Pay · 45-4011
Forest and Conservation Workers earn $43,680 a year at the midpoint
Pay is unusually even: nine in ten people earn between $33,780 and $57,220, around a midpoint of $43,680.
National figures for forest and conservation workers, 45-4011, from the 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.
- Read the spread, not the middle. The median is the midpoint across everyone in the occupation, most of them years into the work. A beginner starts nearer the 10th to 25th percentile, which is why the spread is published alongside it.
- What the figure counts. The figure counts base pay plus tips, commissions and production bonuses. It leaves out the self-employed, unpaid family workers, private household workers, and the value of benefits or profit sharing.
- The annual figure is arithmetic. For hourly occupations the annual figure is the hourly rate times 2080 hours. It is a calculation, not observed earnings: part time is the norm in retail and food service.
- Where you live moves it more than your resume does. National figures. A state or metro area can sit far from the national number, and that gap is usually larger than any difference a resume makes.
- Not in these numbers. Growth and annual openings are not in this dataset. They come from the separate Employment Projections tables, where an opening is a modelled ten year average and not a posted vacancy.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025. Retrieved through the BLS Public Data API on 2026-08-13. bls.gov/oes “BLS.gov cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov.”
Forest and conservation worker earnings, from starting pay to the highest 10%
Pick the job, where you work and how long you have done it. The range comes from the published wage percentiles for that job.
The survey has no complete figures for that job — pick the closest title from the list.
An estimate from survey percentiles, not an offer. Employer, industry, shift and credentials move pay within and beyond this range. Full wage page for this job →
Ranked 648 of 788 by median pay
Better paid than 18% of the occupations in the survey.
- 646 Plating Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic $43,960
- 647 Helpers--Carpenters $43,780
- 648 Forest and Conservation Workers $43,680
- 649 Crematory Operators $43,650
- 650 File Clerks $43,600
A resume for forest and conservation workers
Name the job in the builder and the duties, skills and credentials it is screened on are written in for you.
- Checked equipment to ensure that it is operating properly.
- Fought forest fires or performed prescribed burning tasks under the direction of fire suppression officers or forestry technicians.
- Performed fire protection or suppression duties, such as constructing fire breaks or disposing of brush.
This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. The owner of tiersi.com has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
Forest and conservation worker wages by state
The 22 states where the most people do this work, of 27 with a published figure: their medians range by 1.68 times. Figures are the 2025 survey.
| State | Median a year | Where most start | 10th to 90th | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaii | $56,330 | $48,930 | $48,930 — $64,390 | 60 |
| Massachusetts | $51,890 | $35,160 | $35,160 — $73,470 | 120 |
| Pennsylvania | $50,250 | $43,740 | $43,740 — $62,290 | 210 |
| Ohio | $48,470 | $31,590 | $31,590 — $64,980 | 160 |
| Arkansas | $47,310 | $37,520 | $37,520 — $58,440 | 30 |
| Oregon | $46,010 | $38,470 | $38,470 — $63,110 | 70 |
| Washington | $44,430 | $37,310 | $37,310 — $57,720 | 460 |
| South Carolina | $44,050 | $37,260 | $37,260 — $58,890 | 40 |
| California | $43,680 | $36,080 | $36,080 — $45,760 | 2,270 |
| New Jersey | $41,600 | $33,280 | $33,280 — $56,910 | 40 |
| Tennessee | $40,320 | $31,200 | $31,200 — $44,430 | 210 |
| Louisiana | $39,900 | $30,270 | $30,270 — $52,740 | 150 |
| Minnesota | $39,590 | $35,780 | $35,780 — $55,160 | 30 |
| South Dakota | $38,210 | $34,380 | $34,380 — $50,640 | 490 |
| Colorado | $37,690 | $31,190 | $31,190 — $61,550 | 110 |
| Missouri | $37,170 | $36,750 | $36,750 — $45,360 | 120 |
| Florida | $36,780 | $35,160 | $35,160 — $50,120 | 70 |
| Wisconsin | $36,420 | $33,110 | $33,110 — $53,680 | 300 |
| New Mexico | $36,370 | $34,530 | $34,530 — $40,690 | 30 |
| Georgia | $34,150 | $23,430 | $23,430 — $79,070 | 160 |
| Connecticut | $34,010 | $34,010 | $34,010 — $55,390 | 40 |
| Iowa | $33,600 | $28,580 | $28,580 — $72,880 | 40 |
No estimate is published for 1 states: the survey withholds a figure when too few employers report it. Nothing has been filled in for them.
Forest and conservation worker pay rate, hourly and yearly
Starts at this job’s median. Change the rate or the hours; a full-time year is 40 hours for 52 weeks.
Examples
Resumes made for this kind of work.
Real sheets, filled in end to end — for this job and the ones beside it.
- Forestry Worker Resume Template Farming, Fishing & Forestry
- Faller Resume Template Farming, Fishing & Forestry
- Logging Equipment Operator Resume Template Farming, Fishing & Forestry
- Log Scaler Resume Template Farming, Fishing & Forestry
- Logging Worker Resume Template Farming, Fishing & Forestry
- Agricultural Worker Resume Template Farming, Fishing & Forestry
- Farm Worker Resume Template Farming, Fishing & Forestry
- Farmworker Resume Template Farming, Fishing & Forestry
- Agricultural Equipment Operator Resume Template Farming, Fishing & Forestry
- Agricultural Grader Resume Template Farming, Fishing & Forestry
- Animal Breeder Resume Template Farming, Fishing & Forestry
- Agricultural Inspector Resume Template Farming, Fishing & Forestry
Questions people ask most
What is a forest and conservation worker’s yearly income?
A forest and conservation worker makes a median of $43,680 a year (2025 survey). The middle half earn between $37,440 and $45,760.
What is a forest and conservation worker’s hourly pay rate?
The median pay rate is $21.00 an hour; the average is $43,680 a year.
What is the starting pay for a forest and conservation worker?
Starting pay is usually near the 25th percentile, $37,440 a year, and sometimes as low as the 10th, $33,780.
Which state pays forest and conservation workers the most?
Idaho, with a median of $59,460 a year.
How many people work as forest and conservation workers?
About 6,050 in the United States — number 648 of 788 occupations by median pay.
Work that pays about the same
Median pay within $280 of what forest and conservation workers earn — $43,680 a year — but not always the same spread.
- $80 less File Clerks $43,600median a year 10th percentile: $31,200 90th percentile: $63,490
- $150 less Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders $43,530median a year 10th percentile: $33,790 90th percentile: $58,570
- $280 more Plating Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic $43,960median a year 10th percentile: $33,790 90th percentile: $60,370