The state of Wisconsin spent more than $74.8 million on public health in fiscal year 2013-14. In addition, the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) invested more than $92.1 million, while the Health Resources and Services Administration contributed an additional $85.2 million to the state that year.
This spending has a direct impact on developing new public health programs in the state, and contributes to higher salaries and better job opportunities for the state’s public health professionals:
- While the state’s epidemiologists monitor a number of diseases, pertussis is of particular concern. In 2014, 65 of Wisconsin’s 72 counties reported cases of this disease, and the incidence was the highest in the country that year.
- Environmental health specialists in Wisconsin monitor four types of contaminants in drinking water: arsenic, nitrates, trihalomethane, and haloacetic acid. They will soon be broadening the range of toxins they examine.
- The Healthiest Wisconsin 2020 plan has the goals of improving health and eliminating health disparities. Stakeholders throughout Wisconsin contributed to this plan, including state and local public health officials, those with non-governmental organizations, healthcare providers, and academic researchers.
The state’s flagship agency for public health is the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, which works to improve health in the state through advocating prevention, monitoring infectious diseases and environmental health hazards, and providing policy advice to the legislature.
A Look at Public Health Salaries in Milwaukee
The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development provides the salaries for a number of public health occupational classifications found in the Milwaukee metropolitan statistical area in 2013.
Highly educated public health professionals such as those with a Master of Public Health are likely to have the experience to earn the higher salaries shown here:
A Salary Analysis of Public Health Professionals Statewide
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics provides a detailed breakdown by percentile of the hourly wages and annual salaries for public health professionals who were employed throughout Wisconsin in 2014:
