As we continue to filter through the data in our latest release (EMSI’s 2011.4 dataset), we notice that many occupations related to science and research are also doing quite well. The actual category of occupations (SOC 19) is referred to as “life, physical, and social science occupations,” and is inclusive of a broad range of employment ranging from medical technicians to market research analysts. In this post, we will highlight some of the jobs that are most notable since ’07.

OVERVIEW

First, using Analyst, we produced a quick overview of the sector. There are currently 1.3 million jobs in this category, and since 2007 there has been 3.3% growth at the national level. In 2010, over 500,000 students completed education and training related to these jobs, according to the IPEDS database from the National Center for Education Statistics. (Note: These graduates would also be pursuing occupations that we are not measuring in this analysis, so this data doesn’t necessarily say that overtraining is occurring). We estimate that in 2011 there were nearly 70,000 openings for science and research occupations in this category.

The median hourly wage for this category is nearly $30 per hour and there is a pretty even split between males and females. Also, nearly 50% of the people who work in this sector are between the ages of 25 and 44.

STATE-BY-STATE LOOK

• Not surprisingly, California has the highest number of these jobs (nearly 200,000). From 2007 to 2011, the state gained over 8,000 jobs. The state also has a jobs concentration (LQ) of 1.24, higher than than the national average (1.0).

• North Dakota and South Dakota had the highest percent growth for these jobs (12% and 10%, respectively). However, because employment was relatively low to begin with, each state added less than 500 jobs.

• The District of Columbia has the highest concentration of these jobs as well as the highest pay. From 2007 to 2011, about 1,500 new jobs were created. The concentration of these jobs in DC is more than three times greater than the national average.

• Other states with relatively high concentrations of these jobs are Alaska (2.0), Delaware (1.9), Montana (1.89), Wyoming (1.73), Massachusetts (1.7), New Mexico (1.6), Idaho (1.58), Maryland (1.57), Washington (1.56), Colorado (1.28), Vermont (1.26), Oregon (1.24), New Jersey (1.24), New York (1.14), and Minnesota (1.12).

• Perhaps surprisingly, New Jersey is one of only six states to have lost jobs in this occupation sector over the past five years. In New Jersey, the job loss was actually quite substantial––3,400 jobs, a 7.4% decline. Also of note, the states with the lowest concentration of these jobs tend to be in the South: Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina, Florida, Kentucky, Georgia, and Mississippi (among other states) are all well below the national average for these occupations.

Below is a table of all the states, sorted from the most to the least concentrated. The data comes from EMSI’s 2011.4 Covered dataset.

TOP PERFORMERS

Altogether there are 44 distinct occupations captured in this category. We have selected the top 14 jobs based on total number of jobs, growth (% and total), and earnings. The data has been organized based on educational level. The 14 occupations we selected added over 42,000 jobs, which is 7% growth in five years. Average earnings are about $32 per hour. There is also an even distribution between associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral education levels.

OBSERVATIONS

• HIGHEST-PAYING – The highest-paying jobs on the list are geoscientists and physical scientists. Both average over $44 per hour. It is interesting to note that these are jobs associated with master’s and bachelor’s degree education rather than doctoral degrees. Most would just naturally assume that the doctoral degrees would have higher wages. Geoscientists gained 2,000 jobs (7% growth) and physical scientists gained 1,000 jobs (3% growth).

• FASTEST-GROWING – The fastest-growing jobs on the list have been geological and petroleum technicians and biological scientists. They both grew by 11% over the past five years and added 1,500 and 3,000 jobs respectively. They each average about $30 per hour. The average ed level for geological and petroleum techs is an associate’s, and biological scientists typically have doctoral degrees. Again notice the similarity in wages; a higher average education level doesn’t necessarily result in higher wages. Other occupations that experienced higher levels of growth were survey researchers, social scientists, and medical scientists, which all had 10% growth.

• MOST NEW JOBS – Medical scientists (doctoral degree level) added 10,000 jobs in five years, which is the largest number of new jobs. Medical scientists average about $40 per hour and there are over 100,000 working across the nation. The next occupation is market research analysts, which added 5,000 jobs (2% growth). Market research analysts make just over $30 an hour and typically have bachelor’s degrees.

• MOST JOBS – Market research analysts also have the highest level of employment on this list: 230,000 jobs are classified under this title. The typical ed level for this job is a bachelor’s degree.

If you would like to take a closer look at each of the jobs, including what industries they work in, simply click the links below. The data and analysis comes straight from Analyst, EMSI’s web-based labor market analysis tool. With Analyst, users can look at over 800 occupations and 1,100 industries for any geography in the US. Data is also available for the UK.

1. Geological and petroleum technicians
2. Forest and conservation technicians
3. Life, physical, and social science technicians (all other)
4. Biological technicians
5. Survey researchers
6. Market research analysts
7. Physical scientists (all other)
8. Environmental scientists and specialists (including health)
9. Geoscientists (except hydrologists and geographers)
10. Social scientists and related workers (all other)
11. Biological scientists (all other)
12. Medical scientists (except epidemiologists)
13. Clinical, counseling, and school psychologists
14. Biochemists and biophysicists

Follow EMSI @DesktopEcon. Contact us if you have questions about this post.

