Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary salary

SOC 25-1051 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$103,170

per year, nationally

Middle half

$77,260–$135,510

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

9,900

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+2.6%

1,000 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.

$59,700$203,190

10th: $59,700
25th: $77,260
Median: $103,170
75th: $135,510
90th: $203,190

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Doctoral or professional 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, earth, marine, and space sciences teachers, postsecondary 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	California	$133,230	110.7	1,410	1.21×
2	New Jersey	$131,930	108.8	270	0.98×
3	New Hampshire	$130,230	104.2	50	1.12×
4	Oregon	$128,140	103.4	340	2.73×
5	Connecticut	$123,770	103.6	230	2.15×
6	Virginia	$119,940	101.1	230	0.89×
7	Arizona	$110,600	100.7	240	1.17×
8	Massachusetts	$108,930	105.8	470	2.03×
9	Maryland	$107,700	105.0	180	1.03×
10	Wisconsin	$107,370	94.1	130	0.71×
11	New Mexico	$106,990	92.2	50	0.95×
12	Nevada	$105,860	100.0	60	0.58×
13	Pennsylvania	$105,650	97.6	220	0.58×
14	Texas	$105,080	97.1	690	0.77×
15	Michigan	$104,780	96.2	180	0.66×
16	Oklahoma	$104,270	87.8	30	0.29×
17	Washington	$103,070	107.0	210	0.91×
18	North Carolina	$102,980	94.3	360	1.13×
19	Minnesota	$102,900	98.6	90	0.49×
20	Missouri	$102,200	90.8	130	0.68×
21	Kansas	$101,750	90.1	80	0.91×
22	Wyoming	$100,240	92.7	50	2.68×
23	Indiana	$99,970	93.3	130	0.65×
24	North Dakota	$98,000	89.0	60	2.05×
25	Iowa	$97,660	87.8	50	0.49×
26	Utah	$97,240	98.9	180	1.61×
27	Kentucky	$95,830	90.2	40	0.34×
28	Maine	$95,320	97.0	130	3.09×
29	Ohio	$94,890	92.8	150	0.42×
30	Georgia	$94,790	96.3	50	0.18×
31	New York	$87,350	107.9	1,730	2.81×
32	Illinois	$87,150	100.0	150	0.40×
33	Tennessee	$85,020	91.9	120	0.57×
34	Florida	$81,980	103.4	350	0.55×
35	Alabama	$81,940	88.8	90	0.67×
36	West Virginia	$81,850	89.5	40	0.90×
37	Colorado	$79,190	103.1	340	1.84×
38	Mississippi	$77,670	87.0	120	1.63×
39	South Carolina	$76,500	93.7	80	0.58×
40	South Dakota	$63,160	88.6	70	2.46×

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, earth, marine, and space sciences teachers, postsecondary wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for atmospheric, earth, marine, and space sciences teachers, postsecondary

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	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$175,120	113.6	580	1.46×
2	New Haven, CT	$163,850	104.6	60	3.11×
3	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$163,120	106.4	60	0.53×
4	College Station-Bryan, TX	$160,550	91.0	100	11.83×
5	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$134,670	115.6	60	0.39×
6	Amherst Town-Northampton, MA	$133,660	100.2	—	—
7	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$132,070	111.1	130	0.96×
8	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$131,930	103.2	—	—
9	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	$129,110	98.1	170	2.04×
10	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$128,690	102.6	140	0.78×
11	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$128,140	105.4	170	2.21×
12	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$127,480	106.7	130	1.88×
13	Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC	$125,320	97.9	70	1.47×
14	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$124,440	108.3	320	1.89×
15	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$123,480	104.8	60	0.46×
16	Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT	$121,760	100.4	—	—
17	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$110,600	103.3	120	0.79×
18	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$108,460	102.7	70	1.95×
19	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$108,220	108.9	130	0.63×
20	Wilmington, NC	$107,850	96.4	40	2.92×
21	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$107,450	104.5	70	0.83×
22	Bangor, ME	$107,240	96.5	80	16.70×
23	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$105,700	103.1	110	0.43×
24	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$105,080	111.9	250	2.57×
25	Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	$102,980	97.6	—	—
26	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$102,880	98.6	80	0.37×
27	Columbus, OH	$101,380	95.5	30	0.48×
28	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$100,710	108.8	110	8.36×
29	El Paso, TX	$99,030	89.9	40	1.69×
30	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$97,860	112.6	1,120	1.86×
31	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	$89,900	114.2	80	0.47×
32	Kansas City, MO-KS	$86,760	92.5	30	0.44×
33	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$85,030	105.8	120	1.20×
34	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$82,810	96.9	40	0.74×
35	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$82,190	103.6	70	0.23×
36	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$81,600	99.6	140	4.99×
37	Syracuse, NY	$81,440	95.7	70	3.56×
38	Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL	$79,770	101.4	40	0.45×
39	Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY	$76,740	95.8	60	1.87×
40	Charleston-North Charleston, SC	$76,500	101.0	60	2.22×

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, earth, marine, and space sciences teachers, postsecondary wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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

Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary$107,310
Postsecondary Teachers, All Other$77,640
Career/Technical Education Teachers, Postsecondary$63,820
Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary$78,620
Business Teachers, Postsecondary$99,080
Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary$80,250
Education Teachers, Postsecondary$75,350
English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary$78,760

Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where atmospheric, earth, marine, and space sciences teachers, postsecondary earn the most

Best paying metro areas for atmospheric, earth, marine, and space sciences teachers, postsecondary

Similar occupations

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