Environmental Economists
Conduct economic analysis related to environmental protection and use of the natural environment, such as water, air, land, and renewable energy resources. Evaluate and quantify benefits, costs, incentives, and impacts of alternative options using economic principles and statistical techniques.
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 Environmental Economists. 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 | $67,360 | $32.38 |
| 25th | $89,330 | $42.95 |
| 50th · Median | $124,720 | $59.96 |
| 75th | $174,720 | $84.00 |
| 90th | $238,060 | $114.45 |
“≥” 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
Typical tasks
- Write technical documents or academic articles to communicate study results or economic forecasts.
- Conduct research on economic and environmental topics, such as alternative fuel use, public and private land use, soil conservation, air and water pollution control, and endangered species protection.
- Collect and analyze data to compare the environmental implications of economic policy or practice alternatives.
- Assess the costs and benefits of various activities, policies, or regulations that affect the environment or natural resource stocks.
- Prepare and deliver presentations to communicate economic and environmental study results, to present policy recommendations, or to raise awareness of environmental consequences.
- Develop programs or policy recommendations to achieve environmental goals in cost-effective ways.
Expand more tasks (14)
- Develop economic models, forecasts, or scenarios to predict future economic and environmental outcomes.
- Demonstrate or promote the economic benefits of sound environmental regulations.
- Conduct research to study the relationships among environmental problems and patterns of economic production and consumption.
- Perform complex, dynamic, and integrated mathematical modeling of ecological, environmental, or economic systems.
- Write social, legal, or economic impact statements to inform decision makers for natural resource policies, standards, or programs.
- Teach courses in environmental economics.
- Develop programs or policy recommendations to promote sustainability and sustainable development.
- Develop systems for collecting, analyzing, and interpreting environmental and economic data.
- Write research proposals and grant applications to obtain private or public funding for environmental and economic studies.
- Examine the exhaustibility of natural resources or the long-term costs of environmental rehabilitation.
- Monitor or analyze market and environmental trends.
- Develop environmental research project plans, including information on budgets, goals, deliverables, timelines, and resource requirements.
- Identify and recommend environmentally friendly business practices.
- Interpret indicators to ascertain the overall health of an environment.
Skills used in this work
- 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.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve 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.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Management of Financial Resources
- Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
- 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.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Science
- Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
- Management of Material Resources
- Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
- Operations Analysis
- Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
- Programming
- Writing computer programs for various purposes.
- Quality Control Analysis
- Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- Technology Design
- Generating or adapting equipment and technology to serve user needs.
- Equipment Maintenance
- Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
- Equipment Selection
- Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.
- Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or programs to meet specifications.
- Operation and Control
- Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- 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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