Objective To investigate the determinants of starting salaries among master of public health (MPH) graduates, thereby giving insights for enhancing career outcomes.

Methods The data from the National Survey of Educational Satisfaction among Medical Graduates (June–July 2022) were used to analyze the starting salaries of 495 employed MPH graduates from 54 colleges and universities across China. Unpaired binary logistic regression was adopted to identify the factors influencing starting salaries, while Shapley value decomposition was employed to quantify the relative contribution of each variable.

Results Geographic location of employment, employer type, annual household income per capita, and gender were primary determinants of starting salaries. Compared with the graduates employed in eastern China, those in central China had 0.17 times the odds of securing higher starting salaries (95%CI: 0.09–0.33), while those in western China had 0.33 times the odds (95%CI: 0.21–0.52). Graduates employed at centers for disease control and prevention (CDCs) had 0.34 times the odds of securing higher starting salaries relative to those at comprehensive hospitals (95%CI: 0.21–0.55). Graduates from high-income households exhibited 1.68 times the odds of securing higher starting salaries than those from low-income households (95%CI: 1.12–2.54). Male graduates had 1.67 times the odds of securing higher starting salaries compared with female graduates (95%CI: 1.06–2.66). Shapley value decomposition revealed that structural factors of the labor market accounted for 83.50% of starting salary disparities. The contribution of employer type (42.75%) exceeded that of geographic location of employment (40.75%).

Conclusions Structural factors of the labor market predominantly influence the starting salaries of MPH graduates, with employer type exerting a stronger effect than geographic location of employment. Annual household income per capita and gender also significantly impact starting salaries.