Natural Sciences Managers salary

SOC 11-9121 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$167,220

per year, nationally

Middle half

$119,430–$221,540

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

108,690

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+3.7%

8,500 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$79,710$316,850

10th: $79,710
25th: $119,430
Median: $167,220
75th: $221,540
90th: $316,850

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Bachelor's degree
Related work experience: 5 years or more
On-the-job training: None

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where natural sciences managers earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Massachusetts	$267,290	105.8	10,590	4.16×
2	Connecticut	$210,670	103.6	1,190	1.00×
3	California	$210,230	110.7	14,950	1.17×
4	New Jersey	$207,030	108.8	10,040	3.35×
5	Washington	$182,480	107.0	2,490	1.00×
6	North Carolina	$173,870	94.3	6,010	1.74×
7	Maryland	$168,620	105.0	4,820	2.49×
8	Illinois	$159,670	100.0	2,810	0.66×
9	District of Columbia	$156,730	109.9	1,540	3.14×
10	Kansas	$153,820	90.1	240	0.24×
11	Colorado	$152,730	103.1	1,640	0.82×
12	Virginia	$150,570	101.1	1,470	0.51×
13	Oregon	$143,120	103.4	1,700	1.24×
14	Maine	$141,360	97.0	430	0.97×
15	West Virginia	$138,010	89.5	160	0.32×
16	Pennsylvania	$137,900	97.6	7,980	1.88×
17	Ohio	$137,170	92.8	1,560	0.40×
18	Minnesota	$136,450	98.6	1,530	0.74×
19	New York	$134,680	107.9	5,690	0.84×
20	New Hampshire	$134,010	104.2	240	0.50×
21	Alabama	$133,470	88.8	370	0.25×
22	North Dakota	$131,370	89.0	140	0.45×
23	Vermont	$131,290	98.0	290	1.37×
24	South Carolina	$131,140	93.7	780	0.48×
25	Alaska	$130,590	102.4	710	3.14×
26	Rhode Island	$130,480	102.3	200	0.58×
27	Texas	$129,960	97.1	7,470	0.76×
28	Missouri	$129,410	90.8	1,230	0.60×
29	Michigan	$129,070	96.2	2,220	0.72×
30	Wisconsin	$128,890	94.1	1,070	0.52×
31	South Dakota	$128,140	88.6	180	0.55×
32	Kentucky	$126,440	90.2	400	0.29×
33	Arizona	$124,920	100.7	900	0.40×
34	Idaho	$124,800	95.5	610	1.01×
35	Tennessee	$124,530	91.9	880	0.38×
36	Nebraska	$120,620	90.1	550	0.76×
37	Mississippi	$119,430	87.0	210	0.26×
38	Utah	$119,430	98.9	—	—
39	Montana	$119,430	94.6	370	1.05×
40	Arkansas	$119,430	86.9	340	0.38×
41	Louisiana	$115,950	88.2	—	—
42	Oklahoma	$112,260	87.8	310	0.26×
43	Nevada	$112,260	100.0	320	0.30×
44	Florida	$112,220	103.4	4,370	0.63×
45	Iowa	$109,760	87.8	610	0.56×
46	Wyoming	$109,300	92.7	150	0.74×
47	Indiana	$108,250	93.3	1,670	0.74×
48	Hawaii	$107,810	110.0	510	1.16×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where natural sciences managers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for natural sciences managers

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$291,000	108.3	9,570	5.06×
2	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$263,810	110.4	1,160	1.46×
3	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$225,230	115.6	5,530	3.33×
4	Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR	$220,120	91.4	100	0.50×
5	Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT	$217,480	100.4	300	3.36×
6	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$215,860	100.1	110	1.24×
7	Worcester, MA	$212,600	102.5	490	1.98×
8	Midland, MI	$212,130	91.9	60	2.21×
9	New Haven, CT	$210,670	104.6	350	1.75×
10	Boulder, CO	$210,340	105.2	310	2.31×
11	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$207,200	111.9	2,890	2.69×
12	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$204,250	106.9	220	0.80×
13	Bay City, MI	$204,120	91.9	50	1.99×
14	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$203,150	111.1	1,730	1.19×
15	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$202,380	109.9	80	1.19×
16	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$196,930	102.7	220	0.52×
17	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$193,340	113.6	2,530	0.58×
18	Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	$183,540	97.6	2,050	8.52×
19	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$182,230	103.2	2,150	12.78×
20	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$180,460	112.6	10,100	1.52×
21	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$178,530	108.6	40	0.45×
22	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$176,740	110.5	180	0.78×
23	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$175,400	108.8	110	0.77×
24	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$174,860	105.1	30	0.15×
25	Grand Forks, ND-MN	$173,590	86.7	30	0.86×
26	Raleigh-Cary, NC	$173,510	98.2	1,640	3.17×
27	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	$173,160	97.3	460	0.48×
28	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$172,900	102.6	5,510	2.72×
29	Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ	$172,540	98.9	60	0.48×
30	Salinas, CA	$171,290	109.0	40	0.31×
31	Vallejo, CA	$171,250	108.5	60	0.59×
32	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$170,010	106.7	680	0.90×
33	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$169,370	106.4	260	0.22×
34	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$169,060	108.9	5,890	2.69×
35	Pinehurst-Southern Pines, NC	$168,850	88.3	30	1.07×
36	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$167,040	103.6	2,270	0.72×
37	Wilmington, NC	$166,910	96.4	330	2.48×
38	Salisbury, MD	$166,430	95.6	40	0.95×
39	Fayetteville, NC	$165,260	92.0	50	0.53×
40	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$165,200	105.4	1,040	1.23×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where natural sciences managers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Managers, All Other$141,900
Medical and Health Services Managers$123,860
Construction Managers$114,990
Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary$105,870
Property, Real Estate, and Community Association Managers$69,990
Food Service Managers$69,390
Architectural and Engineering Managers$171,270
Social and Community Service Managers$80,390