Do People Get Paid for Being Humanitarians?

by Naomi Millburn
Paid or unpaid, compassion is a prerequisite for humanitarian work.

Paid or unpaid, compassion is a prerequisite for humanitarian work.

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Some individuals feel the strong desire to assist their fellow humans, particularly in times of need and suffering. These people are commonly referred to as humanitarians. If seeing the well-being and joy of others drives you, you might even want to make a career out of it.

Paid Humanitarian Jobs

Some people do indeed get paid for being humanitarians. If you choose to pursue a career in the humanitarian field, whether through the government, a nonprofit organization or anything else, you can indeed receive an annual salary just as with any other type of job. If you work with an entity that focuses on humanitarian relief, you might find yourself spending your workdays concentrating on goals such as promoting access to clean water in certain parts of the world or helping people who are living with communicable diseases like tuberculosis.

Humanitarian Salary Range

Salaries for humanitarians run the gamut. Entry-level workers in the humanitarian field often make $25,000 annually, while employees in upper-management positions sometimes make $100,000 or more a year, according to the University of Colorado Boulder's Career Services division. Individuals who work high-level positions for nonprofit humanitarian organizations sometimes earn between $200,000 and $300,000 annually.

Salary Factors

When it comes to salaries for humanitarians across the board, many factors come into play, from the specific position of the employee to the extensiveness of the affiliation. People with more experience in humanitarian work typically receive higher salaries. People with particularly perilous positions out in the field also sometimes receive higher pay, as they place their health and well-being into jeopardy.

Volunteer Humanitarians

While many people do get paid for their work as humanitarians, not all of them do. It's extremely common for humanitarians to simply volunteer their time and efforts, too. If you're interested in helping others but don't want to make it your full-time job, you have a variety of options, from lending a helping hand to those in your region affected by catastrophic hurricanes to serving at your local soup kitchen on weekends. You can even consider volunteering at a humanitarian organization as a way of possibly landing al paying position in the future. Many college students pursue unpaid internships for this purpose.

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