW workforce reviews.
  • βœ—No specific EHR / referral-tech fluency β€” Epic, Athena, eClinicalWorks, NextGen, Unite Us, findhelp are the operational spine.
  • βœ—Reluctance to make home visits or evening / weekend outreach β€” a candidate whose availability is 9-5 M-F only is not a fit; community-based work runs on client schedules.
  • βœ—History of licensing / certification discipline β€” public disciplinary orders on state boards flag at every credentialing step.
  • βœ—Overstated caseload numbers on the resume that collapse under questioning β€” hiring managers will ask 'walk me through a typical week' and count the hours.

Salary Negotiation Levers

  • βœ“Medicaid MCO premium β€” MCO CHW seats at Molina, Centene, Anthem, UnitedHealthcare Community & State pay 15-30% above equivalent county / CBO seats due to corporate benefits and performance bonus structure.
  • βœ“State CHW certification premium β€” full state certification adds $3-8k at FQHC, MCO, and state health department seats where certification is not yet required but preferred.
  • βœ“CHES premium β€” CHES adds $4-10k at CHW Team Lead and Supervisor seats; MCHES adds $8-18k at Program Coordinator+ seats.
  • βœ“Bilingual and bicultural premium β€” Spanish is table stakes at most seats; Vietnamese, Mandarin, Somali, Arabic, Haitian Creole, Nepali, Tagalog, Marshallese add 8-18% at state and region-specific programs.
  • βœ“Metro premium β€” SF Bay Area, NYC, Boston, DC, Seattle, LA pay 20-35% above US median at the same seat.
  • βœ“PSLF eligibility β€” FQHC, state / county health department, 501(c)(3) non-profit CBO seats are PSLF-eligible; 120 qualifying monthly payments unlocks federal student-loan forgiveness. Frame this in negotiation as an implicit comp adder.
  • βœ“Sign-on bonus and student loan repayment β€” HRSA National Health Service Corps offers loan repayment up to $100,000 over 3 years for CHW / community health navigator seats at approved sites (typically FQHCs and Indian Health Service). State-specific programs in TX, CA, WA, OR, MN offer additional repayment.
  • βœ“Home-visit and mileage stipend β€” negotiable at $0.65-0.72/mile (IRS business rate) plus daily/weekly stipend if the role is > 40% field time.
  • βœ“Continuing-education budget β€” negotiate $1,500-3,500/year plus study leave for specialty certifications (MI Advanced, CHES β†’ MCHES, state CHW-Supervisor training).
  • βœ“Telehealth flexibility β€” negotiable at MCO and FQHC seats; hybrid schedules preserve the caseload while reducing burnout.

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Community Health Workers Salary by State

Best Cities (cost-adjusted) β†’

Salary Map β€” Click a state for details

$38K
$67Kβ–  No data

Top Paying States

New Hampshire
$67K
+29%
District of Columbia
$63K
+21%
North Dakota
$60K
+15%
Colorado
$59K
+14%
Hawaii
$58K
+13%
New York
$58K
+12%
California
$58K
+12%
Nevada
$58K
+11%
Washington
$57K
+10%
Delaware
$56K
+8%
Vertical line = national median. Click a state for full details.
StateMedianvs. National
New Hampshire$66,680+28.6%
District of Columbia$62,510+20.6%
North Dakota$59,610+15.0%
Colorado$59,260+14.3%
Hawaii$58,450+12.7%
New York$58,130+12.1%
California$58,050+12.0%
Nevada$57,730+11.3%
Washington$57,070+10.1%
Delaware$55,850+7.7%
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Community Health Workers Salary by Metro Area

Metro AreaMedianvs. National
Carson City, NV$81,600+57.4%
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA$80,290+54.9%
Eau Claire, WI$78,090+50.6%
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA$72,710+40.2%
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA$69,630+34.3%
Boulder, CO$65,780+26.9%
Columbus, OH$64,810+25.0%
Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA$64,720+24.8%
Visalia, CA$63,960+23.4%
Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO$62,400+20.3%
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Data Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). Data reflects the most recent annual survey.
How does this compare to pro athletes?
A community health workers earning $51,850/year would need 1150 years to match Stephen Curry's NBA salary, or 1234 yearsto match Patrick Mahomes' NFL contract.
See all sports & celebrity salaries β†’
πŸ“ˆ See how community health workers salaries have changed over the past decade.
View Community Health Workers salary trend (2011–2024) β†’