Pay · 19-3094
Political Scientists earn $142,080 a year at the midpoint
Half earn more than that and half earn less. The lowest tenth are paid about $83,350, the highest tenth about $195,190 — figures from the 2025 federal wage survey.
National figures for political scientists, 19-3094, 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.”
Political scientist earnings, from starting pay to the top 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 →
Political scientist wages in each state
The 10 states where the most people do this work, of 13 with a published figure: their medians range by 1.78 times. Figures are the 2025 survey.
| State | Median a year | Where most start | 10th to 90th | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maryland | $153,380 | $101,400 | $101,400 — $195,190 | 100 |
| District of Columbia | $152,530 | $114,920 | $114,920 — $195,190 | 3,070 |
| Washington | $147,060 | $81,310 | $81,310 — $214,960 | 110 |
| Pennsylvania | $140,020 | $70,450 | $70,450 — $203,130 | 70 |
| Massachusetts | $133,930 | $76,010 | $76,010 — $217,820 | 170 |
| Ohio | $119,370 | $63,590 | $63,590 — $142,080 | 40 |
| Texas | $114,050 | $87,530 | $87,530 — $139,010 | 160 |
| Arizona | $108,770 | $71,800 | $71,800 — $163,430 | 50 |
| Illinois | $103,780 | $71,990 | $71,990 — $127,190 | 110 |
| Michigan | $86,290 | $68,380 | $68,380 — $155,740 | 180 |
No estimate is published for 2 states: the survey withholds a figure when too few employers report it. Nothing has been filled in for them.
Writing a resume for political scientists
Name the job in the builder and the duties, skills and credentials it is screened on are written in for you.
- Taught political science.
- Maintained current knowledge of government policy decisions.
- Developed and tested theories, using information from interviews, newspapers, periodicals, case law, historical papers, polls, or statistical sources.
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.
Political scientist pay rate, hourly to annual
Starts at this job’s median. Change the rate or the hours; a full-time year is 40 hours for 52 weeks.
Place 28 of 788 by median pay
Better paid than 96% of the occupations in the survey.
- 26 Public Relations Managers $146,910
- 27 Petroleum Engineers $144,910
- 28 Political Scientists $142,080
- 29 Managers, All Other $141,900
- 30 Pharmacists $140,910
Examples
Resumes written 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 political scientist’s yearly income?
A political scientist makes a median of $142,080 a year (2025 survey). The middle half earn between $114,030 and $174,180.
What is a political scientist’s hourly pay rate?
The median pay rate is $68.31 an hour; the average is $142,510 a year.
What is the starting pay for a political scientist?
Starting pay is usually near the 25th percentile, $114,030 a year, and sometimes as low as the 10th, $83,350.
Which state pays political scientists the most?
Maryland, with a median of $153,380 a year.
How many people work as political scientists?
About 5,540 in the United States — number 28 of 788 occupations by median pay.
Work that pays nearly the same
Median pay within $2,580 of what political scientists earn — $142,080 a year — but not always the same spread.
- $180 less Managers, All Other $141,900median a year 10th percentile: $74,300 90th percentile: $238,270
- $1,170 less Pharmacists $140,910median a year 10th percentile: $99,290 90th percentile: $174,230
- $2,580 less Database Architects $139,500median a year 10th percentile: $86,240 90th percentile: $204,000