Anthropologists and Archeologists
Study the origin, development, and behavior of human beings. May study the way of life, language, or physical characteristics of people in various parts of the world. May engage in systematic recovery and examination of material evidence, such as tools or pottery remaining from past human cultures, in order to determine the history, customs, and living habits of earlier civilizations.
A wage reference for United States.
Published wage percentiles describe a distribution within the source occupation group. They provide context for a career decision; employer packages and job offers have their own terms.
This wage group may include multiple detailed occupations. The figures are for the source group, which may be broader than Anthropologists and Archeologists. They are not an exact-title, employer, experience or seniority match.
May 2025 · USD · United States. Annual and hourly figures are shown only when the source publishes them; neither is calculated from the other.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage data, distributed through the O*NET® OnLine service.
Annual wage thresholds
USD per year
Hourly wage thresholds
USD per hour
| Percentile | Annual wage (USD/year) | Hourly wage (USD/hour) |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | $49,050 | $23.58 |
| 25th | $59,400 | $28.56 |
| 50th · Median | $70,770 | $34.02 |
| 75th | $89,670 | $43.11 |
| 90th | $108,060 | $51.95 |
“≥” means at least the published amount; “≤” means at most that amount. These are bounds, not exact values. “Not published” means the source did not provide that figure. Occupational wages follow the source definition and do not establish an employer’s base salary, equity or total compensation.
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What this career involves.
Occupation definitions describe common work. Responsibilities and requirements vary by employer and specific job.
Selected title examples
Expand more title examples (16)
Typical tasks
- Collect information and make judgments through observation, interviews, and review of documents.
- Teach or mentor undergraduate and graduate students in anthropology or archeology.
- Write about and present research findings for a variety of specialized and general audiences.
- Plan and direct research to characterize and compare the economic, demographic, health care, social, political, linguistic, and religious institutions of distinct cultural groups, communities, and organizations.
- Create data records for use in describing and analyzing social patterns and processes, using photography, videography, and audio recordings.
- Train others in the application of ethnographic research methods to solve problems in organizational effectiveness, communications, technology development, policy making, and program planning.
Expand more tasks (24)
- Identify culturally specific beliefs and practices affecting health status and access to services for distinct populations and communities, in collaboration with medical and public health officials.
- Apply traditional ecological knowledge and assessments of culturally distinctive land and resource management institutions to assist in the resolution of conflicts over habitat protection and resource enhancement.
- Lead field training sites and train field staff, students, and volunteers in excavation methods.
- Conduct participatory action research in communities and organizations to assess how work is done and to design work systems, technologies, and environments.
- Develop and test theories concerning the origin and development of past cultures.
- Research, survey, or assess sites of past societies and cultures in search of answers to specific research questions.
- Write grant proposals to obtain funding for research.
- Advise government agencies, private organizations, and communities regarding proposed programs, plans, and policies and their potential impacts on cultural institutions, organizations, and communities.
- Organize public exhibits and displays to promote public awareness of diverse and distinctive cultural traditions.
- Collaborate with economic development planners to decide on the implementation of proposed development policies, plans, and programs based on culturally institutionalized barriers and facilitating circumstances.
- Develop intervention procedures, using techniques such as individual and focus group interviews, consultations, and participant observation of social interaction.
- Enhance the cultural sensitivity of elementary and secondary curricula and classroom interactions in collaboration with educators and teachers.
- Study archival collections of primary historical sources to help explain the origins and development of cultural patterns.
- Formulate general rules that describe and predict the development and behavior of cultures and social institutions.
- Record the exact locations and conditions of artifacts uncovered in diggings or surveys, using drawings and photographs as necessary.
- Assess archeological sites for resource management, development, or conservation purposes and recommend methods for site protection.
- Gather and analyze artifacts and skeletal remains to increase knowledge of ancient cultures.
- Compare findings from one site with archeological data from other sites to find similarities or differences.
- Describe artifacts' physical properties or attributes, such as the materials from which artifacts are made and their size, shape, function, and decoration.
- Collect artifacts made of stone, bone, metal, and other materials, placing them in bags and marking them to show where they were found.
- Study objects and structures recovered by excavation to identify, date, and authenticate them and to interpret their significance.
- Consult site reports, existing artifacts, and topographic maps to identify archeological sites.
- Clean, restore, and preserve artifacts.
- Participate in forensic activities, such as tooth and bone structure identification, in conjunction with police departments and pathologists.
Skills used in this work
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Expand more skills (29)
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Science
- Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Management of Material Resources
- Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
- Management of Financial Resources
- Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Quality Control Analysis
- Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- Operation and Control
- Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
- Operations Analysis
- Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
- Programming
- Writing computer programs for various purposes.
- Technology Design
- Generating or adapting equipment and technology to serve user needs.
- Equipment Selection
- Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.
- Equipment Maintenance
- Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
- Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or programs to meet specifications.
- Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
- Troubleshooting
- Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
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