For more than 20 years, CSTE has regularly conducted Epidemiology Capacity Assessments (ECAs) to track the state of our applied epi workforce in state and territorial health departments. These assessments illustrate what—or rather, who—is needed to respond to emerging health threats, and where we’re at risk of falling behind.

The latest ECA, our eighth overall, was just released and reflects data gathered from January–April 2024. Spoiler alert: The number of applied epidemiologists working today will drop drastically once COVID-19 era funding runs out.

As always, the lessons learned from the ECA are paramount to CSTE’s outreach and education efforts towards policymakers. For example, data from past ECAs have been shared as testimony in Congressional hearings to support greater funding for epidemiologists in public health.

The ECA also helps us monitor changes in the applied epidemiology workforce, including the number of epidemiologists presently working, the number of epidemiologists still needed, and the skills most sought after in state, Tribal, local, and territorial (STLT) health departments.

We encourage you to take a deep dive into the findings and recommendations of the latest ECA here. But for now, here’s a quick summary of the top takeaways:

What We Have

For the first time, we have data from all 50 states, D.C., and territories! A total of 5,706 epidemiologists work in the 50 states and D.C., a 38% increase over the 4,135 reported in 2021.  

What We'll Lose

If federal pandemic-era funding expires as planned, state health departments could lose 1,020 epidemiologists—nearly one-fifth of the current epidemiology workforce.

What We Need

State Epidemiologists said they need nearly 2,537 additional epidemiologists to reach full capacity in the three Essential Public Health Services (EPHS). This would be a 44% increase over current levels, for a total of 8,243 epidemiologists.

We are on the cusp of losing all the gains in the applied epi workforce that have occurred during COVID-19. And in 2024, 83% of funds for state and territorial epidemiology activities were provided by the federal government. These two points alone mean that flexible, diverse funding is needed for our workforce, which will allow agencies to prioritize jurisdictional needs, enhance job security, and respond proactively to the next public health emergency.

For further reading, check out Big Cities Health Coalition (BCHC)’s local Epidemiology Capacity Assessment, also released today. The ECA was tailored for big city health department use and administered to the 35 BCHC jurisdictions.