What Can You Do With an Environmental Science Degree?

Below are 15 occupations that environmental science graduates commonly move into, most common first. Environmental Science and Protection Technician, Including Health leads at $55,090 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025); across the whole list the middle occupation pays $82,220 and 1 of 15 typically need a graduate degree. A major is a body of study, not a job assignment, so treat every entry as a common destination rather than a promise.

What the degree actually involves: Ecology, chemistry, geographic information systems, and fieldwork in real weather.

Environmental science is interdisciplinary, which means the destinations are decided by the technical specialism you pick inside it: field and laboratory monitoring, compliance and permitting, engineering, or the geospatial and planning side.

Common destinations: 15
Median pay range: $55,090–$116,580
Projected to grow: 14 of 15
Need a graduate degree: 1 of 15

How this list was built

The destinations are the occupations environmental science graduates commonly move into. They are ordered by how common the destination is, not by what it pays, so the ordinary outcomes sit at the top where they belong rather than being buried under the flattering ones.
Every destination is matched to a real occupation in the 923-occupation NueCareer career bank. A destination that does not resolve to a bank occupation is dropped rather than shown without data.
All pay, growth, openings and education figures come from that bank: BLS OEWS May 2025 for wages, BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 for projected change, annual openings and the typical education needed for entry, and O*NET 30.3 Database for what the work involves. Nothing is estimated and no figure here is generated by an AI model.
Destinations whose BLS typical entry education is a master’s or a doctoral or professional degree are marked Graduate study on the list. That flag is read from the federal data, not asserted by us.
What this list is not: a ranking of which destination you should pick, a statement of how many graduates reach each one, or a promise that the degree entitles you to any of them. Read the full methodology.

15 careers an environmental science degree commonly leads to

Most common destination first. Every card carries the national median annual wage, projected employment change and openings over 2024–2034, and the typical education people already in the job hold.

1. Environmental Science and Protection Technician, Including Health
Life, Physical, and Social Science
Median pay
$55,090
Growth
+4.0%
Openings/yr
5,600
Education
Associate's
Perform laboratory and field tests to monitor the environment and investigate sources of pollution, including those that affect health, under the direction of an environmental scientist, engineer, or other specialist.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
2. Environmental Scientist and Specialist, Including Health
Life, Physical, and Social Science
Median pay
$82,220
Growth
+4.4%
Openings/yr
8,500
Education
Bachelor's
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.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
3. Environmental Compliance Inspector
Business and Financial Operations
Median pay
$80,730
Growth
+3.0%
Openings/yr
33,300
Education
Bachelor's
Inspect and investigate sources of pollution to protect the public and environment and ensure conformance with Federal, State, and local regulations and ordinances.
Environmental Compliance Inspector salary & outlook →
4. Conservation Scientist
Life, Physical, and Social Science
Median pay
$73,010
Growth
+3.4%
Openings/yr
2,500
Education
Bachelor's
Manage, improve, and protect natural resources to maximize their use without damaging the environment.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
5. Occupational Health and Safety Specialist
Life, Physical, and Social Science
Median pay
$90,150
Growth
+12.5%
Openings/yr
14,900
Education
Bachelor's
Review, evaluate, and analyze work environments and design programs and procedures to control, eliminate, and prevent disease or injury caused by chemical, physical, and biological agents or ergonomic factors.
Occupational Health and Safety Specialist salary & outlook →
6. Geographic Information Systems Technologist and Technician
Computer and Mathematical
Median pay
$116,580
Growth
+8.2%
Openings/yr
31,300
Education
Bachelor's
Assist scientists or related professionals in building, maintaining, modifying, or using geographic information systems (GIS) databases.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
7. Forester
Life, Physical, and Social Science
Median pay
$76,400
Growth
+1.2%
Openings/yr
1,100
Education
Bachelor's
Manage public and private forested lands for economic, recreational, and conservation purposes.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
8. Soil and Plant Scientist
Life, Physical, and Social Science
Median pay
$78,850
Growth
+5.4%
Openings/yr
1,700
Education
Bachelor's
Conduct research in breeding, physiology, production, yield, and management of crops and agricultural plants or trees, shrubs, and nursery stock, their growth in soils, and control of pests; or study the chemical, phy…
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
9. Hydrologist
Life, Physical, and Social Science
Median pay
$96,600
Growth
-0.1%
Openings/yr
500
Education
Bachelor's
Research the distribution, circulation, and physical properties of underground and surface waters; and study the form and intensity of precipitation and its rate of infiltration into the soil, movement through the ear…
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
10. Geoscientist, Except Hydrologists and Geographers
Life, Physical, and Social Science
Median pay
$101,920
Growth
+3.2%
Openings/yr
2,000
Education
Bachelor's
Study the composition, structure, and other physical aspects of the Earth.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
11. Environmental Engineer
Architecture and Engineering
Median pay
$107,110
Growth
+3.9%
Openings/yr
3,000
Education
Bachelor's
Research, design, plan, or perform engineering duties in the prevention, control, and remediation of environmental hazards using various engineering disciplines.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
12. Industrial Ecologist
Life, Physical, and Social Science
Median pay
$82,220
Growth
+4.4%
Openings/yr
8,500
Education
Bachelor's
Apply principles and processes of natural ecosystems to develop models for efficient industrial systems.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
13. Environmental Restoration Planner
Life, Physical, and Social Science
Median pay
$82,220
Growth
+4.4%
Openings/yr
8,500
Education
Bachelor's
Collaborate with field and biology staff to oversee the implementation of restoration projects and to develop new products.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
14. Urban and Regional Planner
Life, Physical, and Social Science
Graduate study
Median pay
$89,320
Growth
+3.4%
Openings/yr
3,400
Education
Master's
Develop comprehensive plans and programs for use of land and physical facilities of jurisdictions, such as towns, cities, counties, and metropolitan areas.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.
15. Wildlife Biologist
Life, Physical, and Social Science
Median pay
$76,780
Growth
+1.6%
Openings/yr
1,400
Education
Bachelor's
Study the origins, behavior, diseases, genetics, and life processes of animals and wildlife.
Full page coming in the next tranche. Data shown here is from the same bank.

