Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists salary

SOC 19-1023 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$76,780

per year, nationally

Middle half

$61,180–$96,100

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

18,120

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+1.6%

1,400 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.

$49,100$126,440

10th: $49,100
25th: $61,180
Median: $76,780
75th: $96,100
90th: $126,440

Getting in

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

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

Where zoologists and wildlife biologists 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	Maryland	$107,500	105.0	250	0.79×
2	District of Columbia	$107,050	109.9	140	1.74×
3	California	$98,530	110.7	2,210	1.04×
4	Alaska	$90,370	102.4	650	17.18×
5	Mississippi	$88,710	87.0	110	0.84×
6	Louisiana	$87,460	88.2	50	0.21×
7	Oregon	$85,150	103.4	1,010	4.41×
8	Hawaii	$84,910	110.0	170	2.28×
9	Massachusetts	$84,350	105.8	470	1.12×
10	Washington	$83,780	107.0	1,840	4.44×
11	Colorado	$83,300	103.1	730	2.18×
12	New Jersey	$83,030	108.8	90	0.19×
13	Iowa	$83,000	87.8	90	0.52×
14	New York	$82,640	107.9	370	0.33×
15	North Dakota	$81,330	89.0	100	2.09×
16	Illinois	$79,780	100.0	250	0.35×
17	Vermont	$79,620	98.0	70	2.00×
18	Michigan	$79,150	96.2	330	0.65×
19	Montana	$78,850	94.6	430	7.24×
20	Pennsylvania	$78,540	97.6	200	0.28×
21	Connecticut	$77,300	103.6	110	0.53×
22	Missouri	$76,400	90.8	120	0.35×
23	Nevada	$75,180	100.0	190	1.04×
24	Ohio	$74,550	92.8	220	0.34×
25	Maine	$74,490	97.0	330	4.48×
26	Alabama	$74,290	88.8	290	1.17×
27	Wyoming	$74,150	92.7	320	9.90×
28	Utah	$73,920	98.9	370	1.82×
29	Tennessee	$73,570	91.9	310	0.81×
30	New Hampshire	$73,560	104.2	40	0.52×
31	Idaho	$73,360	95.5	380	3.83×
32	Virginia	$72,340	101.1	290	0.61×
33	Minnesota	$68,620	98.6	720	2.10×
34	Wisconsin	$68,370	94.1	360	1.04×
35	New Mexico	$68,220	92.2	170	1.63×
36	Arizona	$66,880	100.7	410	1.07×
37	Kansas	$66,440	90.1	160	0.95×
38	Georgia	$66,210	96.3	200	0.35×
39	South Dakota	$65,890	88.6	170	3.24×
40	North Carolina	$64,620	94.3	350	0.60×
41	South Carolina	$64,090	93.7	250	0.91×
42	Oklahoma	$62,730	87.8	120	0.62×
43	Kentucky	$61,950	90.2	150	0.64×
44	Nebraska	$57,890	90.1	140	1.19×
45	Indiana	$54,670	93.3	120	0.33×
46	Florida	$52,750	103.4	1,400	1.21×
47	Texas	$49,100	97.1	580	0.35×

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 zoologists and wildlife biologists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for zoologists and wildlife biologists

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	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$129,940	110.4	40	0.31×
2	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$122,170	109.9	30	2.79×
3	Gulfport-Biloxi, MS	$113,800	90.0	30	1.63×
4	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$104,330	108.9	270	0.73×
5	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$99,490	104.5	100	0.65×
6	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$99,230	115.6	300	1.08×
7	Salem, OR	$98,110	103.6	80	3.84×
8	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$97,040	101.8	80	0.98×
9	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$96,450	111.1	720	2.95×
10	Worcester, MA	$93,930	102.5	70	1.75×
11	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$93,500	111.9	250	1.39×
12	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$89,880	105.4	350	2.50×
13	Fairbanks-College, AK	$88,740	103.2	100	22.94×
14	Urban Honolulu, HI	$88,240	111.0	130	2.43×
15	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$86,670	107.8	70	2.79×
16	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$86,400	112.6	160	0.15×
17	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$85,940	105.6	60	5.54×
18	Bismarck, ND	$85,330	91.0	40	4.82×
19	Corvallis, OR	$85,150	104.0	80	18.16×
20	Anchorage, AK	$85,130	105.4	180	8.94×
21	Salinas, CA	$84,900	109.0	50	2.50×
22	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$84,620	106.7	190	1.51×
23	Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA	$84,500	103.9	80	13.02×
24	Grand Junction, CO	$84,360	95.5	30	3.83×
25	Fort Collins-Loveland, CO	$84,240	101.1	140	7.22×
26	Helena, MT	$84,230	95.7	70	12.55×
27	Bend, OR	$83,780	103.6	60	4.76×
28	Medford, OR	$83,780	101.4	40	3.66×
29	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$83,490	113.6	—	—
30	Boulder, CO	$83,300	105.2	130	5.83×
31	Bozeman, MT	$83,230	102.5	50	6.30×
32	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$82,880	100.1	50	3.35×
33	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$82,500	103.7	250	16.56×
34	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$82,360	106.4	—	—
35	Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA	$81,040	98.7	50	1.18×
36	Eugene-Springfield, OR	$80,990	101.6	50	2.45×
37	Cleveland, OH	$80,980	93.9	30	0.27×
38	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$80,540	105.8	160	0.87×
39	Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	$80,360	97.6	50	1.32×
40	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT	$80,260	100.9	100	1.06×

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 zoologists and wildlife biologists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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

Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists$103,410
Biological Scientists, All Other$98,920
Biochemists and Biophysicists$127,410
Conservation Scientists$73,010
Microbiologists$87,990
Soil and Plant Scientists$78,850
Food Scientists and Technologists$88,720
Epidemiologists$87,220

Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where zoologists and wildlife biologists earn the most

Best paying metro areas for zoologists and wildlife biologists

Similar occupations

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