12 of the Highest Paying Earth Science Jobs in 2026

The best Earth Science jobs can pay up to $139,000 per year.

High Paying Earth Science Jobs

• Natural Sciences Manager

  Salary range: $111,500 - $139,000

  Natural sciences managers supervise research studies and work done by scientists, technicians, and other lab personnel to ensure that research gets done correctly and to maintain productivity. As a natural sciences manager, your duties include providing technical assistance, improving manufacturing processes, coordinating product development and testing, enforcing procedures, and advancing research. You may be asked to create budgets or write financial reports. Natural sciences managers typically work in a laboratory or an office.

• Windchill Administrator

  Salary range: $39,000 - $119,500

  The duties of a Windchill administrator are to install, configure, and customize Windchill products for users. Other responsibilities are to provide technical support, server management, and network or database administration. A Windchill administrator may choose to focus on a specific product, but many people in this career have experience working with multiple products. Qualifications to become a Windchill administrator include a bachelor’s degree in computer science, computer engineering, or a related field as well as IT skills or experience.

• Weather Forecaster

  Salary range: $88,500 - $96,500

  Weather forecasters are primarily responsible for analyzing weather data and formulating weather reports based on their analysis. These reports can include forecasts of temperature, precipitation, and wind speed, as well as the time these conditions are supposed to occur. Your responsibilities generally revolve around making weather predictions, but the industry in which you work can dictate how much you actually predict anything. For example, some weather forecasters perform on-air broadcasts for television and radio. In these positions, your duties are to present predictions and data collected by other meteorologists as an audience-friendly weather report.

• Conservation Scientist

  Salary range: $84,500 - $94,000

  A conservation scientist works with natural resources and the environment in a wide range of industries, including forestry, soil management, and agriculture. As a conservation scientist, your job duties typically include collecting and analyzing data, working closely with landowners, foresters, and government agencies, and developing detailed reports on your findings. Conservation scientists spend time working in the field and an office, and play a pivotal role in determining proper land use and managing resources to prevent damage to the environment.

• Forester Silviculture

  Salary range: $71,500 - $83,000

  The majority of Forester Silviculture salaries across the United States currently range between $71,500 (25th percentile) and $83,000 (75th percentile) annually. Most people working in this role make similar salaries regardless of skill level, location and years of experience. Based on recent job postings on ZipRecruiter, the Forester Silviculture job market in the United States is moderately active, with several companies hiring.

• Botanist

  Salary range: $37,500 - $69,000

  Botanists are scientists who study plants, observing, growing, and collecting plant samples. They may identify new plant species and evaluate their parts and uses, or study the effects of environmental change on plants and work toward environmental protections. Many botanists also work in labs, examining plant growth and the effects of environment on plant life cycles. In their research, botanists consider everything from the amount of rainfall, soil type, and nutrients a plant receives, to the diseases the plant may be susceptible to. Studying plants out in their natural environments and growing plants in controlled labs to isolate genetic and environmental factors and evaluate certain aspects of plant growth are both techniques used by botanists. They often work with other scientists to study how plants positively and negatively impact the health of humans. Some study drugs and cultivate them for use in new medicines, while other botanists may study the genetic makeup of plants to understand plant evolution. Studying plants helps botanists better understand the planet, its ability to sustain life, and the impact of human interaction on plants--past, present, and future.

• Conservation Specialist

  Salary range: $45,000 - $65,500

  The majority of Conservation Specialist salaries across the United States currently range between $45,000 (25th percentile) and $65,500 (75th percentile) annually. This moderate range of salaries suggests pay in this role will be consistent, regardless skill level, location and years of experience, though some advancement is possible. Based on recent job posting activity on ZipRecruiter, the Conservation Specialist job market in the United States is not very active as few companies are currently hiring for this role. You can try exploring related titles to find jobs with more active opportunities.

• Conservation Worker

  Salary range: $42,000 - $62,500

  A conservation worker is a person who works to conserve natural habitats, such as national or state parks or wildlife preserves. In this job, your duties are to restore a physical environment, such as a national forest or coastal area, to a natural state and provide public education and outreach to increase awareness about conservation efforts. You may assist with monitoring tree health in forests or other natural habitats and apply land management strategies under the supervision of conservation technicians. Qualifications for the job include a mix of career experience, such as volunteer or summer work maintaining trails or parkland, and a high school education. Necessary skills include physical stamina and verbal communication.

• Conservationist

  Salary range: $33,000 - $48,000

  The majority of Conservationist salaries across the United States currently range between $33,000 (25th percentile) and $48,000 (75th percentile) annually. This moderate range of salaries suggests pay in this role will be consistent, regardless skill level, location and years of experience, though some advancement is possible. Based on recent job posting activity on ZipRecruiter, the Conservationist job market in the United States is not very active as few companies are currently hiring for this role. You can try exploring related titles to find jobs with more active opportunities.

• Conservation Technician

  Salary range: $34,000 - $47,000

  A conservation technician works with conservation scientists to assist in the technical parts of their jobs like mapping and sampling. There are general conservation technicians, but there are also several subspecialties within this industry such as soil conservation technicians, forest conservation technicians, and wildlife conservation technicians. The commonalities between these jobs are their workspace, which is generally outdoors, and their ultimate goal, which is the conservation of the environment. In this career, you use science to test natural resources like water or soil to help determine it's pollution levels and history and how best to conserve these resources in the future.

• Botany Technician

  Salary range: $41,000 - $43,000

  The majority of Botany Technician salaries across the United States currently range between $41,000 (25th percentile) and $43,000 (75th percentile) annually. Most people working in this role make similar salaries regardless of skill level, location and years of experience. Based on recent job postings on ZipRecruiter, the Botany Technician job market in the United States is somewhat active, with a few companies hiring.

• Windchill Tester

  Salary range: $31,000 - $31,500

  The majority of Windchill Tester salaries across the United States currently range between $31,000 (25th percentile) and $31,500 (75th percentile) annually. Most people working in this role make similar salaries regardless of skill level, location and years of experience. Based on recent job postings on ZipRecruiter, the Windchill Tester job market in the United States is somewhat active, with a few companies hiring.