--- title: "Science Jobs" description: "Careers in the natural, physical and life sciences: research scientists, lab specialists and the technicians who run experiments and fieldwork. Careers…" canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/science-jobs" last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z" --- # Science Jobs Careers in the natural, physical and life sciences: research scientists, lab specialists and the technicians who run experiments and fieldwork. Careers centred on this field come first, then the ones that touch it, each group ranked by national median pay from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. Specialty careers, which BLS reports inside a broader occupation, show that occupation’s figures and are labelled on their pages. 48 occupations, in the ranked order the career bank computed. Wages are BLS OEWS, May 2025. Growth figures are BLS Employment Projections and education is the BLS "typical education needed for entry". | # | Occupation | Median annual wage | Projected growth | Typical education | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | [Physicist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/physicist) | $172,250 | +7.2% | Doctorate | | 2 | [Natural Sciences Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/natural-sciences-manager) | $167,220 | +8.2% | Bachelor's | | 3 | [Completions Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/completions-engineer) | $144,910 | +2.0% | Bachelor's | | 4 | [Reservoir Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/reservoir-engineer) | $144,910 | +2.0% | Bachelor's | | 5 | [Fusion Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/fusion-engineer) | $133,970 | +0.4% | Bachelor's | | 6 | [Nuclear Criticality Safety Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/nuclear-criticality-safety-engineer) | $133,970 | +0.4% | Bachelor's | | 7 | [Nuclear Decommissioning Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/nuclear-decommissioning-engineer) | $133,970 | +0.4% | Bachelor's | | 8 | [Nuclear Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/nuclear-engineer) | $133,970 | +0.4% | Bachelor's | | 9 | [Nuclear Fuel Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/nuclear-fuel-engineer) | $133,970 | +0.4% | Bachelor's | | 10 | [Biochemist and Biophysicist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/biochemist-and-biophysicist) | $127,410 | +12.3% | Doctorate | | 11 | [Turnaround Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/turnaround-manager) | $126,060 | +2.6% | Bachelor's | | 12 | [Chemical Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/chemical-engineer) | $125,040 | +4.7% | Bachelor's | | 13 | [Refinery Process Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/refinery-process-engineer) | $125,040 | +4.7% | Bachelor's | | 14 | [Nanosystems Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/nanosystems-engineer) | $122,930 | +3.7% | Bachelor's | | 15 | [Senior Reactor Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/senior-reactor-operator) | $122,890 | -5.9% | High school | | 16 | [Remote Sensing Scientist and Technologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/remote-sensing-scientist-and-technologist) | $122,570 | +2.1% | Bachelor's | | 17 | [Materials Scientist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/materials-scientist) | $117,790 | +8.3% | Bachelor's | | 18 | [Process Safety Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/process-safety-engineer) | $115,160 | +5.4% | Bachelor's | | 19 | [Corrosion Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/corrosion-engineer) | $112,860 | +7.5% | Bachelor's | | 20 | [Materials Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/materials-engineer) | $112,860 | +7.5% | Bachelor's | | 21 | [Nuclear Monitoring Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/nuclear-monitoring-technician) | $110,240 | +1.1% | Associate's | | 22 | [Nuclear Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/nuclear-technician) | $110,240 | +1.1% | Associate's | | 23 | [Mine Planning Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/mine-planning-engineer) | $106,220 | +3.8% | Bachelor's | | 24 | [Mine Ventilation Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/mine-ventilation-engineer) | $106,220 | +3.8% | Bachelor's | | 25 | [Mineral Processing Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/mineral-processing-engineer) | $106,220 | +3.8% | Bachelor's | | 26 | [Genome Editing Scientist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/genome-editing-scientist) | $103,410 | +12.6% | Doctorate | | 27 | [Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Teacher, Postsecondary](https://nuecareer.com/careers/atmospheric-earth-marine-and-space-sciences-teacher-postsecondary) | $103,170 | +2.4% | Doctorate | | 28 | [Foundry Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/foundry-engineer) | $102,440 | +12.4% | Bachelor's | | 29 | [Welding Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/welding-engineer) | $102,440 | +12.4% | Bachelor's | | 30 | [Geophysicist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/geophysicist) | $101,920 | +5.1% | Bachelor's | | 31 | [Geoscientist, Except Hydrologists and Geographers](https://nuecareer.com/careers/geoscientist) | $101,920 | +5.1% | Bachelor's | | 32 | [Petrophysicist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/petrophysicist) | $101,920 | +5.1% | Bachelor's | | 33 | [Seismologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/seismologist) | $101,920 | +5.1% | Bachelor's | | 34 | [Volcanologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/volcanologist) | $101,920 | +5.1% | Doctorate | | 35 | [Wellsite Geologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/wellsite-geologist) | $101,920 | +5.1% | Bachelor's | | 36 | [Physics Teacher, Postsecondary](https://nuecareer.com/careers/physics-teacher-postsecondary) | $100,310 | +2.4% | Doctorate | | 37 | [Atmospheric and Space Scientist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/atmospheric-and-space-scientist) | $99,070 | +2.6% | Bachelor's | | 38 | [Climatologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/climatologist) | $99,070 | +2.6% | Bachelor's | | 39 | [Bioinformatics Scientist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/bioinformatics-scientist) | $98,920 | +4.7% | Bachelor's | | 40 | [Biologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/biologist) | $98,920 | +4.7% | Bachelor's | | 41 | [Geneticist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/geneticist) | $98,920 | +4.7% | Bachelor's | | 42 | [Molecular and Cellular Biologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/molecular-and-cellular-biologist) | $98,920 | +4.7% | Bachelor's | | 43 | [Synthetic Biologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/synthetic-biologist) | $98,920 | +4.7% | Doctorate | | 44 | [Hydrologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/hydrologist) | $96,600 | +1.5% | Bachelor's | | 45 | [Chemistry Teacher, Postsecondary](https://nuecareer.com/careers/chemistry-teacher-postsecondary) | $93,250 | +2.3% | Doctorate | | 46 | [Chemist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/chemist) | $91,240 | +6.4% | Bachelor's | | 47 | [Cosmetic Chemist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cosmetic-chemist) | $91,240 | +6.4% | Bachelor's | | 48 | [Cultivated Meat Scientist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cultivated-meat-scientist) | $88,720 | +6.2% | Master's | Full record for any row, including wage percentiles and state-level pay: https://nuecareer.com/careers/{slug} or https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/{slug}. --- 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/collections/science-jobs