Compared with the local labor market
Principal Biologist pay vs. New Jersey
Across all employers in New Jersey, the median wage for Biological Scientists, All Other — about 540 people — is $104,750. Environmental Protection pays a median base salary of $98,459 for this role, 6% below that figure — about the 43rd percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Environmental Protection sits in the local pay range
$72,010
$82,690
$104,750
$128,790
$161,660
Environmental Protection median · $98,459
The bar is the range of annual wages for Biological Scientists, All Other across every employer in New Jersey, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Environmental Protection’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Biological Scientists, All Other — about 55,850 people — is $98,920. Environmental Protection’s median base salary is in line withthat national figure, about the 49th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
$60,430
$76,800
$98,920
$127,670
$168,010
Environmental Protection median · $98,459
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 New Jersey range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at Environmental Protection is $99,578, 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.