Composition of the Public Health Workforce: Distribution, Training, and Tenure.

OBJECTIVE

Describe the public health and job experience of the local public health workforce at the agency level and based on the characteristics of the jurisdictions they serve.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional design of US public health workforce at the agency level using 2019 National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) Profile and 2021 Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey (PH WINS) data.

SETTING

Local health departments across the United States.

PARTICIPANTS

The sample comprised 248 Local Health Departments (LHDs).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The percent of the workforce with formal training in public health, percent of the workforce that identifies as women, percent of the workforce with 6 or more years of experience in public health practice, and percent of the workforce with 6 or more years of experience in their current agency.

RESULTS

Rural-serving LHDs had a greater staffing proportion of women, less formal public health training, and a smaller proportion of staff with 6 or more years of public health practice experience. Gender identity and formal public health training of the top executive of the LHD are correlated with staffing proportions on these measures.

CONCLUSIONS

The local public health workforce composition varies by geography, agency characteristics, and characteristics of the jurisdiction served. Rurality and characteristics of the top executive of the LHD are correlated with the composition of the public health workforce.