What it pays
Government survey numbers — not estimates, not ads.
Half of all Epidemiologists in the U.S. earn more than $87,220 a year — the middle 80% land between $61,270 and $138,800. About 12,090 people in the U.S. do this work. Figures are for the U.S. occupation group “Epidemiologists”. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics survey, published 2025.) In India, Professionals earn about ₹38,298 a month on average — around ₹4.6 lakh a year (government PLFS survey via ILOSTAT, occupation-family figure).
$87,220typical pay / year
12,090people in this work
$138,800+top 10% earn
₹4.6 lakha year in India (family avg)
Think you get this job?Six quick questions on how it really works — with a hint and the reason behind every answer.
Test yourself →The work, task by task
These are the real jobs-to-be-done, not a wish list. Each task shows where we found it, and the prompt underneath is written for that exact task.
Analysing4
Conduct disease surveillance
+Set up continuous surveillance for respiratory illness in County Public Health: ingest daily lab reports,…
Conduct disease surveillance
+Set up continuous surveillance for respiratory illness in County Public Health: ingest daily lab reports, emergency department tallies and school absenteeism, flag clusters above two standard deviations, create a weekly situation brief for the director every Monday.
The tools that do the workStructured query language SQLMicrosoft Exceljob descriptionsWikipedia
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Design and conduct research studies
+Draft and register a cohort study on vaccine effectiveness: define inclusion criteria, calculate sample size…
Design and conduct research studies
+Draft and register a cohort study on vaccine effectiveness: define inclusion criteria, calculate sample size for 80 percent power, draft consent and data collection forms, schedule ethics submission and a kickoff meeting next Wednesday with field teams.
The tools that do the workIBM SPSS StatisticsMicrosoft Wordjob descriptionsO*NET
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Map disease transmission pathways
+Produce transmission pathway maps for the recent cluster: combine case onset dates, contact interviews and…
Map disease transmission pathways
+Produce transmission pathway maps for the recent cluster: combine case onset dates, contact interviews and movement logs, infer likely chains with dates and attack rates, and deliver an annotated map and narrative to the outbreak lead by 10 AM Tuesday.
The tools that do the workESRI ArcGISPythonESCOjob descriptions
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Collect data for research
+Set up the multi-site case report form, list required demographic, exposure and outcome fields, coordinate…
Collect data for research
+Set up the multi-site case report form, list required demographic, exposure and outcome fields, coordinate with clinic coordinators to schedule data collection this month, and deliver the compiled dataset and data quality checklist to the lead analyst by Friday.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft AccessStructured query language SQLjob descriptionsWikipedia
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Convincing1
Develop public health guidelines and policies
+Prepare a policy brief on workplace outbreak control: review recent case-control analyses, summarise risk…
Develop public health guidelines and policies
+Prepare a policy brief on workplace outbreak control: review recent case-control analyses, summarise risk reductions from masking and ventilation with effect sizes and confidence intervals, draft recommendations for the health commissioner by Friday afternoon.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft WordMicrosoft PowerPointjob descriptionsO*NET
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The daily work15
Use biological and statistical sciences to understand disease processes
+Analyse the latest clinical, environmental and surveillance datasets to characterise transmission pathways…
Use biological and statistical sciences to understand disease processes
+Analyse the latest clinical, environmental and surveillance datasets to characterise transmission pathways and key drivers of this outbreak, run appropriate inferential models, and produce a methods-and-results draft for the team by Wednesday.
The tools that do the workPythonESRI ArcGISWikipedia
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Centre their research on origin and causes for illness eruption in humans
+Lead an investigation to identify the index exposure and causal factors: interview earliest cases, compile…
Centre their research on origin and causes for illness eruption in humans
+Lead an investigation to identify the index exposure and causal factors: interview earliest cases, compile laboratory and exposure timelines, triangulate with environmental samples and phylogenetic evidence, and write a causal-evidence brief for the incident command within 72 hours.
The tools that do the workSASESCO
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Propose risk preventive measures to health policy organisms
+Develop a ranked set of practical, evidence-based prevention measures for the health authority: estimate…
Propose risk preventive measures to health policy organisms
+Develop a ranked set of practical, evidence-based prevention measures for the health authority: estimate effect sizes from our data, model impact under three implementation scenarios, draft policy-ready recommendations with resource and equity notes for next Tuesday.
The tools that do the workIBM SPSS StatisticsMicrosoft WordESCO
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Supervise research teams and staff
+Meet the research leads, review current study timelines, reassign staff to fill two vacancies, set weekly…
Supervise research teams and staff
+Meet the research leads, review current study timelines, reassign staff to fill two vacancies, set weekly check-ins, and update the project risk register so each team can meet the surveillance deadlines next quarter.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft Officejob descriptionsO*NET
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Write articles for publication in professional journals.
+Draft the manuscript from the outbreak study, convert the methods and results into journal format, request…
Write articles for publication in professional journals.
+Draft the manuscript from the outbreak study, convert the methods and results into journal format, request colleague comments by next Tuesday, and prepare figures and a clean reference list for submission to a peer-reviewed journal.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft WordO*NET
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Identify and analyze public health issues related to foodborne parasitic diseases and their impact on public policies, scientific studies, or surveys.
+Map recent cases, run descriptive analyses to quantify burden, synthesize literature on foodborne parasites'…
Identify and analyze public health issues related to foodborne parasitic diseases and their impact on public policies, scientific studies, or surveys.
+Map recent cases, run descriptive analyses to quantify burden, synthesize literature on foodborne parasites' policy impact, and produce a concise brief with recommendations for the public health advisory committee by the end of the month.
The tools that do the workESRI ArcGISIBM SPSS StatisticsO*NET
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Teach principles of medicine and medical and laboratory procedures to physicians, residents, students, and technicians.
+Prepare a two-hour teaching session covering clinical signs, specimen handling, and lab protocols, assemble…
Teach principles of medicine and medical and laboratory procedures to physicians, residents, students, and technicians.
+Prepare a two-hour teaching session covering clinical signs, specimen handling, and lab protocols, assemble slide handouts and a quick competency checklist, and schedule practice demonstrations with residents next Friday.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft PowerPointO*NET
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Prepare and analyze samples to study effects of drugs, gases, pesticides, or microorganisms on cell structure and tissue.
+Set up the next lab run to test drug and toxin effects on cultured cells, confirm sample labels and controls,…
Prepare and analyze samples to study effects of drugs, gases, pesticides, or microorganisms on cell structure and tissue.
+Set up the next lab run to test drug and toxin effects on cultured cells, confirm sample labels and controls, log procedures in the lab notebook, and produce a results summary for the safety review meeting on Wednesday.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft WordO*NET
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Conduct surveys and interview community members
+Design the community survey questionnaire, train two interviewers on consent and probing, schedule household…
Conduct surveys and interview community members
+Design the community survey questionnaire, train two interviewers on consent and probing, schedule household visits for Saturday, and collate responses into a dataset ready for basic descriptive analysis.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft Exceljob descriptions
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Write grant proposals for research funding
+Draft and polish a 12‑page research grant application on transmission dynamics of urban respiratory…
Write grant proposals for research funding
+Draft and polish a 12‑page research grant application on transmission dynamics of urban respiratory infections, include specific aims, background with recent citations, preliminary data tables, detailed methods, a six‑month budget, and a realistic timeline to submit by Friday to the university grants office.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft WordMicrosoft Exceljob descriptions
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Identify risk factors for disease
+Analyze the cohort dataset to identify independent risk factors for severe disease, run descriptive tables,…
Identify risk factors for disease
+Analyze the cohort dataset to identify independent risk factors for severe disease, run descriptive tables, univariate comparisons, and multivariable regression adjusting for age, sex and comorbidities, then produce a one‑page summary of actionable risk factors for the public health team by Tuesday.
The tools that do the workSASMicrosoft ExcelWikipedia
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Design epidemiological studies
+Design a prospective case‑control study to test vaccine effectiveness: specify inclusion and exclusion…
Design epidemiological studies
+Design a prospective case‑control study to test vaccine effectiveness: specify inclusion and exclusion criteria, sample size justification with power calculations, sampling frame, data collection instruments, and an analysis plan with primary and secondary endpoints to review with the ethics board next Wednesday.
The tools that do the workIBM SPSS StatisticsWikipedia
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Interpret research results
+Interpret the completed trial dataset and write a concise results interpretation: summarize primary and…
Interpret research results
+Interpret the completed trial dataset and write a concise results interpretation: summarize primary and secondary outcome estimates, confidence intervals, subgroup analyses, limitations and public health implications, and draft language for the press release for Friday morning.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft WordSASWikipedia
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Assist in systematic reviews of research
+Assist the team with a systematic review: screen the 450 abstracts for inclusion, extract study…
Assist in systematic reviews of research
+Assist the team with a systematic review: screen the 450 abstracts for inclusion, extract study characteristics and risk of bias into a master table, compute pooled effect sizes where appropriate, and draft the methods section for the review manuscript by next Monday.
The tools that do the workPythonMicrosoft ExcelWikipedia
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Compare treatment effects in clinical trials
+Compare treatment effects across the three randomized trials by standardizing outcome definitions, perform…
Compare treatment effects in clinical trials
+Compare treatment effects across the three randomized trials by standardizing outcome definitions, perform meta‑analysis with heterogeneity assessment and sensitivity analyses, produce forest plots and a one‑page interpretation for the clinical team by Thursday.
The tools that do the workSASMicrosoft PowerPointWikipedia
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Built on public evidence: O*NET®, ESCO, Wikipedia, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, ILOSTAT. All sources & licenses