Does an environmental science degree decide your career?

For most people, no. Federal survey data has consistently found that only a minority of US graduates work in a job closely related to their degree field, and that share falls further with each year after graduation. The exceptions are the fields where a licence sits at the end of the degree, and they are exceptions precisely because the route is fixed.

The practical reading of the list above is this: 14 of the 15 destinations are typically entered with a bachelor's degree or less, and 1 typically need a master's or a doctoral or professional degree (BLS Employment Projections, 2024–2034). If the destination you want is in the second group, the extra years are part of the decision from day one, not a detail to sort out later.

Not sure this is the right major in the first place? Take the free college major quiz — fifteen questions that score what you like doing against what each major actually asks of you, and show the same real occupations underneath every match.

Environmental Science degrees: FAQ

Do you need a master's degree after an environmental science degree?

For 14 of the 15 destinations on this page, no: BLS Employment Projections (2024–2034) list a bachelor's degree or less as the typical entry requirement. The other 1 typically need a master's or a doctoral or professional degree, and each is marked on the list below. "Typical" describes what people already in the job hold, not an admissions rule.

What is the highest-paying career an environmental science degree leads to?

Of the 15 destinations on this page, Geographic Information Systems Technologist and Technician has the highest national median wage at $116,580 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025), against $50,980 for all US occupations. Typical entry education for it is bachelor's. A median is the midpoint of everyone in the job today, so a first salary normally sits well below it.

Which of these careers hires the most people each year?

Environmental Compliance Inspector, with about 33,300 projected openings a year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024–2034). Across all 15 destinations on this page the combined figure is roughly 126,200 openings a year. Openings include replacing people who leave, not just new jobs, which is why a slow-growing occupation can still hire heavily.

Is an environmental science degree worth it?

That depends on the price you pay for it, which this page cannot know. What it can tell you is where the destinations sit: the middle occupation on this list pays $82,220 a year against $50,980 for all US occupations, the range runs $55,090–$116,580, and 14 of the 15 are projected to grow over 2024–2034 (BLS OEWS May 2025, BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034).

How was this list of careers put together?

The destinations were curated as the occupations environmental science graduates commonly move into, ordered by how common rather than by pay, then matched against the 923-occupation NueCareer career bank. Every figure shown comes from that bank: wages from BLS OEWS May 2025, projected change and annual openings and typical entry education from BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034, and occupation descriptions from O*NET 30.3 Database. Nothing is estimated, and no figure on this page is generated by an AI model.

How this list was built

15 careers an environmental science degree commonly leads to

1. Environmental Science and Protection Technician, Including Health

2. Environmental Scientist and Specialist, Including Health

3. Environmental Compliance Inspector

4. Conservation Scientist

5. Occupational Health and Safety Specialist

6. Geographic Information Systems Technologist and Technician

7. Forester

8. Soil and Plant Scientist

9. Hydrologist

10. Geoscientist, Except Hydrologists and Geographers

11. Environmental Engineer

12. Industrial Ecologist

13. Environmental Restoration Planner

14. Urban and Regional Planner

15. Wildlife Biologist