Geographers Salary and Pay
How much do Geographers make?
Geographers pay a median of $97,200 a year in the BLS May 2024 survey, with a mean of $98,160 across 1,380 counted jobs. Half of all workers in the occupation earn between $75,590 and $117,190.
The complete pay picture for Geographers: 1,380 jobs nationally, a median of $97,200, and the state and metro tables that show where that median is beaten and where it is not.
Updated November 5, 2026
Salary converter for this occupation
Hourly figures use the BLS full-time convention of 2,080 hours a year. The converter loads this occupation's own ladder, median $97,200 first; type any offer into the custom box to price it against the same year.
The national wage ladder (BLS OEWS, May 2024)
| Pay level | Annual wage | Hourly wage |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $62,390 | $30.00 |
| 25th percentile | $75,590 | $36.34 |
| Median (50th) | $97,200 | $46.73 |
| 75th percentile | $117,190 | $56.34 |
| 90th percentile | $133,680 | $64.27 |
Percentiles answer the question a single average cannot: where would a given Geographers offer sit among all 1,380 workers doing this job? The survey top-codes at $239,200+ and withholds unreliable cells, shown as n/p in the table.
Employment and concentration
The occupation employed 1,380 people in May 2024, 0.00% of every job BLS counted. Maryland is the largest employer at 260 jobs, and the leading three states between them hold 37.7% of the workforce. Concentration peaks in Maryland, whose location quotient of 10.46 says this work is 10.46 times as dense there as it is nationwide.
One in ten workers in this field earns $62,390 or less, and one in ten earns $133,680 or more, so the top-to-bottom ratio is 2.1 to 1 and the annual gap is $71,290. The mean ($98,160) versus median ($97,200) comparison shows a right-skewed ladder where senior and specialist roles lift the average in this occupation.
Pay by state
Sorted by employment, the table below puts Maryland first at 260 jobs; sorted by median pay instead, Washington would lead at $110,340. Both orderings are printed in one table:
| State | Employment | Jobs per 1,000 | Location quotient | Mean annual | Median annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maryland | 260 | 0.1 | 10.46 | $104,810 | $109,120 |
| Texas | 170 | 0.0 | 1.39 | $80,670 | $75,550 |
| Colorado | 90 | 0.0 | 3.53 | $102,600 | $106,350 |
| Illinois | 50 | 0.0 | 0.85 | $91,770 | $91,270 |
| Arizona | 40 | 0.0 | 1.36 | $90,740 | $87,050 |
| Missouri | 40 | 0.0 | 1.46 | $92,450 | $94,870 |
| Pennsylvania | 40 | 0.0 | 0.74 | $97,760 | $85,220 |
| Washington | 30 | 0.0 | 1.01 | $114,410 | $110,340 |
The occupation in context
Ranked against all 826 published occupations, Geographers stands number 814 by employment and number 140 by median pay. Inside its own major group, Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations, the group median wage is $84,150 across 48 detailed occupations, so this occupation pays 16% more than its group median, and it supplies 0.1% of the group's 1,446,780 jobs. In 3 of the 8 states with a published median, the state median beats the national median of $97,200, which is the single best quick test of whether this occupation's pay is set nationally or locally: a high count means local markets regularly outbid the national figure.
Metropolitan areas: where the jobs and the pay sit
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV is the largest metro employer with 270 jobs, 19.6% of the national total. Employment rank and pay rank are different lists: the second table re-sorts metros with at least 500 jobs in this occupation by mean pay, the floor keeping a handful of workers from posing as a market.
Largest metro employers
| Metropolitan area | Employment | Mean annual | Median annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | 270 | $114,480 | $117,960 |
| Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | 120 | $73,470 | $71,780 |
| Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | 60 | $91,980 | $88,280 |
| Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | 60 | $103,690 | $109,550 |
What the median pay looks like as a budget
The median annual wage of $97,200 works out to $8,100 a month before taxes, $3,738 per biweekly paycheck, and $1,869 a week. Moving from the 25th percentile ($75,590) to the 75th ($117,190) is worth $41,600 a year, which is the realistic size of the experience and specialization premium inside this occupation. Run the median through the paycheck calculator for a take-home estimate in your state, compare an offer against your current pay with the salary calculator, and check whether a raise actually beats prices with the raise vs inflation calculator.
To place a real offer: a salary of $106,920 would sit between the median ($97,200) and the 75th percentile ($117,190), inside the top half but outside the top quarter of this occupation's ladder. An offer at the 25th percentile, $75,590, is $21,610 under the median, the typical size of the discount attached to entry-level or low-cost-market postings in this field.
Related occupations in Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations
The occupations BLS groups with this one, by size: Conservation Scientists, Physical Scientists, All Other, Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers, Physicists, Microbiologists, Forensic Science Technicians. Every one of the 826 published occupations is indexed on the Careers hub.
Frequently asked questions
How much do Geographers make?
The median annual wage is $97,200 and the mean is $98,160 in the BLS OEWS May 2024 estimates. The middle half of workers earn between $75,590 and $117,190 a year.
Which state pays Geographers the most?
By median annual wage, Washington leads the state table at $110,340, based on 30 jobs in that state. By mean wage and by headcount the leaders can differ, so the state table on this page shows all three measures side by side.
How many Geographers are there in the United States?
BLS counted 1,380 wage and salary workers in this occupation in May 2024, 0.00% of all U.S. employment in the survey. The largest state employer is Maryland with 260 jobs.
What do the OEWS percentiles mean for Geographers?
They mark points in this occupation's pay distribution. One worker in ten earns $62,390 or less and one in ten earns $133,680 or more; the median, $97,200, is the wage of the worker exactly in the middle of the 1,380 counted jobs.