Environmental scientists & geoscientists

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2017 Workforce

69.2k

Average Age

43.1

Average Salary

$88,811

Average Male Salary

$95,978

Average Female Salary

$74,777

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 $88,811 in 2016. The top 3 most similar occupations to Environmental scientists & geoscientists by wage are Firstline supervisors of nonretail sales workers, Public relations & fundraising managers, and Industrial production managers.

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 San Diego City (Southwest/Central Coastal) PUMA, CA, Inner Cape Cod Towns & Barnstable Town City PUMA, MA, and Centre County PUMA, PA. The top 3 locations with a relatively high concentration of Environmental scientists & geoscientists are South of Aldine & Inside Beltway TX-8 PUMA, TX, Inner Cape Cod Towns & Barnstable Town City PUMA, MA, and San Diego City (Southwest/Central Coastal) PUMA, CA.

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 Oil & gas extraction. Environmental scientists & geoscientists are paid most in East of TX-6 & West of Beltway TX-8 PUMA, TX (79500US4804636) but are relatively concentrated in South of Aldine & Inside Beltway TX-8 PUMA, TX.

Wages

Yearly Wage

$88,811

AVERAGE SALARY

± $6,677

In 2017, Environmental scientists & geoscientists earned an average of $88,811, $33,287 more than than the average national salary of $55,524.

Firstline supervisors of nonretail sales workers make somewhat more than Environmental scientists & geoscientists while Public relations & fundraising managers 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

0.403

WAGE GINI

In 2015, Environmental scientists & geoscientists had a wage GINI coefficient of 0.403, 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, Petroleum refining, Administration of economic programs & space research, Executive offices & legislative bodies, Electric power generation, transmission & distribution, and Metal ore mining.

Highest Paying

The highest paying industries for Environmental scientists & geoscientists, by average wage, are Oil & gas extraction, Petroleum refining, and Management of companies & enterprises.

Industries by Share

69.2k

2017 Workforce

± 6,456

−5.36%

1 YEAR GROWTH

± 13.8%

The number of people employed as Environmental scientists & geoscientists has been declining at a rate of −5.36%, from 73,099 people in 2016 to 69,183 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 22.1%, followed by Architectural, engineering & related services with 16.4% and Management, scientific & technical consulting services with 13.4%.

Diversity

Demographic information on Environmental scientists & geoscientists in the US. The average age of male Environmental scientists & geoscientists in the workforce is 45.1 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

45.8k

MALE WORKFORCE

± 5,253

23.4k

FEMALE WORKFORCE

± 3,754

66.2% 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)

83.4% of Environmental scientists & geoscientists are White (Non-Hispanic), making that the most common race or ethnicity in the occupation. Representing 5.3% 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

45.1

AVERAGE MALE AGE

± 1.52

39.1

AVERAGE FEMALE AGE

± 1.85

The median age of Environmental scientists & geoscientists is 43.1, and Male employees are generally 6 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.