June 2009 

Occupational Employment 

Statistics (OES) Highlights

Jobs for the Environment 

Although there is currently no standard definition of “green” jobs, Occupational 

Employment Statistics (OES) data are available for a number of occupations 

associated with protecting and preserving the environment and natural resources. 

This highlight presents employment and wage data for eight environmental, 

conservation, and forestry occupations. Data for over 800 occupations are available 

from the OES home page at www.bls.gov/oes/. 

Chart 1. Employment of environmental engineering and 

environmental science occupations by industry,

 May 2008

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

80,000

90,000

Environmental

engineers

Environmental

scientists and

specialists,

including

health

Environmental

engineering

technicians

Environmental

science and

protection

technicians,

including

health

Colleges, Universities, and

Professional Schools

Scientific Research and Development

Services

Remediation and Other Waste

Management Services

Management, Scientific, and

Technical Consulting Services

Architectural, Engineering, and

Related Services

Local government (OES designation)

State government (OES designation)

Federal executive branch (OES

designation)

Federal, state, and local government

(OES designation)

Other industries

(See page 5 to view these data in table format.) 
2 

Chart 1 shows employment information by industry for environmental engineers; 

environmental engineering technicians; environmental scientists and specialists, 

including health; and environmental science and protection technicians, including 

health. With total employment of 80,120, environmental scientists was the largest of 

these four occupations, while environmental engineering technicians was the 

smallest, with employment of 20,740. 

Architectural, engineering, and related services; and management, scientific, and 

technical consulting services were among the largest employers of all four 

occupations. These two industries employed approximately 54 percent of 

environmental engineering technicians, 49 percent of environmental engineers, 44 

percent of environmental science technicians, and 38 percent of environmental 

scientists. Approximately 44 percent of all environmental scientists worked in 

federal, state, and local government, with about 25 percent employed in state 

government alone. Government also was a major employer of the other three 

occupations, accounting for about 34 percent of environmental science technicians, 

30 percent of environmental engineers, and 17 percent of environmental engineering 

technicians. Although significantly smaller in terms of employment, scientific 

research and development services; remediation and other waste management 

services; and colleges, universities, and professional schools also were among the 

largest employers of one or more of these occupations. 

Chart 2 shows employment information by industry for four conservation and 

forestry occupations. Total employment in these occupations ranged from 8,280 for 

forest and conservation workers to 30,850 for forest and conservation technicians. 

Most workers in these 4 occupations were employed in government. About 76 

percent of forest and conservation technicians were employed by the federal 

government. State and local governments were the largest employers of the 

remaining occupations, accounting for about 38 percent of conservation scientists, 

46 percent of foresters, and 84 percent of forest and conservation workers. Social 

advocacy organizations employed about 1,430 conservation scientists and smaller 

numbers of the other three occupations. Logging; sawmills and wood preservation; 

and colleges, universities, and professional schools were among the other industries 
3 

employing these occupations. (OES does not cover the private sector forestry 

industry, which may include additional employment in these occupations.) 

Chart 2: Employment of conservation science and 

forestry occupations by industry, May 2008

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

Conservation

scientists

Foresters Forest and

conservation

technicians

Forest and

conservation

workers

Colleges, Universities, and

Professional Schools

Sawmills and wood preservation

Logging

Social Advocacy Organizations

Local Government (OES Designation)

State Government (OES Designation)

State and Local Government (OES

Designation)

Federal Executive Branch (OES

Designation)

Other industries

 (See page 6 to view these data in table format.) 

Wages for scientists and engineers were higher than those for the associated 

technician occupations. Environmental engineers earned an hourly mean wage of 

$37.49, making this the highest paying of the occupations shown above. Foresters 

was the lowest paying of the four scientist and engineer occupations, with an hourly 

mean wage of $26.46. Hourly mean wages for the three technician occupations 

ranged from $16.98 for forest and conservation technicians to $21.36 for 

environmental engineering technicians, while forest and conservation workers were 

the lowest paid of the eight occupations, with an hourly mean wage of $12.55. 

Although the industries shown in charts 1 and 2 were among the largest employers 

of these occupations, in general, they were not among the highest paying industries 

for these jobs. However, there were some exceptions: for example, federal 

government was one of the highest paying industries for environmental engineers 
4 

and conservation scientists, and state government was among the highest paying 

industries for environmental scientists. Additional occupational employment and 

wage data by industry are available online at www.bls.gov/oes/current/oessrci.htm. 

California had among the highest employment of all eight occupations. Texas and 

Florida had among the highest employment of the four environmental science and 

environmental engineering occupations, while Wisconsin and Minnesota were among 

the states employing the largest numbers of both foresters and conservation 

scientists. Although no states were consistently among the highest paying areas for 

all eight occupations, California and the District of Columbia were among the highest 

paying areas for several of the occupations. In some cases, wages for a given 

occupation varied considerably by state. For example, although New Jersey had 

among the highest employment of forest and conservation workers, it also had one 

of the lowest mean wages for this occupation, at $8.55 per hour, while Illinois was 

one of the highest paying states for this occupation, with an hourly mean wage of 

$22.12. Career guidance for some of these occupations can be found in the 

Occupational Outlook Quarterly. Detailed occupational employment and wage data 

for all states and 585 metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas are available from the 

OES web site.
5 

Table 1. Employment of environmental science and environmental 

engineering occupations by industry, May 2008 

Industry Environmental 

engineers 

Environmental 

scientists and 

specialists, 

including 

health 

Environmental 

engineering 

technicians 

Environmental 

science and 

protection 

technicians, 

including 

health 

Federal, state, and local 

government (OES 

designation) 

15,660 35,460 3,550 11,260

Federal executive 

branch (OES 

designation) 

3,770 5,590 NA 330

State government (OES 

designation) 6,680 19,760 NA 4,060

Local government (OES 

designation) 5,210 10,120 NA 6,870

Architectural, 

engineering, and 

related services 

15,110 12,900 7,860 6,590

Management, scientific, 

and technical 

consulting services 

10,450 17,700 3,360 8,040

Remediation and other 

waste management 

services 

1,850 550 1,310 490

Scientific research and 

development services 1,810 3,980 430 820

Colleges, universities, 

and professional 

schools 

200 2,790 140 1,070

Total, all industries 52,590 80,120 20,740 33,370

Note: NA indicates data not available. Data for each level of government may not sum to the 

Federal, state, and local government total due to rounding. 
6 

Table 2. Employment of conservation science and forestry occupations by 

industry, May 2008 

Industry Conservation 

scientists Foresters 

Forest and 

conservation 

technicians 

Forest and 

conservation 

workers 

Federal executive 

branch (OES 

designation) 

6,620 1,780 23,310 NA

State and local 

government (OES 

designation) 

5,940 4,630 6,070 6,930

State government (OES 

designation) NA 2,960 4,250 5,410

Local government (OES 

designation) NA 1,670 1,820 1,520

Social advocacy 

organizations 1,430 50 160 160

Logging NA 560 130 70

Sawmills and wood 

preservation NA 980 40 240

Colleges, universities, 

and professional 

schools 

600 290 280 40

Total, all industries 15,830 10,160 30,850 8,280

Note: NA indicates data not available.