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Job outlook for weather anchors in the United States
Are weather anchor jobs in demand?
Weather anchor job and salary trends over time
Weather anchor jobs over time
Weather anchor job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,105 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 1,176 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 1,247 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 3,577 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 3,462 | 0.00% |
Average weather anchor salary over time
Weather anchor salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $72,921 | $35.06 | +3.5% |
| 2025 | $70,447 | $33.87 | +3.0% |
| 2024 | $68,425 | $32.90 | +6.3% |
| 2023 | $64,363 | $30.94 | +11.0% |
| 2022 | $57,989 | $27.88 | --13.5% |
Weather anchor jobs by state
Most common states for weather anchors
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Dakota | 755,393 | 7 | 1% |
| 2 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 7 | 1% |
| 3 | Vermont | 623,657 | 4 | 1% |
| 4 | Wyoming | 579,315 | 4 | 1% |
| 5 | Alaska | 739,795 | 4 | 1% |
| 6 | North Carolina | 10,273,419 | 21 | 0% |
| 7 | Michigan | 9,962,311 | 19 | 0% |
| 8 | Pennsylvania | 12,805,537 | 17 | 0% |
| 9 | Illinois | 12,802,023 | 13 | 0% |
| 10 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 13 | 0% |
| 11 | Wisconsin | 5,795,483 | 12 | 0% |
| 12 | Iowa | 3,145,711 | 11 | 0% |
| 13 | Kansas | 2,913,123 | 9 | 0% |
| 14 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 8 | 0% |
| 15 | West Virginia | 1,815,857 | 7 | 0% |
| 16 | Maine | 1,335,907 | 3 | 0% |
| 17 | Connecticut | 3,588,184 | 3 | 0% |
| 18 | Idaho | 1,716,943 | 3 | 0% |
| 19 | New Jersey | 9,005,644 | 1 | 0% |
| 20 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 0 | 0% |
Most common cities for weather anchors
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Terre Haute | 1 | 2% | $86,816 |
| 2 | Baltimore | 1 | 0% | $91,469 |
| 3 | Fresno | 1 | 0% | $79,368 |
| 4 | Washington | 1 | 0% | $90,691 |
Weather Anchor job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of weather anchor experts
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Louisiana State University and A&M College
Florida Institute of Technology
Ohio State University
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Maryland
University of Washington
TruWeather Solutions
Florida State University
What general advice would you give to a Weather Anchor?
Dr. Chris Karmosky: I think one thing that most meteorologists share is the passion for learning about and communicating about the weather. Many of us have been fascinated by the weather from a very young age. From heavy snowfall to tornadoes and hurricanes, the power of the weather is undeniable. And while we would never wish for destruction, severe weather is awe-inspiring. Forecasting the weather is predicting the future—it’s not an easy task and it’s a wonder that we are as good at this as we are. Meteorologists get near-instant feedback on their skills. We can see if our forecasts from yesterday were correct, and can adjust accordingly moving forward. Few professions allow for that kind of learning opportunity on a daily basis. Only two drawbacks come to mind in our profession: shift work and the small vocal minority of the public that have unrealistic expectations or are pushing political agendas. Because weather information is collected at all hours, and many people look to morning weather forecasts to plan their day, it is important for meteorologists to keep working throughout the night to provide the most up-to-date information. So working the midnight shift for the National Weather Service or waking up at 2AM to prepare for the morning news is a fact of life for some. That life is not for everyone! While I am shielded from much of this as an academic, my colleagues and former students who on TV do report back some negative interactions with the broader public. While they say most of their interactions are positive, there are some who do make nasty comments over social media if the rain/snow line is off by 10 miles, or they don’t believe humans are changing the climate, or just don’t like the cut or color of the dress someone wears on TV. So one has to develop a thick skin if they want to be on TV. But overall the positives far outweigh the negatives and it is an exciting, rewarding and incredibly important field for our students to be entering!
What Weather Anchor skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dr. Chris Karmosky: Meteorology is a good profession to enter now for several reasons. We are starting to see some of the more severe impacts of climate change come to light, and meteorologists serve a vital role in the protection of life and property during severe weather events. These events include enhanced flooding from ever-stronger rainfall, more intense and frequent hurricanes, water management difficulties due to prolonged severe drought, and the risks posed by sustained heat waves. Meteorologists communicate these risks to both stakeholders and the broader public. At the same time the world is facing these risks, the meteorological community is making great strides with forecast modeling. Nearly all hurricane landfall forecasts have been correct within 50 miles over the last 5 years—this was not true 20 years ago! People entering the field today will be instrumental to incorporating further advances in incorporating artificial intelligence into forecasting. We are certainly not at the point yet where AI can entirely supplant humans at creating weather forecasts. Meteorologists add important local knowledge of the regions they serve, will still need to quality check AI model output, and will still be necessary to collect and synthesize the data that goes into AI and traditional computer models. So it is certainly an exciting time of technological transition.
What will help Weather Anchors increase their earning potential?
