Meteorology

Across all employers in the United States, the median wage for Atmospheric and Space Scientists — about 10,000 people — is $99,070. Nat Aeronautics and Space Administration pays a median base salary of $151,719 for this role, 53% above that figure — about the 85th percentile of local pay for the occupation.

Median total compensation for this role at Nat Aeronautics and Space Administration is $151,719, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.

Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.

Meteorology is held in 11 U.S. Federal Government (non-Defense) departments. In Nat Aeronautics and Space Administration, the median of $151,719 ranks #5 of 11.