Environmental scientists & geoscientists

Detailed Occupation

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2017 Workforce

71.4k

Average Age

Average Salary

$93,499

Average Male Salary

$103,319

Average Female Salary

$72,902

About

Environmental scientists & geoscientists are most often employed by the Administration of environmental quality & housing programs industry. The average yearly wage for Environmental scientists & geoscientists was $93,499 in 2016. The top 3 most similar occupations to Environmental scientists & geoscientists by wage are Firstline supervisors of fire fighting & prevention workers, Financial examiners, and Medical scientists, & life scientists, all other.

Environmental scientists & geoscientists are part of the Life, physical, & social science occupations, along with Agricultural & food scientists, Biological scientists, Conservation scientists & foresters, Medical scientists, & life scientists, all other, Astronomers & physicists, and 17 more.

The top 3 locations that employ the most Environmental scientists & geoscientists are Montgomery County (South)The Woodlands (North) PUMA, TX, South of I-10 & Inside Loop I-610 PUMA, TX, and East of TX-6 & West of Beltway TX-8 PUMA, TX (79500US4804636). The top 3 locations with a relatively high concentration of Environmental scientists & geoscientists are Montgomery County (South)The Woodlands (North) PUMA, TX, South of I-10 & Inside Loop I-610 PUMA, TX, and East of TX-6 & West of Beltway TX-8 PUMA, TX (79500US4804636).

Management, business, science, & arts occupations Computer, engineering, & science occupations Life, physical, & social science occupations

Information on the businesses and industries that employ Environmental scientists & geoscientists and on wages and locations for those in the field. Administration of environmental quality & housing programs is the industry that employs the most Environmental scientists & geoscientists, both by share and by number, though the highest paid industry for Environmental scientists & geoscientists, by average wage, is Gasoline stations. Environmental scientists & geoscientists are paid most in North of I-30 PUMA, TX (79500US4802313) but are relatively concentrated in Montgomery County (South)The Woodlands (North) PUMA, TX.

Wages

Yearly Wage

$93,499

AVERAGE SALARY

± $7,590

In 2017, Environmental scientists & geoscientists earned an average of $93,499, $37,545 more than than the average national salary of $55,954.

Firstline supervisors of fire fighting & prevention workers make somewhat more than Environmental scientists & geoscientists while Medical scientists, & life scientists, all other make somewhat less. This chart shows the various occupations closest to Environmental scientists & geoscientists as measured by average annual salary in the US.

Wage Distribution

0.394

WAGE GINI

In 2015, Environmental scientists & geoscientists had a wage GINI coefficient of 0.394, which is lower than than the national average of 0.478. In other words, wages are distributed more evenly for Environmental scientists & geoscientists (shown in red) than for the overall labor force (shown in gray).

Wage by Location

HIGHEST PAYING PUMAS

This map shows the Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) in the United States shaded by average annual wage for Environmental scientists & geoscientists.

Spatial Concentration

PUMAs with a Relatively High Concentration of Environmental scientists & geoscientists

This map displays which Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) in the United States have a relatively high population of Environmental scientists & geoscientists.

Industries

Most Common

The most common industries employing Environmental scientists & geoscientists, by number of employees, are Administration of environmental quality & housing programs, Architectural, engineering & related services, Management, scientific & technical consulting services, Support activities for mining, Oil & gas extraction, Scientific research & development services, Colleges, universities & professional schools, including junior colleges, Water, steam, air-conditioning, & irrigation systems, Administration of human resource programs, Administration of economic programs & space research, and Petroleum refining.

Highest Paying

The highest paying industries for Environmental scientists & geoscientists, by average wage, are Gasoline stations, Oil & gas extraction, and Petroleum & petroleum products merchant wholesalers.

Industries by Share

71.4k

2017 Workforce

± 6,559

−0.722%

1 YEAR GROWTH

± 13.1%

The number of people employed as Environmental scientists & geoscientists has been declining at a rate of −0.722%, from 71,932 people in 2016 to 71,413 people in 2017.

This graphic shows the share of Environmental scientists & geoscientists employed by various industries. Administration of environmental quality & housing programs employs the largest share of Environmental scientists & geoscientists at 21.4%, followed by Architectural, engineering & related services with 16% and Management, scientific & technical consulting services with 14%.

Diversity

Demographic information on Environmental scientists & geoscientists in the US. The average age of male Environmental scientists & geoscientists in the workforce is 44.9 and of female Environmental scientists & geoscientists is 39.1, and the most common race/ethnicity for Environmental scientists & geoscientists is White (Non-Hispanic).

Composition by Sex

48.4k

MALE WORKFORCE

± 5,398

23.1k

FEMALE WORKFORCE

± 3,728

67.7% of Environmental scientists & geoscientists are Male, making them the more common sex in the occupation. This chart shows the sex breakdown of Environmental scientists & geoscientists.

Race & Ethnicity

Most Common Race or Ethnicity of Environmental scientists & geoscientists

White (Non-Hispanic)
Asian (Non-Hispanic)
White (Hispanic)

84.5% of Environmental scientists & geoscientists are White (Non-Hispanic), making that the most common race or ethnicity in the occupation. Representing 5.18% of Environmental scientists & geoscientists, Asian (Non-Hispanic) is the second most common race or ethnicity in this occupation. This chart shows the racial and ethnic breakdown of Environmental scientists & geoscientists.

Age by Sex

44.9

AVERAGE MALE AGE

± 1.47

39.1

AVERAGE FEMALE AGE

± 1.85

The median age of Environmental scientists & geoscientists is 43, and Male employees are generally 5.82 years older than than their Female counterparts.

Education

Data on higher education choices for Environmental scientists & geoscientists from The Department of Education and Census Bureau. The most common major for Environmental scientists & geoscientists is Physical Sciences but a relatively high number of Environmental scientists & geoscientists hold a major in Physical Sciences.

Majors

ACS PUMS data only shows the major for bachelor's degrees. However, we can filter the data based on highest degree obtained.

MOST COMMON MAJORS

MOST SPECIALIZED MAJORS

Skills

Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for Environmental scientists & geoscientists from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Environmental scientists & geoscientists need many skills, but most especially Reading Comprehension and Science. The revealed comparative advantage (RCA) shows that Environmental scientists & geoscientists need more than the average amount of Science, Programming, and Operations Analysis.