Atmospheric and Space Scientists salary

SOC 19-2021 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$99,070

per year, nationally

Middle half

$73,350–$129,960

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

10,000

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+0.7%

700 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.

$53,060$161,890

10th: $53,060
25th: $73,350
Median: $99,070
75th: $129,960
90th: $161,890

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 atmospheric and space scientists 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	$128,800	105.0	750	4.21×
2	California	$124,920	110.7	510	0.43×
3	Hawaii	$121,010	110.0	70	1.69×
4	New Jersey	$120,180	108.8	60	0.20×
5	Idaho	$119,430	95.5	50	0.96×
6	New York	$117,540	107.9	370	0.59×
7	Florida	$115,960	103.4	270	0.43×
8	Arizona	$115,020	100.7	80	0.36×
9	Missouri	$114,230	90.8	160	0.83×
10	Illinois	$112,280	100.0	110	0.27×
11	Oregon	$112,260	103.4	100	0.82×
12	New Mexico	$110,070	92.2	60	1.03×
13	Nevada	$109,300	100.0	120	1.19×
14	Kansas	$109,300	90.1	80	0.89×
15	Montana	$108,890	94.6	70	2.12×
16	Massachusetts	$108,050	105.8	—	—
17	Minnesota	$106,270	98.6	50	0.29×
18	Colorado	$104,670	103.1	1,150	6.22×
19	District of Columbia	$103,860	109.9	70	1.64×
20	Maine	$103,710	97.0	50	1.15×
21	Indiana	$103,680	93.3	80	0.37×
22	Kentucky	$103,240	90.2	100	0.77×
23	Michigan	$103,210	96.2	150	0.54×
24	Wyoming	$99,940	92.7	40	2.22×
25	Louisiana	$97,470	88.2	70	0.60×
26	Georgia	$96,820	96.3	170	0.54×
27	Utah	$96,520	98.9	170	1.50×
28	Tennessee	$96,190	91.9	230	1.11×
29	Washington	$94,400	107.0	190	0.82×
30	Alaska	$94,380	102.4	—	—
31	North Carolina	$91,560	94.3	170	0.53×
32	North Dakota	$91,560	89.0	40	1.51×
33	Wisconsin	$85,870	94.1	280	1.49×
34	Connecticut	$85,110	103.6	50	0.41×
35	Texas	$84,990	97.1	720	0.80×
36	Virginia	$83,880	101.1	350	1.31×
37	South Carolina	$82,240	93.7	150	0.99×
38	Alabama	$81,080	88.8	340	2.49×
39	West Virginia	$80,690	89.5	40	0.95×
40	South Dakota	$78,900	88.6	130	4.46×
41	Ohio	$78,580	92.8	160	0.46×
42	Iowa	$76,850	87.8	100	1.03×
43	Oklahoma	$76,480	87.8	420	3.78×
44	Pennsylvania	$75,890	97.6	160	0.41×
45	Arkansas	$71,940	86.9	—	—
46	Nebraska	$60,540	90.1	160	2.44×
47	New Hampshire	$42,820	104.2	130	3.00×

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 atmospheric and space scientists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for atmospheric and space scientists

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 Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$151,000	115.6	30	0.22×
2	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$134,060	99.6	70	2.56×
3	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$133,490	103.6	50	0.19×
4	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$128,800	104.5	270	3.07×
5	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$128,790	112.6	260	0.43×
6	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$127,070	100.3	40	0.37×
7	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$125,590	104.8	30	0.26×
8	Boise City, ID	$122,930	98.4	30	1.38×
9	Urban Honolulu, HI	$122,880	111.0	70	2.28×
10	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	$122,700	114.2	110	0.63×
11	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL	$122,280	100.9	30	0.32×
12	Boulder, CO	$121,870	105.2	620	50.38×
13	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$120,370	111.9	50	0.48×
14	Kansas City, MO-KS	$117,810	92.5	100	1.38×
15	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$117,600	108.9	700	3.45×
16	Reno, NV	$115,650	101.0	70	3.74×
17	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$113,550	105.4	60	0.78×
18	Richmond, VA	$112,510	97.9	40	0.98×
19	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$111,790	113.6	220	0.54×
20	St. Louis, MO-IL	$111,650	95.1	30	0.40×
21	Fort Collins-Loveland, CO	$110,960	101.1	250	22.99×
22	Raleigh-Cary, NC	$108,810	98.2	40	0.78×
23	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$108,040	108.3	—	—
24	Madison, WI	$107,970	97.3	120	4.53×
25	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$107,690	95.7	40	0.54×
26	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$107,060	101.8	40	0.81×
27	Colorado Springs, CO	$106,020	100.7	40	1.91×
28	Rapid City, SD	$104,380	89.2	60	12.28×
29	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	$104,220	100.2	40	0.56×
30	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN	$103,380	96.3	40	0.54×
31	Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN	$103,240	93.1	40	1.01×
32	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$103,080	100.1	130	0.67×
33	Anchorage, AK	$101,640	105.4	260	22.57×
34	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT	$100,650	100.9	130	2.47×
35	Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC	$98,920	97.9	60	1.28×
36	Fairbanks-College, AK	$94,380	103.2	40	16.69×
37	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$92,790	103.1	140	0.54×
38	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$92,600	111.1	90	0.70×
39	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$88,570	98.6	240	1.15×
40	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX	$87,110	94.7	50	0.64×

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 atmospheric and space scientists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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

Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health$82,220
Chemists$91,240
Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers$101,920
Physical Scientists, All Other$122,570
Physicists$172,250
Materials Scientists$117,790
Hydrologists$96,600
Astronomers$128,820