Compared with the local labor market
Environmental Scientist pay vs. California
Across all employers in California, the median wage for Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health — about 12,490 people — is $106,510. Forestry and Fire Protection pays a median base salary of $87,585 for this role, 18% below that figure — about the 31st percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Forestry and Fire Protection sits in the local pay range
$65,350
$81,480
$106,510
$132,770
$161,910
Forestry and Fire Protection median · $87,585
The bar is the range of annual wages for Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health across every employer in California, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Forestry and Fire Protection’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health — about 89,250 people — is $82,220. Forestry and Fire Protection’s median base salary is 7% above that national figure, about the 55th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
$52,520
$64,490
$82,220
$107,970
$140,010
Forestry and Fire Protection median · $87,585
Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the California range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at Forestry and Fire Protection is $90,588, 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.
Compare jurisdictions
Environmental Scientist beyond California
This role is reported in 5 jurisdictions. In California, the median of $82,633 ranks #3 of 5. See Environmental Scientist across all of California →
Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role
Median total compensation for comparable Environmental Scientistroles in other jurisdictions. Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for the role.