Environmental Scientist

Carry out the duties of this position in support of the agency's public mission.

3,109 people hold the Environmental Scientist role across 31 departments in California, with a median total compensation of $82,633. Among 5 jurisdictions where this role is reported, California ranks #3 by median pay.

Employees: 3,109
Median pay: $82,633
Departments: 31
Cross-jurisdiction: #3 of 5

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. California pays a median base salary of $82,388 for this role, 23% below that figure — about the 26th percentile of local pay for the occupation.

Where California sits in the local pay range

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$65,350

$81,480

$106,510

$132,770

$161,910

California median · $82,388

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 California’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. California’s median base salary is in line withthat national figure, about the 50th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$52,520

$64,490

$82,220

$107,970

$140,010

California median · $82,388

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.

Computed over the 2,872 of 3,109 people in this role paid at least $25,000in base salary. The rest are part-year or part-time records, whose actual pay isn’t comparable to a full-time annual wage.

Median total compensation for this role at California is $82,633, 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 pay in other jurisdictions

Where Environmental Scientists are paid most

New York Public Authorities

$124,539 · 13

Utah

$94,585 · 332

Rhode Island

$22,349 · 127

City of Philadelphia

$18,294 · 13

Median total compensation for comparable Environmental Scientistroles in other jurisdictions (highest first). Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not by identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for this role.

Within California