Utah / Department of Environmental Quality / Environmental Scientist III
Job-title file
Carry out the duties of this position in support of the agency's public mission.
152 employees hold this title in Department of Environmental Quality. Median total compensation for the role is $112,698, above the department median of $95,806.
What the records show
How total compensation varies among the 152 people in this role. Even for one job title, pay differs with seniority, step, overtime, and tenure. Each bar is a pay range; the far-right bar collects the highest earners.
Compared with the local labor market
Across all employers in Utah, the median wage for Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health — about 1,020 people — is $90,710. Department of Environmental Quality pays a median base salary of $68,653 for this role, 24% below that figure — about the 23rd percentile of local pay for the occupation.
The bar is the range of annual wages for Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health across every employer in Utah, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Department of Environmental Quality’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. Department of Environmental Quality’s median base salary is 17% below that national figure, about the 31st percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
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 Utah range relative to the national one.
Computed over the 186 of 231 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 Department of Environmental Quality is $103,847, 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 departments
Environmental Scientist III is held in 5 Utah departments. In Department of Environmental Quality, the median of $112,698 ranks #3 of 5.
Median total compensation for the Environmental Scientist III role in other Utahdepartments (highest first). Each bar links to that department’s page for this role.
Compare jurisdictions
This role is reported in 5 jurisdictions. In Utah, the median of $94,585 ranks #2 of 5. See Environmental Scientist across all of Utah →
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.
Record list
Page 1
Environmental Scientist III/Department of Environmental Quality
Source-specific fields
At Department of Environmental Quality, Benjamin Brown serves as a Environmental Scientist III within Deq Water Quality. Their 2018 pay totaled $80,651.
Environmental Scientist III/Department of Environmental Quality
Source-specific fields
Nathan Nichols holds the role of Environmental Scientist III at Department of Environmental Quality within Deq Water Quality. In 2018, their total compensation was $80,071.
Environmental Scientist III/Department of Environmental Quality
Source-specific fields
At Department of Environmental Quality, Jon Parry serves as a Environmental Scientist III within Deq Executive Director. Their 2019 pay totaled $74,725.