Hydrologists salary

SOC 19-2043 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$96,600

per year, nationally

Middle half

$77,210–$122,830

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

5,850

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-0.1%

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.

$64,020$153,130

10th: $64,020
25th: $77,210
Median: $96,600
75th: $122,830
90th: $153,130

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 hydrologists 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	$143,010	105.0	90	0.83×
2	Virginia	$132,080	101.1	40	0.25×
3	New Jersey	$126,680	108.8	—	—
4	California	$122,110	110.7	540	0.79×
5	Georgia	$121,830	96.3	30	0.18×
6	Massachusetts	$119,350	105.8	50	0.38×
7	Missouri	$116,100	90.8	50	0.43×
8	Alaska	$108,660	102.4	60	4.55×
9	Nevada	$107,930	100.0	170	2.94×
10	Washington	$105,600	107.0	350	2.62×
11	Louisiana	$104,520	88.2	—	—
12	Michigan	$101,060	96.2	40	0.21×
13	Colorado	$100,840	103.1	360	3.37×
14	Ohio	$98,200	92.8	390	1.89×
15	New Mexico	$97,470	92.2	100	2.96×
16	Oklahoma	$97,470	87.8	40	0.55×
17	Minnesota	$94,580	98.6	300	2.70×
18	Wyoming	$94,520	92.7	40	4.10×
19	Utah	$94,190	98.9	80	1.27×
20	Oregon	$93,690	103.4	300	4.06×
21	Pennsylvania	$91,730	97.6	160	0.70×
22	New York	$88,100	107.9	160	0.44×
23	Arizona	$86,700	100.7	400	3.28×
24	Vermont	$86,140	98.0	50	4.10×
25	Montana	$84,500	94.6	190	9.79×
26	Illinois	$83,720	100.0	100	0.45×
27	North Carolina	$81,770	94.3	150	0.80×
28	Iowa	$81,150	87.8	50	0.91×
29	Texas	$81,080	97.1	220	0.42×
30	Indiana	$80,700	93.3	50	0.42×
31	Idaho	$78,850	95.5	160	4.88×
32	Wisconsin	$78,770	94.1	150	1.37×
33	Florida	$76,850	103.4	280	0.74×
34	South Carolina	$65,770	93.7	100	1.17×

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 hydrologists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for hydrologists

The 33 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	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$152,730	108.9	50	0.41×
2	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$147,080	115.6	50	0.61×
3	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$142,640	110.4	30	0.72×
4	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$138,020	104.5	50	1.00×
5	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$128,320	103.2	40	4.04×
6	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$126,820	106.4	40	0.55×
7	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$123,420	113.6	70	0.31×
8	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	$118,390	100.2	50	1.07×
9	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$113,550	105.4	80	1.86×
10	Reno, NV	$111,140	101.0	70	6.63×
11	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$108,680	105.8	140	2.36×
12	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$106,860	106.7	110	2.61×
13	Albuquerque, NM	$101,520	95.5	50	3.38×
14	Akron, OH	$99,470	93.4	—	—
15	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$99,320	98.6	50	0.39×
16	Columbus, OH	$98,200	95.5	170	4.08×
17	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$94,580	104.8	210	2.90×
18	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT	$94,420	100.9	60	2.03×
19	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$93,340	103.7	80	15.71×
20	Bend, OR	$91,170	103.6	30	7.62×
21	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$90,000	103.3	260	2.92×
22	Boise City, ID	$88,150	98.4	80	5.57×
23	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$88,100	112.6	130	0.36×
24	Helena, MT	$86,260	95.7	50	29.09×
25	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$85,540	102.6	70	0.62×
26	Tucson, AZ	$81,640	96.9	80	5.54×
27	Madison, WI	$81,310	97.3	60	4.22×
28	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$80,700	95.7	30	0.77×
29	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	$80,400	114.2	60	0.56×
30	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$78,120	96.9	40	1.21×
31	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL	$77,020	100.9	60	1.07×
32	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	$73,810	98.1	100	2.09×
33	Columbia, SC	$65,770	93.7	100	6.42×

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 hydrologists 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
Atmospheric and Space Scientists$99,070
Materials Scientists$117,790
Astronomers$128,820