---
title: "Geographer"
description: "Study the nature and use of areas of the Earth's surface, relating and interpreting interactions of physical and cultural phenomena. Conduct research on…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/geographer"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Geographer

**Category:** Life, Physical, and Social Science · **SOC code:** 19-3092 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 19-3092.00

Study the nature and use of areas of the Earth's surface, relating and interpreting interactions of physical and cultural phenomena. Conduct research on physical aspects of a region, including land forms, climates, soils, plants, and animals, and conduct research on the spatial implications of human activities within a given area, including social characteristics, economic activities, and political organization, as well as researching interdependence between regions at scales ranging from local to global.

Also advertised as: Earth Observations Scientist; Geographer; GIS Coordinator (Geographic Information Systems Coordinator); GIS Geographer (Geographic Information Systems Geographer); GIS Physical Scientist (Geographic Information Systems Physical Scientist); Scientist.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $102,040 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $49.06/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $66,770 to $136,660, with the middle half between $80,290 and $121,870
- **Total US employment:** 1,400
- **Typical entry education:** Bachelor's
- **Preparation required:** Medium preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** -2.1% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 100 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 24/100 — 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 1,400 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $66,770 |
| 25th | $80,290 |
| 50th (median) | $102,040 |
| 75th | $121,870 |
| 90th | $136,660 |
| Mean (average) | $102,350 |

### Pay by state

The 7 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 | $114,920 | $109,490 | 210 |
| CA | $114,460 | $103,378 | 80 |
| WA | $112,260 | $104,903 | 40 |
| VA | $108,020 | $106,840 | 130 |
| MO | $102,040 | $112,358 | 40 |
| IL | $92,640 | $92,679 | 40 |
| TX | $79,170 | $81,571 | 180 |

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 1,500 in the 2025–2035 base year to 1,500 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 0 jobs, or -2.1%. Declining: -2.1% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 100 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 | 45.0% |
| Doctoral Degree | 25.0% |
| Master's Degree | 20.0% |
| Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree | 5.0% |
| Post-Doctoral Training | 5.0% |

## What the work involves

- Teach geography.
- Create and modify maps, graphs, or diagrams, using geographical information software and related equipment, and principles of cartography, such as coordinate systems, longitude, latitude, elevation, topography, and map scales.
- Gather and compile geographic data from sources such as censuses, field observations, satellite imagery, aerial photographs, and existing maps.
- Write and present reports of research findings.
- Study the economic, political, and cultural characteristics of a specific region's population.
- Analyze geographic distributions of physical and cultural phenomena on local, regional, continental, or global scales.
- Locate and obtain existing geographic information databases.
- Conduct field work at outdoor sites.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Reading Comprehension — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Science — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 3.1 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.

- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Analysis — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Instructing — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Evaluation — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Service Orientation — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Geography — importance 4.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Computers and Electronics — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Education and Training — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Sociology and Anthropology — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Written Comprehension — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Expression — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Inductive Reasoning — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral 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
- Deductive 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), Artistic (A).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| I — Investigative | 6.74 |
| R — Realistic | 5.11 |
| A — Artistic | 3.69 |
| C — Conventional | 3.69 |
| S — Social | 2.72 |
| E — Enterprising | 2.10 |

### 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 | 86.8 |
| INTP | 81.8 |
| ISTP | 81.3 |
| ISTJ | 72.9 |
| INFP | 60.7 |

Best-fitting types: INTJ, INTP.

## Related occupations

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

- [Geographic Information Systems Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/geographic-information-systems-technologist-and-technician) — median $116,580
- [Geography Teacher, Postsecondary](https://nuecareer.com/careers/geography-teacher-postsecondary) — median $97,590
- [Geoscientist, Except Hydrologists and Geographers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/geoscientist) — median $101,920
- [Data Scientist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/data-scientist) — median $120,230
- [Cartographer and Photogrammetrist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cartographer-and-photogrammetrist) — median $81,390
- [Anthropologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/anthropologist) — median $70,770
- [Geodetic Surveyor](https://nuecareer.com/careers/geodetic-surveyor) — median $75,440
- [Atmospheric and Space Scientist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/atmospheric-and-space-scientist) — median $99,070
- [Remote Sensing Scientist and Technologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/remote-sensing-scientist-and-technologist) — median $122,570
- [Statistician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/statistician) — median $105,650

## 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/geographer