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Pay · 19-2043

Hydrologists earn $96,600 a year at the midpoint

From about $64,020 at the low end to $153,130 at the top, with $96,600 in the middle — the 2025 survey, published as reported.

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$96,600median a year · United States
$46.44an hour $103,600average 5,850people
Nine in ten people in this work earn between the two ends. The shaded part is the middle half — where most people are.
$77,21025th $96,600median $122,83075th
$64,02010th percentile $153,13090th percentile
$77,210a year at the 25th percentile, nearer a first job
$143,010best-paying state · Maryland
$65,770lowest-paying state · South Carolina
+48%top state against the national median
  • 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.”

State matters a lotThe same job pays $143,010 in Maryland and $65,770 in South Carolina — a gap of $77,240 a year.

Hydrologist 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.

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Hydrologist pay rate, from 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.

$96,595a year

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Hydrologist wages across the states

Across 34 states the median ranges by 2.17 times. Figures are the 2025 survey.

State Median a year Where most start 10th to 90th Employed
Maryland $143,010 $84,590 $84,590 — $189,260 90
Virginia $132,080 $61,990 $61,990 — $156,750 40
New Jersey $126,680 $76,810 $76,810 — $176,480 —
California $122,110 $76,110 $76,110 — $181,360 540
Georgia $121,830 $85,990 $85,990 — $155,920 30
Massachusetts $119,350 $71,510 $71,510 — $155,150 50
Missouri $116,100 $73,920 $73,920 — $136,990 50
Alaska $108,660 $73,690 $73,690 — $132,770 60
Nevada $107,930 $77,570 $77,570 — $164,980 170
Washington $105,600 $80,450 $80,450 — $194,900 350
Louisiana $104,520 $74,480 $74,480 — $184,290 —
Michigan $101,060 $81,330 $81,330 — $136,990 40
Colorado $100,840 $82,430 $82,430 — $201,630 360
Ohio $98,200 $60,800 $60,800 — $131,100 390
New Mexico $97,470 $63,660 $63,660 — $131,370 100
Oklahoma $97,470 $61,110 $61,110 — $126,440 40
Minnesota $94,580 $68,620 $68,620 — $125,300 300
Wyoming $94,520 $61,110 $61,110 — $139,920 40
Utah $94,190 $61,580 $61,580 — $136,990 80
Oregon $93,690 $68,040 $68,040 — $124,900 300
Pennsylvania $91,730 $45,300 $45,300 — $141,070 160
New York $88,100 $67,760 $67,760 — $136,590 160
Arizona $86,700 $64,700 $64,700 — $160,710 400
Vermont $86,140 $78,860 $78,860 — $107,300 50
Montana $84,500 $63,060 $63,060 — $115,210 190
Illinois $83,720 $59,070 $59,070 — $133,430 100
North Carolina $81,770 $64,320 $64,320 — $111,050 150
Iowa $81,150 $66,180 $66,180 — $136,340 50
Texas $81,080 $54,650 $54,650 — $126,440 220
Indiana $80,700 $60,790 $60,790 — $116,270 50
Idaho $78,850 $58,260 $58,260 — $135,380 160
Wisconsin $78,770 $65,290 $65,290 — $115,920 150
Florida $76,850 $58,620 $58,620 — $119,670 280
South Carolina $65,770 $57,830 $57,830 — $115,210 100

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.

A resume for hydrologists

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ESRI ArcGIS softwareHEC-RASGeographic information system GIS systemsHEC-HMSPythonMicrosoft PowerPointESRI ArcViewMicrosoft Office software
  • Designed and conducted scientific hydrogeological investigations to ensure that accurate and appropriate information is available for use in water resource management decisions.
  • Studied and documented quantities, distribution, disposition, and development of underground and surface waters.
  • Prepared reports or presentations describing research results, using illustrations, maps, appendices, and other information.

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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.

Number 138 of 788 by median pay

Better paid than 82% of the occupations in the survey.

  1. 136 Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers $96,710
  2. 137 Postmasters and Mail Superintendents $96,660
  3. 138 Hydrologists $96,600
  4. 139 Diagnostic medical sonographers $96,590
  5. 140 School Psychologists $95,990

Nearby work, and what it pays

Occupations in the same group of the federal classification — the usual next steps, or the ones beside this one.

Hydrologists$96,600
Physicists$172,250+$75,650 Physical Scientists, All Other$122,570+$25,970 Materials Scientists$117,790+$21,190

Questions people ask most

What is a hydrologist’s yearly income?

A hydrologist makes a median of $96,600 a year (2025 survey). The middle half earn between $77,210 and $122,830.

What is a hydrologist’s hourly pay rate?

The median pay rate is $46.44 an hour; the average is $103,600 a year.

What is the starting pay for a hydrologist?

Starting pay is usually near the 25th percentile, $77,210 a year, and sometimes as low as the 10th, $64,020.

Which state pays hydrologists the most?

Maryland, with a median of $143,010 a year.

How many people work as hydrologists?

About 5,850 in the United States — number 138 of 788 occupations by median pay.

Work that pays roughly the same

Median pay within $550 of what hydrologists earn — $96,600 a year — but not always the same spread.

See all 788 occupations