Geoscience Median Salaries Decline in 2021

PDF versionPDF version

cover of DB-2022-007
Date updated: 2022-06-27
Data Brief 2022-007
Written and compiled by Leila Gonzales and Christopher Keane, AGI

Download Print Version

Overall, geoscience median salaries declined by 2% between 2020 and 2021, lagging other science occupa­tions which increased by 4%, but not other engineering occupations which declined by 4%. The greatest increases in median salaries within the geosciences were geoscience civil engineers (+8%), environmental engineers (+5%), and mining and geological engineers (+4%). The largest declines in salaries were for geosci­entists (-11%), environmental engineering technicians (-6%), and atmospheric and space scientists (-5%).

Salaries for geoscience-related occupations (darker colors in the chart) were generally higher than salaries for broad occupational categories (lighter colors in the chart) except for geoscience engineering technician occupations. Other geoscience-related occupations with lower median salaries than broad occupational categories included cartographers and photogramme­trists, soil and plant scientists, conservation scientists, and environmental science technicians.

Median Annual Salaries of Geoscience Occupations, 2021 (Credit: AGI; data derived from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment Statistics)

Broad occupational categories are shown in lighter colors and geoscience-related occupations are shown in darker colors.

Related Geoscience Currents

Cover of DB-2022-009

State of select technical skills in academic programs and the workforce

November 18, 2022
In 2021 and 2022, the Geoscience COVID-19 Survey asked about the importance of and proficiency with select technical skills to working in the geoscience profession. In our previous data brief (DB-2022-008), we examined study participants’ views on the importance of these skills to the profession....
cover of DB-2022-008

Changes in perceived importance of select technical skills to the geoscience profession

August 22, 2022
In 2021 and 2022, we surveyed participants in the Geoscience COVID-19 Survey about their views on the importance of select technical skills to work­ing in the geoscience profession. Across participant cohorts, the skills rated most important to working in the geoscience profession were data...
cover of DB-2022-006

Responding to the Pandemic through Flexible Working Arrangements

June 17, 2022
Throughout the pandemic, work environments have shifted between virtual, in-person and hybrid scenarios. Remote-first work policies, which allow employees to choose their work location for any given day, have enabled workplaces to more quickly adapt to changing pandemic conditions. Furthermore,...
Cover image of DB-2022-005

COVID-19 Impacts Study: Employment Status of Recent Graduates

May 23, 2022
Of all participants in the Geoscience COVID-19 Impacts study, recent geoscience graduates have been the most vulnerable to employment disruptions during the pandemic. However, the study results indicate that the most recent geoscience graduates have either remained employed or gained employment...
Cover image of Data Brief 2022-004

Pandemic Impacts to Instructional Formats through March 2022

May 6, 2022
Lecture course instructional modes During the pandemic, courses, labs, and field activities have rapidly shifted between online, in-person and hybrid modes of instruction in response to pandemic conditions. With mask mandates easing in early 2022 as the impacts of the Omicron surge waned, there...
Cover of DB-2022-003

COVID-19 Impacts on Geoscience Business Staffing Through 2021

February 14, 2022
Staffing While the rate at which companies expected to increase per­manent staffing grew during the first half of 2021, companies became more cautious from August through October 2021 over concerns of impacts from the Delta variant. Growth expectations returned starting in November and December...