SalaryExplorer

SOC 19-2041 · May 2025 · BLS OEWS

Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health — Alaska

Alaska · 2 metro areas compared

$91,960 /year
$44.21per hour
860jobs in area
+11.8%vs US median

The median wage for Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health in Alaska is $91,960 per year, 11.8% above the national median of $82,220.

Wage distribution · annual

Shaded band holds the middle 50% of earners

US MEDIAN $82,22010TH$61,84025TH$76,290MEDIAN$91,96075TH$114,40090TH$147,910

How pay has moved

$95,965$71,9352019202020212022202320242025$91,960
$78,130 in 2019 to $91,960 in 2025, +17.7% before inflation. BLS states that OEWS estimates are not designed for comparison across years: the occupational classification, the sampling frame and the survey method have all changed inside this window. Read the direction, not the exact difference.

The next ten years

Projected to grow about as fast as average

Change in jobs, 2024 to 2034
+4.4%
Openings per year
8,500
Typical entry-level education
Bachelor's degree

Includes jobs opened by workers leaving the occupation, not only new positions.

Projections are published nationally only. This is the outlook for the occupation across the United States, not a measurement for Alaska.

Projections are based on 2024 employment and run to 2034. The wages above are from the May 2025 survey, a separate BLS programme on a different release cycle, so the two are not two views of one dataset.

Salary overview

The median wage for Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health in Alaska is $91,960 per year, 11.8% above the national median of $82,220. Pay ranges from under $61,840 at the tenth percentile to more than $147,910 at the ninetieth, with the interquartile range running from $76,290 to $114,400.

The area has 860 jobs in this occupation, which works out to 2.6 of every thousand jobs. Among the 51 states with published data for this occupation, Alaska ranks 8th by median wage. Anchorage leads the state's metro areas for this occupation, at $90,960. Set against every other occupation measured in the same area, it ranks 139th of 515 by median pay.

Percentile breakdown

Annual wages by percentile · Alaska · May 2025
PercentileAnnualvs US median
10th$61,840−24.8%
25th$76,290−7.2%
Median (50th)$91,960+11.8%
75th$114,400+39.1%
90th$147,910+79.9%
Mean$100,490+22.2%

Why the average earner is usually not a typical earner

Highest-paying metro areas in Alaska

Median annual wage for Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health, by metro area
#Metro areaMedianJobsRelative
1Anchorage$90,960500
2Fairbanks$88,640130

What the pay is worth locally

Prices in Alaska run 2.4% above the national average, so the median of $91,960 buys what $89,805 would elsewhere in the country. Measured that way the gap against the national median narrows to 9.2% above the national median in real terms.

Published median

$91,960as reported by BLS

Local price level

102.4US average = 100 · BEA 2024

Adjusted for local prices

$89,805US average = 100 · BEA 2024

Why the state that pays most is usually not where pay goes furthest

Key takeaways

  • Median pay is $91,960 a year, 11.8% above the national median.
  • Published pay spans $61,840 to $147,910 between the tenth and ninetieth percentiles.
  • The area has 860 jobs in this occupation.
  • It ranks 8th of 51 states for this occupation.
  • The highest-paying metro area covered is Anchorage, at $90,960.

Frequently asked questions

What is the median wage for Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health in Alaska?

The median annual wage is $91,960, or $44.21 per hour, as of May 2025. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than that and half earn less.

Is that higher than the national average?

The national median for this occupation is $82,220, so pay in Alaska is 11.8% higher. These figures are medians, not averages: half of workers fall on each side.

What do the top earners make?

The top tenth of this occupation in Alaska earns more than $147,910 per year. The ninetieth percentile is the highest figure the survey publishes.

What is the starting range?

The tenth percentile wage is $61,840 per year. The survey measures wages actually paid rather than experience level, so this reflects the lowest-paid tenth rather than entry-level pay specifically.

Which area nearby pays the most?

The highest median for this occupation among the metro areas covered is in Anchorage, at $90,960 per year.

How many jobs are there in this occupation here?

The survey estimates 860 jobs in this occupation in Alaska. Self-employed workers are not included.

Source and methodology

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 Wages are for wage-and-salary workers; self-employed workers are not included. Salary Explorer is an independent project. It is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics or any government agency. Full methodology.