An official website of the United States government
In May 2015, the United States had about 32,000 people employed as geoscientists (not including hydrologists and geographers). Their work involved the study of the composition, structure, and other physical aspects of the Earth. They might use geological, physics, and mathematics knowledge to explore for oil, gas, minerals, or underground water; or in waste disposal, land reclamation, or other environmental problems. On average, the mean annual wages of geoscientists were close to $106,000.
Area | Employment | Mean annual wages |
---|---|---|
United States |
31,800 | $105,720 |
Birmingham-Hoover, AL |
80 | 103,160 |
Anchorage, AK |
350 | 125,810 |
Balance of Alaska nonmetropolitan area |
60 | 90,500 |
Fairbanks, AK |
110 | 81,880 |
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ |
210 | 78,240 |
Tucson, AZ |
70 | 79,720 |
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR |
50 | 57,120 |
Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine, CA Metropolitan Division |
800 | 80,900 |
Bakersfield, CA |
300 | 136,420 |
Fresno, CA |
40 | 97,410 |
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA Metropolitan Division |
580 | 87,690 |
North Coast Region of California nonmetropolitan area |
40 | 78,900 |
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA |
90 | 106,400 |
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA |
220 | 94,980 |
Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA |
420 | 91,090 |
Salinas, CA |
60 | 130,790 |
San Diego-Carlsbad, CA |
430 | 86,220 |
San Francisco-Redwood City-South San Francisco, CA Metropolitan Division |
520 | 111,970 |
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA |
180 | 93,180 |
Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA |
90 | 98,340 |
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA |
60 | 101,620 |
Stockton-Lodi, CA |
60 | 94,010 |
Colorado Springs, CO |
80 | 53,460 |
Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO |
1,800 | 124,340 |
Fort Collins, CO |
70 | 76,010 |
Grand Junction, CO |
90 | 75,320 |
Northwest Colorado nonmetropolitan area |
40 | 113,740 |
Southwest Colorado nonmetropolitan area |
70 | 89,500 |
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT |
40 | 84,260 |
Wilmington, DE-MD-NJ Metropolitan Division |
50 | 91,500 |
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Division |
320 | 120,780 |
Jacksonville, FL |
50 | 90,100 |
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL |
40 | 104,250 |
Tallahassee, FL |
70 | 59,060 |
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL |
250 | 90,760 |
West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Delray Beach, FL Metropolitan Division |
60 | 83,150 |
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA |
230 | 63,900 |
Savannah, GA |
50 | 73,260 |
Urban Honolulu, HI |
50 | 98,450 |
Boise City, ID |
50 | 69,160 |
Southeast Idaho nonmetropolitan area |
60 | 71,370 |
Champaign-Urbana, IL |
60 | 72,230 |
Chicago-Naperville-Arlington Heights, IL Metropolitan Division |
180 | 90,270 |
Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN |
160 | 56,710 |
Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA |
30 | 73,290 |
Topeka, KS |
40 | 55,940 |
Wichita, KS |
90 | 77,490 |
Central Kentucky nonmetropolitan area |
70 | 57,540 |
Lexington-Fayette, KY |
100 | 65,830 |
Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN |
50 | 78,980 |
Baton Rouge, LA |
170 | 71,650 |
Lafayette, LA |
310 | 101,440 |
New Orleans-Metairie, LA |
320 | 123,780 |
Portland-South Portland, ME |
60 | 64,190 |
Southwest Maine nonmetropolitan area |
40 | 67,450 |
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD |
210 | 70,350 |
Silver Spring-Frederick-Rockville, MD Metropolitan Division |
150 | 117,580 |
Barnstable Town, MA |
50 | 97,440 |
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA NECTA Division |
50 | 73,750 |
Lansing-East Lansing, MI |
60 | 61,580 |
Northwest Lower Peninsula of Michigan nonmetropolitan area |
30 | 93,440 |
Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, MI Metropolitan Division |
80 | 91,370 |
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI |
190 | 76,470 |
Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, MS |
260 | 94,030 |
Jackson, MS |
50 | 57,860 |
Kansas City, MO-KS |
100 | 85,590 |
St. Louis, MO-IL |
40 | 67,490 |
Billings, MT |
90 | 101,470 |
Central Montana nonmetropolitan area |
50 | 86,420 |
Southwest Montana nonmetropolitan area |
