Pay · 19-3092
Geographers earn $102,040 a year at the midpoint
A small field — roughly 1,400 people nationwide — with a midpoint of $102,040. Pay runs from about $66,770 at the low end to $136,660 at the top, per the 2025 federal survey.
National figures for geographers, 19-3092, 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.
- 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.”
Geographer earnings, from starting pay to the best-paid 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 →
No. 107 of 788 by median pay
Better paid than 86% of the occupations in the survey.
- 105 Industrial Engineers $102,440
- 106 Project Management Specialists $102,320
- 107 Geographers $102,040
- 108 Power Plant Operators $102,040
- 109 Special Effects Artists and Animators $102,030
A resume for geographers
Name the job in the builder and the duties, skills and credentials it is screened on are written in for you.
- Created and modified maps, graphs, or diagrams, using geographical information software and related equipment, and principles of cartography, such as coordinate systems, longitude, latitude, elevation, topography, and mapped scales.
- Gathered and compiled geographic data from sources such as censuses, field observations, satellite imagery, aerial photographs, and existing maps.
- Taught geography.
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.
Geographer pay rate, hourly to yearly
Starts at this job’s median. Change the rate or the hours; a full-time year is 40 hours for 52 weeks.
Geographer wages, state by state
Across 7 states the median ranges by 1.45 times. Figures are the 2025 survey.
| State | Median a year | Where most start | 10th to 90th | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maryland | $114,920 | $71,840 | $71,840 — $140,670 | 210 |
| California | $114,460 | $85,800 | $85,800 — $144,910 | 80 |
| Washington | $112,260 | $76,490 | $76,490 — $147,990 | 40 |
| Virginia | $108,020 | $71,650 | $71,650 — $156,750 | 130 |
| Missouri | $102,040 | $75,800 | $75,800 — $126,440 | 40 |
| Illinois | $92,640 | $63,330 | $63,330 — $125,650 | 40 |
| Texas | $79,170 | $62,890 | $62,890 — $114,550 | 180 |
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.
Examples
Resumes made for this kind of work.
Real sheets, filled in end to end — for this job and the ones beside it.
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Questions people ask most
What is a geographer’s yearly income?
A geographer makes a median of $102,040 a year (2025 survey). The middle half earn between $80,290 and $121,870.
What is a geographer’s hourly pay rate?
The median pay rate is $49.06 an hour; the average is $102,350 a year.
What is the starting pay for a geographer?
Starting pay is usually near the 25th percentile, $80,290 a year, and sometimes as low as the 10th, $66,770.
Which state pays geographers the most?
Maryland, with a median of $114,920 a year.
How many people work as geographers?
About 1,400 in the United States — number 107 of 788 occupations by median pay.
Jobs that pay about the same
Median pay within $180 of what geographers earn — $102,040 a year — but not always the same spread.
- Same median Power Plant Operators $102,040median a year 10th percentile: $61,790 90th percentile: $131,940
- $120 less Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers $101,920median a year 10th percentile: $59,330 90th percentile: $200,230
- $180 less Management Analysts $101,860median a year 10th percentile: $60,640 90th percentile: $171,640