Dr. Chris Karmosky: A meteorologist will take on a variety of tasks depending on the exact position. Meteorologists are not just the people you see on TV—they work in private sector forecasting, for local, state and federal government, the military, aviation industry, as well as in academia. Typically meteorologists are tasked with some kind of forecasting, using their knowledge of what’s happening in the atmosphere, computer models and increasingly AI algorithms to predict what weather conditions will be. Because weather is ever-changing, these forecasts are updated as new information comes in during the day as well as overnight. Job duties for someone just entering the field may require things like forecast verification (seeing how well past forecasts pan out), using software to produce forecasts of temperature and precipitation over some region of interest, installing and maintaining weather observing equipment, or collecting and analyzing data from ground stations and weather balloons.
Steve Nesbitt
Professor and HeadUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Atmospheric Sciences And Meteorology
What Weather Anchor skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Steve Nesbitt: Meteorology is a great career because your work directly benefits society. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2023, the median pay of a meteorologist was $92,860, and the job market in meteorology is expected to grow at a rate of 4% per year. The private sector will continue to hire meteorologists at the highest rates in the next decade, where meteorology skills are often coupled with risk analysis, computation and modeling, communication, and/or data visualization skills.
What will help Weather Anchors increase their earning potential?
Steve Nesbitt: Meteorology is a wide-ranging field relating to the prediction of the weather. Operational Meteorologists predict the weather and its impacts on a day-by-day basis, relying on their experience and the analysis of real-time information from their weather observations and forecast models to make and communicate their predictions. A Research Meteorologist may scientifically examine past weather events to understand why, when, and how they occurred in order to improve their prediction and communicate their findings at conferences or in scholarly journals. A Broadcast Meteorologist uses television, radio, or social media to disseminate weather forecasts and warnings. Other careers in meteorology can be in areas such as agrometeorology, hydrometeorology, climate and climate change, data science, risk analysis, and academia.
What general advice would you give to a Weather Anchor?
Paul Miller: Students can improve their income potential by being able to brand themselves as more than forecasters. While meteorologists are classically associated with weather prediction, the computer-centric nature of the disciple (i.e., weighing information provided by supercomputer-generated model simulations), students with additional experience accessing and processing the vast amount of digital data within the model files will have a professional and earnings edge. These students may also prove marketable to companies and fields outside of meteorology simply because weather and climate datasets in some ways epitomize the idea of 'big data.'
What Weather Anchor skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Paul Miller: Computer scripting, data science, and machine learning/AI are either already or poised to become fixtures of meteorological curricula. Because of the increasing importance of these skills, students need to develop them early to maximize their potential for supplementary industry and academic internships later in their undergraduate career. For instance, a student the takes a computer scripting course as a senior in their atmospheric science curriculum will have fewer research and internship opportunities than a student that developed those skills earlier.
What will help Weather Anchors increase their earning potential?
Paul Miller: Pursue campus, community, and industry involvement beyond your coursework, especially seeking leadership roles when possible. The best predictor of future success is past performance, so it is important to demonstrate a proactive posture regarding your career. Because most meteorological data in the U.S. are collected and freely disseminated by the federal government, there is high potential to gain exposure and experience with important weather monitoring and forecast systems before entering the job market.
What Weather Anchor skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Mr. Michael Splitt: Skills in computing will be essential for many meteorology career pathways and include the ever growing influence of machine learning and artificial intelligence. The use of Python programming has exploded in the atmospheric sciences, in particular. Skills in communication, which ranges anywhere from working with team members to providing graphics that communicate an idea, may also grow in importance in the modern age of social media.
What will help Weather Anchors increase their earning potential?
Mr. Michael Splitt: Meteorology has many different career pathways and the advice would need to be somewhat different for someone going into broadcast meteorology, operational meteorology, or research (as examples). That said, being flexible, no matter which track you are in, will be beneficial. Be reliable! Be willing to take on new tasks and responsibilities.
What general advice would you give to a Weather Anchor?
Man-Yau Chan: The fact that we do a surprising amount of math, programming and data analysis. The weather's behavior can be modelled by mathematical equations. These equations often have a Physical basis (e.g., the conservation of energy). People who dislike any kind of math intensely will dislike being a meteorologist, and people who like math will be ecstatic. This is a matter of preference really. On a more entertaining perspective, not all meteorologists like to be asked about the weather forecast. 🤣 Forecast meteorologists are probably fine with that, but a research meteorologist who just spent 8 hours working on a non-forecasting topic may get slightly (and entertainingly) annoyed. We are kind of like dermatologists in that sense – they don't always to check for skin cancer at family gatherings!
What Weather Anchor skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Man-Yau Chan: There are many kinds of Meteorologists (more on that later). However, there are some things we all do on a daily basis: data analysis and interpretation. Broadly speaking, there are two 'archetypes'. Forecast meteorologists (the first archetype) synthesize data coming out of computer models and weather observations, and their own intuition and experience to make predictions. That intuition and experience are important! Computer models have location-specific deficiencies, and weather observations do not tell you everything you need to know about the weather. An experienced forecast meteorologist's intuition and experience helps to navigate that. Research meteorologists (the second archetype) also analyze and interpret data daily. We work on understanding how the weather works and improving weather forecasts. The two goals are related: we use our understanding of the weather to build and improve the computer models, observations and forecasting techniques. Note that many meteorologists are BOTH forecast and research meteorologists – this is a continuum, so to speak. Meteorologists also have many different specialties. There are hurricane meteorologists, midlatitude thunderstorm (e.g., supercells) meteorologists, air pollution meteorologists, and statistical meteorologists, just to name a few.
