---
title: "Environmental Scientist and Specialist, Including Health"
description: "Conduct research or perform investigation for the purpose of identifying, abating, or eliminating sources of pollutants or hazards that affect either the…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/environmental-scientist-and-specialist"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Environmental Scientist and Specialist, Including Health

**Category:** Life, Physical, and Social Science · **SOC code:** 19-2041 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 19-2041.00

Conduct research or perform investigation for the purpose of identifying, abating, or eliminating sources of pollutants or hazards that affect either the environment or public health. Using knowledge of various scientific disciplines, may collect, synthesize, study, report, and recommend action based on data derived from measurements or observations of air, food, soil, water, and other sources.

Also advertised as: Environmental Analyst; Environmental Health and Safety Specialist (EHS Specialist); Environmental Health Specialist; Environmental Programs Specialist; Environmental Protection Specialist; Environmental Scientist; Environmental Specialist; Hazardous Substances Scientist.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $82,220 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $39.53/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $52,520 to $140,010, with the middle half between $64,490 and $107,970
- **Total US employment:** 89,250
- **Typical entry education:** Bachelor's
- **Preparation required:** Medium preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +6.1% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 7,300 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 26/100 — 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 89,250 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $52,520 |
| 25th | $64,490 |
| 50th (median) | $82,220 |
| 75th | $107,970 |
| 90th | $140,010 |
| Mean (average) | $91,680 |

### 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 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DC | $132,620 | $120,672 | 1,270 |
| CA | $106,510 | $96,198 | 12,490 |
| RI | $100,730 | $98,485 | 330 |
| MA | $100,640 | $95,162 | 2,930 |
| WA | $98,300 | $91,858 | 4,470 |
| OR | $97,440 | $94,272 | 1,370 |
| TX | $92,000 | $94,790 | 5,630 |
| AK | $91,960 | $89,841 | 860 |
| UT | $90,710 | $91,752 | 1,020 |
| MN | $88,000 | $89,230 | 2,260 |
| NM | $86,630 | $93,947 | 940 |
| CO | $85,990 | $83,443 | 2,580 |
| GA | $85,710 | $89,010 | 1,750 |
| ND | $84,570 | $95,066 | 240 |
| MD | $84,190 | $80,212 | 1,760 |

39 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 54 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/environmental-scientist-and-specialist/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/environmental-scientist-and-specialist.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 93,400 in the 2025–2035 base year to 99,200 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 5,700 jobs, or +6.1%. Faster than average: 6.1% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 7,300 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.

### 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 |
| --- | --- |
| Bachelor's Degree | 47.5% |
| High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) | 21.3% |
| Master's Degree | 13.8% |
| Post-Baccalaureate Certificate | 12.7% |
| Doctoral Degree | 4.0% |
| Some College Courses | 0.8% |

## What the work involves

- Communicate scientific or technical information to the public, organizations, or internal audiences through oral briefings, written documents, workshops, conferences, training sessions, or public hearings.
- Prepare charts or graphs from data samples, providing summary information on the environmental relevance of the data.
- Provide scientific or technical guidance, support, coordination, or oversight to governmental agencies, environmental programs, industry, or the public.
- Provide advice on proper standards and regulations or the development of policies, strategies, or codes of practice for environmental management.
- Process and review environmental permits, licenses, or related materials.
- Review and implement environmental technical standards, guidelines, policies, and formal regulations that meet all appropriate requirements.
- Supervise or train students, environmental technologists, technicians, or other related staff.
- Collect, synthesize, analyze, manage, and report environmental data, such as pollution emission measurements, atmospheric monitoring measurements, meteorological or mineralogical information, or soil or water samples.

## 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 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.6 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
- Coordination — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.3 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
- Instructing — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Management of Personnel Resources — 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

- English Language — importance 4.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Biology — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 3.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Law and Government — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Computers and Electronics — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Public Safety and Security — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Oral Comprehension — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Comprehension — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Deductive Reasoning — importance 4.1 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

## 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 | 7.00 |
| R — Realistic | 4.76 |
| C — Conventional | 4.32 |
| S — Social | 2.75 |
| E — Enterprising | 2.56 |
| A — Artistic | 1.87 |

### 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 | 82.6 |
| ISTJ | 82.0 |
| ISTP | 78.2 |
| INTP | 67.2 |
| ESTJ | 59.9 |

Best-fitting types: INTJ, ISTJ, ISTP.

## Related occupations

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

- [Environmental Compliance Inspector](https://nuecareer.com/careers/environmental-compliance-inspector) — median $80,730
- [Environmental Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/environmental-engineer) — median $107,110
- [Industrial Ecologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/industrial-ecologist) — median $82,220
- [Environmental Science and Protection Technician, Including Health](https://nuecareer.com/careers/environmental-science-and-protection-technician) — median $55,090
- [Conservation Scientist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/conservation-scientist) — median $73,010
- [Environmental Engineering Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/environmental-engineering-technologist-and-technician) — median $59,920
- [Brownfield Redevelopment Specialist and Site Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/brownfield-redevelopment-specialist-and-site-manager) — median $141,900
- [Climate Change Policy Analyst](https://nuecareer.com/careers/climate-change-policy-analyst) — median $82,220
- [Environmental Restoration Planner](https://nuecareer.com/careers/environmental-restoration-planner) — median $82,220
- [Hydrologic Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/hydrologic-technician) — median $64,790

## 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/environmental-scientist-and-specialist