100 | 87,290 |
Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA |
90 | 71,170 |
Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV |
230 | 76,820 |
North Nevada nonmetropolitan area |
360 | 99,970 |
Reno, NV |
230 | 110,960 |
Manchester, NH |
30 | 87,280 |
Camden, NJ Metropolitan Division |
50 | 69,530 |
Newark, NJ-PA Metropolitan Division |
130 | 86,930 |
Trenton, NJ |
60 | 82,300 |
Albuquerque, NM |
120 | 82,060 |
Eastern New Mexico nonmetropolitan area |
120 | 142,130 |
Santa Fe, NM |
50 | 62,250 |
Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY |
210 | 70,930 |
Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, NY |
90 | 79,960 |
Nassau County-Suffolk County, NY Metropolitan Division |
100 | 64,080 |
New York-Jersey City-White Plains, NY-NJ Metropolitan Division |
580 | 83,060 |
Rochester, NY |
70 | 82,540 |
Syracuse, NY |
30 | 79,760 |
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC |
130 | 75,210 |
Raleigh, NC |
200 | 83,430 |
Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN |
90 | 65,200 |
Cleveland-Elyria, OH |
40 | 80,460 |
Columbus, OH |
110 | 65,920 |
Northeast Oklahoma nonmetropolitan area |
120 | 130,770 |
Northwest Oklahoma nonmetropolitan area |
80 | 107,870 |
Oklahoma City, OK |
530 | 103,920 |
Tulsa, OK |
260 | 154,320 |
Corvallis, OR |
40 | 84,300 |
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA |
310 | 71,200 |
Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA |
130 | 71,570 |
Montgomery County-Bucks County-Chester County, PA Metropolitan Division |
200 | 79,070 |
Northern Pennsylvania nonmetropolitan area |
40 | 56,940 |
Pittsburgh, PA |
330 | 90,600 |
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre--Hazleton, PA |
50 | 62,760 |
Providence-Warwick, RI-MA |
110 | 68,560 |
Charleston-North Charleston, SC |
50 | 107,100 |
Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin, SC |
30 | 100,060 |
Abilene, TX |
40 | 83,400 |
Knoxville, TN |
70 | 78,920 |
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN |
90 | 66,520 |
Austin-Round Rock, TX |
450 | 84,800 |
College Station-Bryan, TX |
110 | 74,690 |
Corpus Christi, TX |
130 | 100,560 |
Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX Metropolitan Division |
460 | 134,070 |
Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metropolitan Division |
340 | 85,500 |
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX |
6,140 | 157,750 |
Midland, TX |
460 | 163,750 |
North Texas Region of Texas nonmetropolitan area |
50 | 102,130 |
San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX |
240 | 92,310 |
Eastern Utah nonmetropolitan area |
50 | 57,330 |
Salt Lake City, UT |
140 | 86,060 |
Charlottesville, VA |
50 | 56,800 |
Richmond, VA |
70 | 57,390 |
Bellingham, WA |
30 | 83,810 |
Kennewick-Richland, WA |
80 | 98,060 |
Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA Metropolitan Division |
770 | 85,790 |
Tacoma-Lakewood, WA Metropolitan Division |
40 | 82,670 |
Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH |
40 | 62,370 |
Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI |
70 | 74,300 |
Casper, WY |
40 | 80,690 |
Central-Southeast Wyoming nonmetropolitan area |
50 | 67,480 |
Cheyenne, WY |
30 | 61,410 |
Northwest Wyoming nonmetropolitan area |
30 | 94,220 |
Over 6,000 geoscientists were employed in the Houston, Texas, area; their average annual wages were nearly $158,000. Another 1,800 geoscientists worked in the Denver, Colorado, area, earning $124,000 per year. Other areas in Texas, California, Oklahoma, Washington, and New York also were home to large numbers of people employed as geoscientists.
Midland, Texas, was the area with the highest average wages for geoscientists, nearly $164,000 per year. Other metropolitan areas with the high average wages for geoscientists were in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, California, Oklahoma, and Alaska.
To learn more, see Geoscientists in the Occupational Outlook Handbook. Also see Interview with a Geophysicist in Career Outlook. Employment and wage estimates shown in the chart are from the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) program; for more OES estimates, see Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers. OES estimates do not include the self-employed.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Employment and earnings of geoscientists at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2016/employment-and-wages-of-geoscientists.htm (visited November 08, 2024).