---
title: "Anthropologist"
description: "Study the origin, development, and behavior of human beings. May study the way of life, language, or physical characteristics of people in various parts…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/anthropologist"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Anthropologist

**Category:** Life, Physical, and Social Science · **SOC code:** 19-3091 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 19-3091.00

Study the origin, development, and behavior of human beings. May study the way of life, language, or physical characteristics of people in various parts of the world. May engage in systematic recovery and examination of material evidence, such as tools or pottery remaining from past human cultures, in order to determine the history, customs, and living habits of earlier civilizations.

Also advertised as: American Indian Policy Specialist; Applied Anthropologist; Applied Cultural Anthropologist; Archaeologist; Communication and Folklore Specialist; Forensic Anthropologist; Historical Archaeologist; Research Archaeologist.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $70,770 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $34.02/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $49,050 to $108,060, with the middle half between $59,400 and $89,670
- **Total US employment:** 8,990
- **Typical entry education:** Master's
- **Preparation required:** Considerable preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +6.0% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 800 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 27/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 8,990 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $49,050 |
| 25th | $59,400 |
| 50th (median) | $70,770 |
| 75th | $89,670 |
| 90th | $108,060 |
| Mean (average) | $75,620 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| MA | $121,300 | $114,697 | 80 |
| NE | $94,520 | $104,902 | 40 |
| CT | $91,420 | $88,235 | Not published by BLS |
| AK | $89,810 | $87,740 | 130 |
| ID | $88,710 | $92,896 | 170 |
| OR | $84,970 | $82,207 | 240 |
| HI | $84,530 | $76,880 | 210 |
| VA | $80,230 | $79,354 | 320 |
| PA | $79,660 | $81,642 | 130 |
| MT | $79,420 | $83,914 | 80 |
| WY | $76,400 | $82,424 | 80 |
| AL | $75,690 | $85,214 | 170 |
| WA | $74,790 | $69,889 | 260 |
| UT | $73,920 | $74,769 | 120 |
| NC | $73,130 | $77,529 | 200 |

31 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 46 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/anthropologist/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/anthropologist.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 10,200 in the 2025–2035 base year to 10,800 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 600 jobs, or +6.0%. Faster than average: 6.0% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 800 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** Master's degree (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Considerable preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** None.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| Doctoral Degree | 40.0% |
| Master's Degree | 30.0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 20.0% |
| Some College Courses | 5.0% |
| Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree | 5.0% |

## What the work involves

- Collect information and make judgments through observation, interviews, and review of documents.
- Write about and present research findings for a variety of specialized and general audiences.
- Plan and direct research to characterize and compare the economic, demographic, health care, social, political, linguistic, and religious institutions of distinct cultural groups, communities, and organizations.
- Create data records for use in describing and analyzing social patterns and processes, using photography, videography, and audio recordings.
- Train others in the application of ethnographic research methods to solve problems in organizational effectiveness, communications, technology development, policy making, and program planning.
- Write grant proposals to obtain funding for research.
- Teach or mentor undergraduate and graduate students in anthropology or archeology.
- Advise government agencies, private organizations, and communities regarding proposed programs, plans, and policies and their potential impacts on cultural institutions, organizations, and communities.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Writing — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Instructing — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Analysis — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Management of Personnel Resources — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Sociology and Anthropology — importance 4.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 4.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- History and Archeology — importance 4.2 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Foreign Language — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Education and Training — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Geography — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Written Comprehension — importance 4.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 4.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Expression — importance 4.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Comprehension — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Deductive Reasoning — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Inductive Reasoning — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Investigative (I), Artistic (A), Realistic (R).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| I — Investigative | 6.84 |
| A — Artistic | 4.21 |
| R — Realistic | 3.99 |
| S — Social | 3.67 |
| C — Conventional | 3.19 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.63 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| INTP | 84.6 |
| INTJ | 79.0 |
| INFP | 74.4 |
| ISTP | 71.6 |
| INFJ | 68.3 |

Best-fitting types: INTP.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Historian](https://nuecareer.com/careers/historian) — median $76,750
- [Sociologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/sociologist) — median $106,030
- [Anthropology and Archeology Teacher, Postsecondary](https://nuecareer.com/careers/anthropology-and-archeology-teacher-postsecondary) — median $99,650
- [Geographer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/geographer) — median $102,040
- [Area, Ethnic, and Cultural Studies Teacher, Postsecondary](https://nuecareer.com/careers/area-ethnic-and-cultural-studies-teacher-postsecondary) — median $85,020
- [History Teacher, Postsecondary](https://nuecareer.com/careers/history-teacher-postsecondary) — median $83,820
- [Curator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/curator) — median $63,420
- [Archivist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/archivist) — median $64,550
- [Geoscientist, Except Hydrologists and Geographers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/geoscientist) — median $101,920
- [Social Science Research Assistant](https://nuecareer.com/careers/social-science-research-assistant) — median $61,990

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025–2035 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/anthropologist