Find a Job You Really Want In
Without fail, in surveys across basically every demographic, the number one most important aspect of a job for most people is the salary — how much do environmental scientists get paid where I live?
And while there are many things to go into how much you, specifically, can expect to make, there’s really good data for average salaries for environmental scientists by state across America broken down by seniority level. So while your city may be slightly different than the state average, these averages give you a rough sense of what to expect for your salary.
The state with the best salary for environmental scientists after this adjustment? That would be Environmental Scientists And Specialists, Including Health.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten states for environmental scientist salaries:
To better understand how environmental scientist salaries change across America, we decided to take a look the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on average pay for environmental scientists by state.
Additionally, we wanted to adjust the salary based on the cost of living in a state — because your salary goes further in North Carolina than it does in California.
Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of all the states.
How we determined environmental scientist pay by state
As we mentioned earlier, we took the average annual salary data for environmental scientists from the Bureau of Labor Statistics — specifically their ‘Occupational Employment Statistics.’
To make the comparison of salaries apples to apples across states, we also took into account the cost of living in each state.
We then created an index by dividing the average wage for a state by the cost of living relative to average. As an example, the cost of living index in California is 135.9 and the average pay is $94350, so our index value would be:
$94,350 * (100 / 135.9) = $69,426
We then ranked every state on this criteria with the state with the highest salary index ranking as highest average salary for environmental scientists.
Here’s a look at the full ranking for all states.
Detailed List Of Environmental Scientist Salaries By State
| Rank | State | Adjusted Salary | Average Wage | Cost Of Living |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Illinois | $96,205 | $91,010 | 94.6 |
| 2 | Michigan | $89,831 | $79,950 | 89.0 |
| 3 | Texas | $86,471 | $78,430 | 90.7 |
| 4 | Colorado | $85,732 | $88,990 | 103.8 |
| 5 | Virginia | $83,680 | $84,350 | 100.8 |
| 6 | Louisiana | $83,227 | $78,900 | 94.8 |
| 7 | New Mexico | $82,507 | $79,620 | 96.5 |
| 8 | Washington | $82,233 | $86,510 | 105.2 |
| 9 | Minnesota | $81,706 | $82,360 | 100.8 |
| 10 | Ohio | $80,660 | $75,660 | 93.8 |
| 11 | Idaho | $79,793 | $73,490 | 92.1 |
| 12 | New Jersey | $78,802 | $96,060 | 121.9 |
| 13 | Kansas | $78,709 | $70,760 | 89.9 |
| 14 | Arkansas | $78,438 | $68,320 | 87.1 |
| 15 | Georgia | $78,424 | $71,680 | 91.4 |
| 16 | Iowa | $77,923 | $70,910 | 91.0 |
| 17 | Wisconsin | $77,179 | $74,710 | 96.8 |
| 18 | Oklahoma | $76,905 | $68,600 | 89.2 |
| 19 | Tennessee | $76,800 | $68,660 | 89.4 |
| 20 | Utah | $76,473 | $71,120 | 93.0 |
| 21 | Wyoming | $75,827 | $69,610 | 91.8 |
| 22 | North Carolina | $75,644 | $71,030 | 93.9 |
| 23 | West Virginia | $74,925 | $69,980 | 93.4 |
| 24 | Pennsylvania | $73,708 | $74,740 | 101.4 |
| 25 | Alabama | $73,355 | $66,900 | 91.2 |
| 26 | Massachusetts | $71,791 | $95,770 | 133.4 |
| 27 | Oregon | $71,704 | $82,890 | 115.6 |
| 28 | Indiana | $71,675 | $64,150 | 89.5 |
| 29 | Nebraska | $71,659 | $65,640 | 91.6 |
| 30 | New Hampshire | $69,931 | $81,820 | 117.0 |
| 31 | California | $69,426 | $94,350 | 135.9 |
| 32 | Montana | $68,898 | $69,450 | 100.8 |
| 33 | Rhode Island | $68,873 | $83,130 | 120.7 |
| 34 | New York | $68,709 | $90,010 | 131.0 |
| 35 | Nevada | $68,393 | $70,650 | 103.3 |
| 36 | Arizona | $67,744 | $66,390 | 98.0 |
| 37 | South Carolina | $67,338 | $66,800 | 99.2 |
| 38 | Connecticut | $66,499 | $84,920 | 127.7 |
| 39 | Alaska | $65,758 | $86,210 | 131.1 |
| 40 | Kentucky | $65,049 | $58,870 | 90.5 |
| 41 | Maryland | $64,565 | $81,030 | 125.5 |
| 42 | North Dakota | $63,490 | $63,110 | 99.4 |
| 43 | Florida | $63,011 | $61,940 | 98.3 |
| 44 | Mississippi | $62,083 | $53,330 | 85.9 |
| 45 | South Dakota | $60,665 | $62,910 | 103.7 |
| 46 | Maine | $60,018 | $66,500 | 110.8 |
| 47 | Vermont | $59,702 | $72,300 | 121.1 |
| 48 | Delaware | $56,834 | $57,630 | 101.4 |
| 49 | Hawaii | $44,556 | $74,810 | 167.9 |
Author
Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.
