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Highest Paying Science Jobs
The highest paying science job is physicist, with a median salary of $172,250 a year, followed by biochemist and biophysicist ($127,410) and medical scientist ($103,410). All 17 science jobs below are ranked by median pay from the latest BLS wage survey (May 2025).
Highest Paying Science Jobs, ranked
of 17 jobs match.
| # | Job | Median | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Physicist Science | $172,250 | $82.81 | $274,110 | Doctoral or professional | 20,430 |
| 2 | Biochemist and biophysicist Science | $127,410 | $61.26 | $201,110 | Doctoral or professional | 33,830 |
| 3 | Medical scientist Science | $103,410 | $49.72 | $177,780 | Doctoral or professional | 172,340 |
| 4 | Geoscientist Science | $101,920 | $49.00 | $200,230 | Bachelor's degree | 23,470 |
| 5 | Clinical and counseling psychologist Science | $100,580 | $48.36 | $180,960 | Doctoral or professional | 75,990 |
| 6 | School psychologist Science | $95,990 | $46.15 | $142,330 | Master's degree | 63,940 |
| 7 | Chemist Science | $91,240 | $43.87 | $160,830 | Bachelor's degree | 82,770 |
| 8 | Occupational health and safety specialist Science | $90,150 | $43.34 | $134,950 | Bachelor's degree | 140,610 |
| 9 | Urban and regional planner Science | $89,320 | $42.94 | $134,490 | Master's degree | 44,230 |
| 10 | Environmental scientist and specialist Science | $82,220 | $39.53 | $140,010 | Bachelor's degree | 89,250 |
| 11 | Conservation scientist Science | $73,010 | $35.10 | $110,410 | Bachelor's degree | 25,950 |
| 12 | Social science research assistant Science | $61,990 | $29.81 | $102,070 | Bachelor's degree | 30,640 |
| 13 | Occupational health and safety technician Science | $61,560 | $29.59 | $100,160 | High school diploma | 30,590 |
| 14 | Chemical technician Science | $60,390 | $29.03 | $92,040 | Associate's degree | 57,540 |
| 15 | Biological technician Science | $57,510 | $27.65 | $84,940 | Bachelor's degree | 69,620 |
| 16 | Environmental science and protection technician Science | $55,090 | $26.49 | $94,160 | Associate's degree | 34,670 |
| 17 | Forest and conservation technician Science | $54,560 | $26.23 | $83,630 | Associate's degree | 30,410 |
No job matches those filters.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (published 2026), and Employment Projections education and training assignments (2025). Salaries are yearly medians before tax for wage and salary workers, not the self-employed. The median for all US jobs is $50,980. Jobs with fewer than 20,000 workers nationally are not listed.
About the Highest Paying Jobs
Highest Paying Jobs ranks 515 US jobs by what they actually pay, using the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey (May 2025, published 2026). Filter the list by field, by the education a job needs to start, or by a minimum salary, and sort it by median pay, average pay, what the top 10% earn, hourly wage or the number of people in the job. Ready-made rankings answer the common questions: the highest paying jobs without a degree, with only a high school diploma, with an associate, bachelor’s or master’s degree, entry-level and trade jobs, the best-paid jobs in healthcare, tech, engineering and ten other fields, and the highest paying jobs in each of the 50 states and Washington DC. Every job links to its own salary page with hourly pay, the full pay range and pay by state.
How to use it
- 1 Start with the full ranking, or pick a ready-made list such as jobs without a degree, a field or your state.
- 2 Narrow it down with the field, education and minimum pay filters, or search for a job.
- 3 Sort by median salary, top 10% pay, hourly wage or most workers.
- 4 Open any job to see its pay range, hourly and monthly pay and salary in every state.
Frequently asked questions
What is the highest paying science job?
Physicist pays the most, with a median salary of $172,250 a year. The top three are physicist ($172,250), biochemist and biophysicist ($127,410), medical scientist ($103,410).
How many science jobs pay over $100,000?
5 of the 17 science jobs have a median salary of $100,000 or more a year.
Which well-paid science job has the most openings?
Medical scientist employs the most people among the best-paid science jobs, with about 172,340 workers and a median salary of $103,410. More people in a job usually means more openings each year.
Which science job pays the most per hour?
Physicist has the highest median hourly wage, $82.81 an hour. Some jobs, such as teachers, are paid by the year only and have no hourly figure.
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