Life, Physical, and Social Science: pay for 48 occupations, May 2025

The field Life, Physical, and Social Science had 1,473,260 jobs in the United States in May 2025, with a median pay of $82,530 a year ($39.68 an hour) across all its occupations.

Filter the occupations

Occupation	Median a year	Median an hour	Jobs
Industrial-Organizational Psychologists	$193,950	$93.24	790
Physicists	$172,250	$82.81	20,430
Political Scientists	$142,080	$68.31	5,540
Astronomers	$128,820	$61.94	2,120
Biochemists and Biophysicists	$127,410	$61.26	33,830
Economists	$124,720	$59.96	17,790
Physical Scientists, All Other	$122,570	$58.93	22,300
Materials Scientists	$117,790	$56.63	8,470
Psychologists, All Other	$110,840	$53.29	18,820
Nuclear Technicians	$110,240	$53.00	6,470
Sociologists	$106,030	$50.98	2,260
Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists	$103,410	$49.72	172,340
Geographers	$102,040	$49.06	1,400
Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers	$101,920	$49.00	23,470
Social Scientists and Related Workers, All Other	$101,110	$48.61	37,100
Clinical and Counseling Psychologists	$100,580	$48.36	75,990
Atmospheric and Space Scientists	$99,070	$47.63	10,000
Biological Scientists, All Other	$98,920	$47.56	55,850
Hydrologists	$96,600	$46.44	5,850
School Psychologists	$95,990	$46.15	63,940
Life Scientists, All Other	$93,750	$45.07	7,460
Chemists	$91,240	$43.87	82,770
Occupational Health and Safety Specialists	$90,150	$43.34	140,610
Urban and Regional Planners	$89,320	$42.94	44,230
Food Scientists and Technologists	$88,720	$42.65	13,060
Microbiologists	$87,990	$42.30	18,940
Epidemiologists	$87,220	$41.93	12,090
Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health	$82,220	$39.53	89,250
Soil and Plant Scientists	$78,850	$37.91	15,730
Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists	$76,780	$36.91	18,120
Historians	$76,750	$36.90	3,450
Foresters	$76,400	$36.73	10,430
Conservation Scientists	$73,010	$35.10	25,950
Forensic Science Technicians	$72,060	$34.65	19,120
Anthropologists and Archeologists	$70,770	$34.02	8,990
Survey Researchers	$69,460	$33.40	8,290
Animal Scientists	$68,940	$33.14	3,100
Hydrologic Technicians	$64,790	$31.15	2,840
Life, Physical, and Social Science Technicians, All Other	$62,280	$29.94	73,910
Social Science Research Assistants	$61,990	$29.81	30,640
Occupational Health and Safety Technicians	$61,560	$29.59	30,590
Chemical Technicians	$60,390	$29.03	57,540
Biological Technicians	$57,510	$27.65	69,620
Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health	$55,090	$26.49	34,670
Forest and Conservation Technicians	$54,560	$26.23	30,410
Geological Technicians, Except Hydrologic Technicians	$53,350	$25.65	6,980
Food Science Technicians	$52,130	$25.06	14,600
Agricultural Technicians	$49,630	$23.86	15,130

In short

Highest median pay in this field: Industrial-Organizational Psychologists, $193,950 a year.
Lowest: Agricultural Technicians, $49,630 a year.
Most jobs: Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists (172,340), Occupational Health and Safety Specialists (140,610) and Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health (89,250).
For comparison, the median for all occupations in the country was $50,980 a year.

Sorted by median pay, highest first. "Not published" in the yearly or hourly column means BLS releases only the other one for that occupation.

The field as a whole

Life, Physical, and Social Science holds 1,473,260 of the 155,495,730 jobs in the national figures, about 1 in every 100. Its median pay of $82,530 a year is 62% above the median for all occupations ($50,980), which places it number 7 of the 22 fields. Across the whole field, the lowest-paid tenth earned less than $48,420 and the highest-paid tenth more than $155,830; the middle half earned between $62,380 and $114,460. The average was $94,600, 15% above the median.

Inside the field

Inside the field, the best-paid occupation with a published yearly median earns 3.9 times the lowest ($193,950 against $49,630). 47 of the 48 occupations with a yearly median are above the national median of $50,980, and 1 are below it. The occupation in the middle of the field's list is Food Scientists and Technologists, at $88,720. Jobs are unevenly spread: the three largest occupations hold 27% of the field's jobs, while the smallest, Industrial-Organizational Psychologists, has 790. Pay stretches furthest within Animal Scientists, where the highest-paid tenth earn over $166,000 and the lowest-paid tenth under $44,350.

Reading the field

Pay also moves with place. For the field's largest occupation, Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists, the state medians run from $49,650 in Puerto Rico to $136,990 in California; its own page has every state. The Bureau of Labor Statistics sorts every occupation into one field by the work done, not by the industry of the employer, so an accountant at a hospital is counted under business and financial operations, not health care.

Questions about this field

What is the highest-paying job in life, physical, and social science?

By published median pay in May 2025: Industrial-Organizational Psychologists, at $193,950 a year.

Which life, physical, and social science occupation has the most jobs?

Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists, with 172,340 jobs in the United States.

What is the median pay for life, physical, and social science occupations?

$82,530 a year across the whole field, against $50,980 for all occupations.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Checked in November 2026. Figures are for employees, before tax, and leave out overtime pay and benefits. They are official statistics, not advice or a pay offer; see bls.gov/oes for the original tables.

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