--- title: "Entomologist" description: "Studies insects, from crop pests and disease-carrying mosquitoes to pollinators, and develops ways to manage them." canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/entomologist" last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z" --- # Entomologist **Category:** Life, Physical, and Social Science · **SOC code:** 19-1023 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 19-1023.00 Studies insects, from crop pests and disease-carrying mosquitoes to pollinators, and develops ways to manage them. Also advertised as: Agricultural Entomologist; Medical Entomologist; Urban Entomologist; Board Certified Entomologist; Research Entomologist. ## At a glance - **Median annual wage:** $76,780 (BLS OEWS, May 2025) - **Median hourly wage:** $36.91/hr - **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $49,100 to $126,440, with the middle half between $61,180 and $96,100 - **Total US employment:** 18,120 - **Typical entry education:** Bachelor's - **Preparation required:** Medium preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed" - **Projected growth:** +3.6% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035) - **Annual job openings:** 1,400 openings a year - **AI-resilience score:** 42/100 — 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 18,120 US jobs. | Percentile | Annual wage | | --- | --- | | 10th | $49,100 | | 25th | $61,180 | | 50th (median) | $76,780 | | 75th | $96,100 | | 90th | $126,440 | | Mean (average) | $83,020 | ### 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 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | MD | $107,500 | $102,421 | 250 | | DC | $107,050 | $97,406 | 140 | | CA | $98,530 | $88,990 | 2,210 | | AK | $90,370 | $88,287 | 650 | | MS | $88,710 | $102,021 | 110 | | LA | $87,460 | $99,153 | 50 | | OR | $85,150 | $82,381 | 1,010 | | HI | $84,910 | $77,225 | 170 | | MA | $84,350 | $79,758 | 470 | | WA | $83,780 | $78,290 | 1,840 | | CO | $83,300 | $80,833 | 730 | | NJ | $83,030 | $76,311 | 90 | | IA | $83,000 | $94,574 | 90 | | NY | $82,640 | $76,575 | 370 | | ND | $81,330 | $91,424 | 100 | 33 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 48 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/entomologist/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/entomologist. ## Outlook BLS projects employment to move from 19,500 in the 2025–2035 base year to 20,200 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 700 jobs, or +3.6%. About as fast as average: 3.6% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 1,400 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:** Bachelor's degree (BLS Employment Projections). - **Preparation level:** Medium preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed". - **Related work experience typically required:** None. - **Typical on-the-job training:** None. ## What the work involves - Collect and identify insects from field and trap samples - Monitor pest and disease vector populations - Design integrated pest management programs - Test insecticides and biological controls - Screen shipments and sites for invasive species - Advise growers, agencies and the public on insect problems - Conduct research on insect biology and behavior ## Skills and knowledge ### Essential skills - Reading Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Active Listening — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Writing — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Speaking — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Science — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Critical Thinking — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Active Learning — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Monitoring — importance 3.3 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 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Judgment and Decision Making — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Coordination — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Systems Analysis — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Time Management — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Social Perceptiveness — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Systems Evaluation — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Persuasion — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale ### Knowledge areas - Biology — importance 4.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - English Language — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Geography — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Mathematics — importance 3.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Law and Government — importance 3.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Administration and Management — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale ### Abilities - Oral Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Written Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Oral Expression — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Written Expression — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale - Deductive Reasoning — importance 4.0 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), Realistic (R), Conventional (C). | Interest area | Score (1–7) | | --- | --- | | I — Investigative | 6.99 | | R — Realistic | 5.72 | | C — Conventional | 4.33 | | S — Social | 2.55 | | E — Enterprising | 2.33 | | A — Artistic | 2.31 | ### 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) | | --- | --- | | INTJ | 84.0 | | ISTJ | 83.4 | | ISTP | 82.2 | | INTP | 70.1 | | ISFJ | 58.8 | Best-fitting types: INTJ, ISTJ, ISTP. ## Related occupations O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order. - [Wildlife Biologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/wildlife-biologist) — median $76,780 - [Biologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/biologist) — median $98,920 - [Conservation Scientist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/conservation-scientist) — median $73,010 - [Range Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/range-manager) — median $73,010 - [Environmental Restoration Planner](https://nuecareer.com/careers/environmental-restoration-planner) — median $82,220 - [Fish and Game Warden](https://nuecareer.com/careers/fish-and-game-warden) — median $74,060 - [Soil and Plant Scientist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/soil-and-plant-scientist) — median $78,850 - [Environmental Scientist and Specialist, Including Health](https://nuecareer.com/careers/environmental-scientist-and-specialist) — median $82,220 - [Geoscientist, Except Hydrologists and Geographers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/geoscientist) — median $101,920 - [Animal Scientist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/animal-scientist) — median $68,940 ## 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/ - **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/entomologist