What will help Weather Anchors increase their earning potential?
Man-Yau Chan: There is an increasing demand for meteorologists because the field itself is growing bigger and more sophisticated. There are now forecasting systems for all sorts of things (e.g., urban pollution forecasting, cloud-cover forecasting for solar power). Every one of those areas needs meteorologists. There are also many places that need meteorologists, especially outside of the National Weather Service! Some exciting examples include the Navy, the Army, the Air Force, utility companies, and the US Department of Agriculture! I would like to highlight my own discipline: statistical meteorology. Statistical meteorologists are increasingly in demand because (1) they are essential for creating the computer systems used to correct weather forecasting, and (2) there are more and more weather forecasting systems. However, there is an undersupply of statistical meteorologists at the moment. In other words, there are many job opportunities!
Robert Rauber Ph.D.
DirectorUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
School of Earth, Society & Environment
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Weather Anchors?
Robert Rauber Ph.D.: Yes. We will not return to the same "normal". I suspect that a lot of companies and possibly even government agencies will reconsider the value of letting employees work from home. we have learned as a society that work from home is more efficient (no lost time for commuting, easy to communicate with colleagues electronically, greater ease for employees with children etc.). To the degree this is implemented, this will be a major change for individuals and society. Secondly, the need for travel will be greatly reduced. Meetings that once required an employee to travel one day, meet one day, and travel home the third day will be reduced to a one-hour Zoom meeting, again increasing efficiency and saving companies/universities/government agencies a ton of money.
What's a day at work look like for a Weather Anchor?
Robert Rauber Ph.D.: I think a day at work will more often be a day at home. More people will work from home because it is more efficient as I noted above. For those who go to work away from home, I don't think much will change. They will be "zooming" more and traveling less.
What technical skills for a Weather Anchor stand out to employers?
Robert Rauber Ph.D.: Employers also look for employees who can communicate well both orally and in writing. Of course, technical expertise in their discipline (e.g. atmospheric science) is important.
Dr. Robert Trapp
Professor, HeadUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Department of Atmospheric Sciences
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Weather Anchors?
Dr. Robert Trapp: It's likely that there will be an enduring impact, but it's difficult to know exactly what it will be. Obviously, the financial strain on some companies has prevented them to hire new employees. However, we're still seeing advertisements and announcements for jobs within all sectors: there's still a demand for expertise in weather and climate prediction, for example.
What's a day at work look like for a Weather Anchor?
Dr. Robert Trapp: I've heard from some recent graduates employed in the private sector who are still working remotely. So, lots of virtual meetings instead of face-to-face meetings. Recent graduates employed in the National Weather Service are experiencing a more "normal", in-office work day, which involves generation and communication of weather forecasts, and monitoring of weather hazards and issuances of relevant warnings.
What skills stand out on Weather Anchor resumes?
Sumant Nigam: I would think that a resume that conveys strong analytical aptitude and excellent, concise writing skills would be attractive. Our field requires quantitative skills, including mathematical modeling and data analytics, which would be a big plus.
Will there be an increase or decrease in demand for Weather Anchors in the next 5 years?
Gregory Hakim: Increase. Between climate change, weather forecasting, and new developments in S2S forecasting, atmospheric sciences is a growth industry.
What are the biggest trends we'll see in the Weather Anchor job market given the pandemic?
Don Berchoff: The Meteorology and Atmospheric Science job market is bright, especially if you have ancillary or secondary skill sets in software engineering, analytics, machine learning, risk management and actuary, and running weather applications and models in the clouds. The private sector market for weather services will grow in size and importance with the introduction of self-driving cars and unmanned piloted air taxis and drones. The more secondary skills scientists have, the more opportunities for jobs and salary growth. Society and businesses are becoming more weather sensitive writ large with high density population centers, autonomy, etc. and this is good for our future job prospects.
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Weather Anchors?
Shel McGuire: Yes, I believe that there will be an enduring impact on graduates. In meteorology, it is very important for our students to gain experience before either entering the job market or applying to graduate school. With courses going remote, that includes internships at FSU. My students are not able to complete their internships with places such as the National Weather Service and other agencies. In addition, we have a weather-casting studio in our building where the students produce daily weather forecasts, which are broadcast on the FSU station. The broadcasting students have not been able to access the studio, and this will greatly affect their ability to produce the weather-casting tapes that they need to apply for positions this spring when they graduate.
Are there any particularly good places in the United States for Weather Anchors to find work opportunities?
Shel McGuire: There does not seem to be a particular area in the United States that is better or worse. Our students who get hired for broadcasting jobs get offers from all over the United States. Our students who go to graduate school also go to a variety of schools across the nation. For the students who have chosen the private sector, they tend to stay in major cities, such as Boston.