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Life, Physical, and Social Science jobs: what they pay

$94,600avg. a year
$45.48 an hour · 1,473,260 employed in the U.S.

National average and median pay for 48 life, physical, and social science jobs, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025. Open a job to see pay in every state and large metro area.

All 48 jobsOther categories

Top-paying life, physical, and social science jobs

Average annual U.S. pay, May 2025

48 life, physical, and social science jobs

JobAvg. payMedianJobs
Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists$116,840$103,410172,340
Occupational Health and Safety Specialists$93,860$90,150140,610
Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health$91,680$82,22089,250
Chemists$100,450$91,24082,770
Clinical and Counseling Psychologists$112,750$100,58075,990
Life, Physical, and Social Science Technicians, All Other$66,280$62,28073,910
Biological Technicians$61,380$57,51069,620
School Psychologists$99,160$95,99063,940
Chemical Technicians$63,900$60,39057,540
Biological Scientists, All Other$106,330$98,92055,850
Urban and Regional Planners$94,750$89,32044,230
Social Scientists and Related Workers, All Other$107,690$101,11037,100
Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health$60,800$55,09034,670
Biochemists and Biophysicists$129,840$127,41033,830
Social Science Research Assistants$66,140$61,99030,640
Occupational Health and Safety Technicians$68,120$61,56030,590
Forest and Conservation Technicians$59,060$54,56030,410
Conservation Scientists$77,130$73,01025,950
Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers$116,150$101,92023,470
Physical Scientists, All Other$129,230$122,57022,300
Physicists$171,180$172,25020,430
Forensic Science Technicians$79,200$72,06019,120
Microbiologists$97,600$87,99018,940
Psychologists, All Other$111,210$110,84018,820
Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists$83,020$76,78018,120
Economists$142,130$124,72017,790
Soil and Plant Scientists$87,720$78,85015,730
Agricultural Technicians$53,840$49,63015,130
Food Science Technicians$56,660$52,13014,600
Food Scientists and Technologists$95,360$88,72013,060
Epidemiologists$97,890$87,22012,090
Foresters$79,170$76,40010,430
Atmospheric and Space Scientists$106,110$99,07010,000
Anthropologists and Archeologists$75,620$70,7708,990
Materials Scientists$126,180$117,7908,470
Survey Researchers$79,580$69,4608,290
Life Scientists, All Other$107,860$93,7507,460
Geological Technicians, Except Hydrologic Technicians$61,870$53,3506,980
Nuclear Technicians$108,940$110,2406,470
Hydrologists$103,600$96,6005,850
Political Scientists$142,510$142,0805,540
Historians$81,240$76,7503,450
Animal Scientists$88,350$68,9403,100
Hydrologic Technicians$69,530$64,7902,840
Sociologists$114,920$106,0302,260
Astronomers$132,920$128,8202,120
Geographers$102,350$102,0401,400
Industrial-Organizational Psychologists$170,230$193,950790

Why people trust JobPayFacts

Official government dataEvery number comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey of employers, not self-reported salaries.
Every state and city830 jobs across all 50 states, D.C. and 199 large metro areas.
Updated every yearNew figures each spring when BLS releases them. This site uses May 2025 data.
Browse all jobs
Sources and notes. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Wages are gross pay before taxes and don't include overtime premiums, tips, bonuses or benefits; self-employed workers aren't included. How we use the data. JobPayFacts isn't affiliated with BLS.