Employment
 Geoscientists
hold about 31,000 jobs in the United States. Many more individuals hold
geoscience faculty positions in colleges and universities, but they are
classified as college and university faculty.
About 24 percent of
geoscientists are employed in architectural, engineering, and related
services, and 18 percent work for oil and gas extraction companies.
State agencies such as State geological surveys and State departments of
conservation employ about 2,900 geoscientists. Another 2,600 work for
the Federal Government, including geologists, geophysicists, and
oceanographers, mostly within the U.S. Department of the Interior for
the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and within the U.S. Department of
Defense. About 2 percent of geoscientists are self-employed, most as
consultants to industry or government.
Geoscientists are employed throughout the United States. The largest
concentration of geoscientists are in the South-Central region, where they
work in the petroleum industry. Cities such as Houston, Dallas, and New
Orleans are major centers of employment for industry geoscientists. Other
areas of the country also see fairly large populations of geoscientists,
namely Washington, D.C. with its large government and related contractor
workforces, Denver and Boulder, Colorado with a number of government
facilities, a number of independent oil companies, and a large number of
consultants, and the Pacific Coast with a growing number of environmental
geoscientists working on natural hazards.
 Top
10 Degree Fields and Total Number of Employed Geologists
Geology - 33,800
Other Geological Sciences - 5,500
Earth Sciences - 2,200
Environmental Science Studies - 1,000
Geophysical Engineering - 950
Geography - 850
Mathematics, General - 800
Forestry Services - 650
Civil Engineering - 650
Chemistry, Except Biochemistry - 550
Top
10 Occupations and Total Number of Employed Geologists
Geologists - 41,000
Top and Mid-Level Managers - 13,100
Earth Science Professors - 4,050
Secondary School Science Teachers - 4,000
Insurance and Real Estate Sales - 3,900
Environmental Engineers - 3,250
Farmers, Foresters and Fishermen - 2,900
Construction Trades, Miners, and Well-Drillers - 2,050
Other Engineering Technicians - 2,000
Computer Programmers - 1,900
Employers
The following
is a partial list of employers of geoscientists. In addition, the
American Geological Institute hosts
a
Guide to Geoscience
Careers and Employers that
addresses issues in choosing, maintaining, and advancing a career
specifically in the geosciences, and provides useful geoscience-employer
information.
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Petroleum Industry
Environmental
Consulting
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Mining Industry
U.S. Federal Government
and State and Local Affiliates
Other Employers
- Professional
Associations
- K-12 Schools
- Colleges and
Universities
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Note: Some resources in this section are provided by
the
American Geological Institute and the US Department
of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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