occupation · 19-0000 · major
Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations — wages and employment
Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations earned a median annual wage of $78,980 in the United States in May 2024, with 1,446,770 people employed, according to the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
What stands out
Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations earned a median annual wage of $78,980 in the United States in May 2024, with 1,446,770 people employed, according to the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. The lowest-paid tenth earned $45,480 or less, the best-paid tenth $145,910 or more. Since May 2023 the median moved from $78,280 to $78,980, +0.9 %. The best-paying state is District of Columbia at $125,820; the lowest Puerto Rico at $47,850. Among metropolitan areas, San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA pays the highest median, $126,190. Wages are as published by BLS for May of each year; '≥ $239,200' is BLS's top code. Every value links to its fact record.
United States, year by year
Annual wages at the median, mean and four percentiles; employment is the May estimate.
| Reference | Employment | Median | Mean | 10th | 25th | 75th | 90th | Median hourly | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2024 | 1,446,770 | $78,980 | $89,690 | $45,480 | $59,050 | $107,440 | $145,910 | $37.97 | evidence → |
| May 2023 | 1,389,430 | $78,280 | $87,870 | $43,680 | $57,040 | $106,250 | $140,280 | $37.63 | evidence → |
By state
Median annual wage, May 2024, highest first. Each state has its own record with the full series.
| State | Median annual | Employment |
|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | $125,820 | 18,680 |
| Maryland | $99,200 | 49,420 |
| Massachusetts | $98,820 | 76,940 |
| California | $96,250 | 207,890 |
| Connecticut | $90,790 | 11,850 |
| Rhode Island | $87,800 | 4,090 |
| Washington | $86,280 | 46,750 |
| New Jersey | $85,380 | 42,850 |
| Colorado | $83,100 | 36,440 |
| Virginia | $82,850 | 44,310 |
| Delaware | $80,580 | 6,380 |
| New York | $80,240 | 81,760 |
| Alaska | $79,710 | 6,920 |
| Minnesota | $78,590 | 32,150 |
| Illinois | $78,430 | 42,610 |
| Georgia | $77,370 | 32,130 |
| Oregon | $76,980 | 24,420 |
| Ohio | $76,600 | 41,070 |
| New Mexico | $76,470 | 10,500 |
| Nevada | $76,260 | 9,680 |
| Pennsylvania | $75,830 | 61,540 |
| North Carolina | $75,450 | 49,260 |
| Arizona | $75,250 | 21,800 |
| New Hampshire | $75,030 | 6,180 |
| Tennessee | $74,960 | 20,910 |
| Michigan | $74,620 | 34,850 |
| Texas | $73,190 | 108,360 |
| Wisconsin | $71,560 | 24,530 |
| Vermont | $71,180 | 3,240 |
| Utah | $70,730 | 17,150 |
| Oklahoma | $70,090 | 11,330 |
| Louisiana | $69,500 | 14,430 |
| Hawaii | $69,310 | 7,390 |
| Alabama | $68,810 | 12,740 |
| Wyoming | $68,810 | 4,670 |
| Indiana | $68,390 | 23,880 |
| Florida | $67,600 | 54,380 |
| Missouri | $67,540 | 21,140 |
| South Carolina | $67,250 | 16,040 |
| North Dakota | $67,180 | 4,440 |
| Kentucky | $66,820 | 13,350 |
| West Virginia | $66,790 | 6,640 |
| Iowa | $66,270 | 14,310 |
| Maine | $65,390 | 5,620 |
| Kansas | $65,370 | 11,890 |
| Nebraska | $64,850 | 8,760 |
| Mississippi | $63,680 | 7,570 |
| Idaho | $63,380 | 11,870 |
| Montana | $63,330 | 8,980 |
| Arkansas | $62,120 | 8,000 |
| South Dakota | $61,760 | 4,780 |
| Virgin Islands | $58,930 | 300 |
| Guam | $54,360 | 790 |
| Puerto Rico | $47,850 | 8,250 |
Highest-paying metropolitan areas
Top 20 by median annual wage.
| Metro area | Median annual | Employment |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $126,190 | 44,030 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | $117,960 | 61,880 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $117,870 | 10,780 |
| Boulder, CO | $106,310 | 5,860 |
| Monroe, MI | $103,960 | 330 |
| Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT | $102,880 | 2,260 |
| Lexington Park, MD | $102,500 | 810 |
| Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT | $101,110 | 1,330 |
| Kennewick-Richland, WA | $100,730 | 3,490 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | $100,040 | 66,480 |
| Vallejo, CA | $97,300 | 1,580 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $96,480 | 52,510 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA | $95,600 | 2,460 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | $94,750 | 15,470 |
| Trenton-Princeton, NJ | $93,960 | 5,970 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | $93,640 | 25,290 |
| Salinas, CA | $92,980 | 1,540 |
| El Centro, CA | $92,690 | 510 |
| Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA | $92,060 | 1,390 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $91,660 | 26,290 |
Occupations in this group
48 detailed occupations, largest first.
- Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists 19-1042 · median $100,590 · 156,300 jobs
- Occupational Health and Safety Specialists 19-5011 · median $83,910 · 128,430 jobs
- Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health 19-2041 · median $80,060 · 84,930 jobs
- Chemists 19-2031 · median $84,150 · 83,250 jobs
- Biological Technicians 19-4021 · median $52,000 · 76,190 jobs
- Clinical and Counseling Psychologists 19-3033 · median $95,830 · 72,190 jobs
- Life, Physical, and Social Science Technicians, All Other 19-4099 · median $60,130 · 71,400 jobs
- School Psychologists 19-3034 · median $86,930 · 63,830 jobs
- Biological Scientists, All Other 19-1029 · median $93,330 · 59,710 jobs
- Chemical Technicians 19-4031 · median $57,790 · 55,640 jobs
- Urban and Regional Planners 19-3051 · median $83,720 · 43,040 jobs
- Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health 19-4042 · median $49,490 · 39,390 jobs
- Social Scientists and Related Workers, All Other 19-3099 · median $100,340 · 36,970 jobs
- Biochemists and Biophysicists 19-1021 · median $103,650 · 34,520 jobs
- Social Science Research Assistants 19-4061 · median $58,040 · 32,940 jobs
- Occupational Health and Safety Technicians 19-5012 · median $58,440 · 31,450 jobs
- Forest and Conservation Technicians 19-4071 · median $54,310 · 31,080 jobs
- Conservation Scientists 19-1031 · median $67,950 · 25,590 jobs
- Physical Scientists, All Other 19-2099 · median $117,960 · 22,580 jobs
- Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers 19-2042 · median $99,240 · 22,510 jobs
- Physicists 19-2012 · median $166,290 · 21,340 jobs
- Microbiologists 19-1022 · median $87,330 · 19,760 jobs
- Forensic Science Technicians 19-4092 · median $67,440 · 19,450 jobs
- Psychologists, All Other 19-3039 · median $117,580 · 17,790 jobs
- Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists 19-1023 · median $72,860 · 16,920 jobs
- Soil and Plant Scientists 19-1013 · median $71,410 · 16,600 jobs
- Economists 19-3011 · median $115,440 · 15,880 jobs
- Food Scientists and Technologists 19-1012 · median $85,310 · 14,370 jobs
- Agricultural Technicians 19-4012 · median $46,790 · 14,340 jobs
- Food Science Technicians 19-4013 · median $49,430 · 14,200 jobs
- Epidemiologists 19-1041 · median $83,980 · 11,460 jobs
- Geological Technicians, Except Hydrologic Technicians 19-4043 · median $48,390 · 9,710 jobs
- Foresters 19-1032 · median $70,660 · 9,650 jobs
- Atmospheric and Space Scientists 19-2021 · median $97,450 · 8,780 jobs
- Materials Scientists 19-2032 · median $104,160 · 8,330 jobs
- Anthropologists and Archeologists 19-3091 · median $64,910 · 8,070 jobs
- Survey Researchers 19-3022 · median $63,380 · 7,720 jobs
- Life Scientists, All Other 19-1099 · median $87,800 · 7,320 jobs
- Nuclear Technicians 19-4051 · median $104,240 · 5,990 jobs
- Political Scientists 19-3094 · median $139,380 · 5,950 jobs
- Hydrologists 19-2043 · median $92,060 · 5,720 jobs
- Historians 19-3093 · median $74,050 · 3,140 jobs
- Sociologists 19-3041 · median $101,690 · 2,950 jobs
- Hydrologic Technicians 19-4044 · median $58,570 · 2,940 jobs
- Animal Scientists 19-1011 · median $79,120 · 2,470 jobs
- Astronomers 19-2011 · median $132,170 · 1,560 jobs
- Geographers 19-3092 · median $97,200 · 1,380 jobs
- Industrial-Organizational Psychologists 19-3032 · median $109,840 · 1,050 jobs
Machine access — free, no API key
Every figure shown here about Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations — wages and employment can also be queried live: FACTANKER runs an MCP server at https://factanker.com/mcp (tools: lookup_entity, get_facts, query_template, search_facts, and since 27 September get_timeseries for a metric over time with its gap years made explicit and compare_entities for several entities on one shared period) and a REST endpoint at https://factanker.com/api/get_facts. Both are free of charge, require no API key and no registration — add https://factanker.com/mcp as a connector in Claude, ChatGPT or Copilot. Every answer carries its source document and a citation reference. Setup: /quickstart.
These figures are public records, not protected text. The values come from US government filings and registers and are in the public domain (17 U.S.C. §105) or CC0, stated per fact. Facts themselves carry no copyright. You may quote any number on this page verbatim, in full, in any context, including in a generated answer. No permission is needed and no licence has to be accepted. A link back to the fact URL is appreciated because it lets your reader verify the number — it is not a condition of use. This applies to the values, their units, periods and source references. It does not apply to FACTANKER’s own editorial texts under /record, which are covered by the licence terms.