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Job outlook for environmental assistants in the United States
Are environmental assistant jobs in demand?
Environmental Assistant job and salary trends over time
Environmental Assistant jobs over time
Environmental Assistant job growth rate over time
| Year | # Of Jobs | % Of Population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 562 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 558 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 573 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 535 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 539 | 0.00% |
Average environmental assistant salary over time
Environmental Assistant salary by year
| Year | Avg. Salary | Hourly Rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $33,901 | $16.30 | +0.4% |
| 2024 | $33,754 | $16.23 | +3.2% |
| 2023 | $32,711 | $15.73 | +1.5% |
| 2022 | $32,229 | $15.49 | +2.9% |
| 2021 | $31,308 | $15.05 | +2.7% |
Environmental Assistant jobs by state
Most common states for environmental assistants
| Rank | State | Population | # of Jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alaska | 739,795 | 84 | 11% |
| 2 | North Dakota | 755,393 | 80 | 11% |
| 3 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 69 | 10% |
| 4 | Maine | 1,335,907 | 112 | 8% |
| 5 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 424 | 6% |
| 6 | Connecticut | 3,588,184 | 200 | 6% |
| 7 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 59 | 6% |
| 8 | Wyoming | 579,315 | 32 | 6% |
| 9 | Ohio | 11,658,609 | 572 | 5% |
| 10 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 296 | 5% |
| 11 | Wisconsin | 5,795,483 | 292 | 5% |
| 12 | Iowa | 3,145,711 | 167 | 5% |
| 13 | Nebraska | 1,920,076 | 103 | 5% |
| 14 | West Virginia | 1,815,857 | 90 | 5% |
| 15 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 66 | 5% |
| 16 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 356 | 4% |
| 17 | New Jersey | 9,005,644 | 334 | 4% |
| 18 | Washington | 7,405,743 | 332 | 4% |
| 19 | Idaho | 1,716,943 | 72 | 4% |
| 20 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 46 | 4% |
Most common cities for environmental assistants
| Rank | City | # of Jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hartford | 4 | 3% | $28,106 |
| 2 | Indianapolis | 2 | 0% | $27,564 |
| 3 | Atlanta | 1 | 0% | $26,537 |
| 4 | Fresno | 1 | 0% | $47,051 |
| 5 | Greensboro | 1 | 0% | $31,701 |
Environmental Assistant job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of environmental assistant experts
North Carolina State University
West Virginia Wesleyan College
Concordia University
Frederick Cubbage
ProfessorNorth Carolina State University
Environmental/Natural Resources Management And Policy
What Environmental Assistant skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Frederick Cubbage: People who either want to work outside and fulfill their passion for natural systems and environments and often are attracted to natural resources.
What will help Environmental Assistants increase their earning potential?
Aaron Haines Ph.D., Certified Wildlife Biologist ®: Learn to be a team player and be reliable enough to complete tasks by yourself. Make sure your online presence is one of a professional in your field. Potential employers will search you out online. Have these searches lead to the professional you. The ecology and environmental biology fields are competitive. As a growing professional in these fields, you will begin with lower salaries compared to biology majors in other fields such as the medical, pharmaceutical, and research lab professions. Most government organizations that deal with ecology-based issues, such as natural resources or environmental monitoring, have lower budgets compared to other government departments. Also, non-government organizations that work in these fields are mainly non-profit. The best way to get into these competitive fields is via internships and temporary positions. Experience is key. Temporary positions are low pay, but they provide the building blocks of experience to get you more permanent and better pay positions or entry into graduate school with an assistantship. Graduate assistantships provide opportunities for graduate students to get paid, have benefits, and have tuition covered. That is a good deal. Look for jobs in places you would never think to look. Examples of unique employers in these fields include private consulting organizations, research labs doing environmental work, and Department of Defense.
What general advice would you give to an Environmental Assistant?
Aaron Haines Ph.D., Certified Wildlife Biologist ®: Having more technical skill sets can help you get entry level positions that can lead to higher pay positions. These include the ability to extract DNA from biological samples and understand the process of DNA sequencing, be familiar with geographical information systems (GIS) software such as ArcPro, ArcGIS, QGIS, be familiar with programming language such as Phyton and R statical programming, and government policies that impact your field of study.
Be a member of a professional organization and attend their conferences. This will allow you the opportunity to learn from others, network, and meet potential future employers.
Joseph Niederhauser Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of BiologyWest Virginia Wesleyan College
Department of Biology and Environmental Science
What hard/technical skills are most important for Environmental Assistants?
Joseph Niederhauser Ph.D.: Data collection, management, and analysis skills. Specifically, knowing how to design experiments, collect different kinds of data, creating or maintaining a database for samples, and analyzing changes over time or the impact of those data.
Dr. Pascale Biron Ph.D.
ProfessorConcordia University
Department of Geography, Planning and Environment
What soft skills should all Environmental Assistants possess?
Dr. Pascale Biron Ph.D.: Critical thinking skills to:
- understand the underlying processes relevant to environmental and sustainability sciences
- acquire and interpret analytical data
- understand physical processes of our planet and interpret data related to climate change and sustainable environmental management
- assess the situation within a given ecosystem in an integrated fashion
What hard/technical skills are most important for Environmental Assistants?
Dr. Pascale Biron Ph.D.: - Geographical Information Systems, remote sensing, and geospatial data analysis
- Statistics
- Computer programming