We’ve received this question a number of times, so we thought it deserved a blog post.

According to EMSI data, which is based on over 80 state and federal labor market sources, engineers and engineering technicians make up about 8% of the total manufacturing sector (886,000 out of 11,675,000 jobs). For the purposes of this analysis we will primarily consider the specific engineering occupations that staff manufacturing to get a sense of the trends and demand.

Data and analysis for this post comes from Analyst, EMSI’s web-based labor market analysis tool, which can be used to analyze industries and occupations for any region in the nation.

Staffing Pattern
We identified 31 engineering occupations that staff manufacturing. Nine of the 31 are technician occupations that require, on average, associate’s degrees or below. The remaining jobs typically require a bachelor’s degree.

• The top engineering occupation in manufacturing is industrial engineers. There are 145,000 industrial engineer jobs in the manufacturing sector, which is 1.2% of the manufacturing workforce.
• Mechanical engineers is just behind with 114,500 jobs or 1% of the manufacturing sector.
• With 73,000 jobs in manufacturing, computer software engineers, system software is third. Also notice that with 53,000 jobs, the sixth occupation is computer software engineers, applications. That equates to 126,000 software engineer jobs in manufacturing, which speaks to the advanced, highly mechanized nature of domestic operations. Read more about these jobs here.
• The fourth occupation on the list is electrical engineers, with about 52,500 jobs in manufacturing (.5% of the total workforce).

For a more complete look at the staffing pattern, see the table below.

SOC Code	Occupation	Employed in Industry (2011)	% of the Total Jobs in Industry (2011)
SOURCE: EMSI COVERED EMPLOYMENT, 2011.4
17-2112	Industrial engineers	144,717	1.2%
17-2141	Mechanical engineers	114,455	1.0%
15-1032	Computer software engineers, systems software	73,129	0.6%
11-9041	Engineering managers	69,012	0.6%
17-2071	Electrical engineers	54,165	0.5%
15-1031	Computer software engineers, applications	52,486	0.4%
17-2199	Engineers, all other	49,931	0.4%
17-3023	Electrical and electronic engineering technicians	49,737	0.4%
17-3026	Industrial engineering technicians	47,335	0.4%
17-2072	Electronics engineers, except computer	43,467	0.4%
17-2011	Aerospace engineers	37,629	0.3%
17-2061	Computer hardware engineers	30,693	0.3%
17-3027	Mechanical engineering technicians	19,000	0.2%
17-3029	Engineering technicians, except drafters, all other	17,022	0.1%
41-9031	Sales engineers	16,302	0.1%
17-2041	Chemical engineers	14,505	0.1%
17-2131	Materials engineers	13,349	0.1%
17-2031	Biomedical engineers	8,213	0.1%
47-2073	Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators	6,173	0.1%
51-8021	Stationary engineers and boiler operators	5,760	0.0%
17-3021	Aerospace engineering and operations technicians	5,061	0.0%
17-2111	Health and safety engineers, except mining safety engineers and inspectors	4,623	0.0%
17-2171	Petroleum engineers	2,144	0.0%
17-2051	Civil engineers	1,730	0.0%
17-2081	Environmental engineers	1,707	0.0%
17-2021	Agricultural engineers	1,060	0.0%
17-2121	Marine engineers and naval architects	1,024	0.0%
17-3025	Environmental engineering technicians	838	0.0%
17-2161	Nuclear engineers	352	0.0%
17-3022	Civil engineering technicians	256	0.0%
27-4014	Sound engineering technicians	97	0.0%
	TOTAL	885,972

NATIONAL OVERVIEW
Overall, these 31 occupations account for nearly 3.5 million jobs. This includes workers who are employed across all industries — not just manufacturing. About 25% of all engineers work in manufacturing.

Nationwide these occupations have grown by 1.3% in the past two years and the average pay is $37.60 per hour. Most of the folks who work in this sector are men and about half are between the ages of 25-44. The other half falls in the “aging workforce” category, so some thought should be given to the number of engineers that might be retiring in the coming years.

In 2011, we estimate that there were about 115,000 openings, which is an estimate of the new positions being created and existing positions needing to be filled due to an exiting from the occupation through retirement, career change, etc..

In 2010, 243,000 people completed education and training related to these occupations (note: these completers could have also entered other occupations we are not considering in this analysis).

STATE-BY-STATE COMPARISON

• Largest Employer – With 483,000 engineering jobs, California employs the most and has the second highest median earnings for engineers ($45.44 per hour). Jobs in the state increased by 1.5% since 2009. After California, Texas (315,000), New York (155,000), Michigan (143,000), Virginia (143,000), and Pennsylvania (134,000) employ the most.

• Highest Concentration – Washington’s location quotient of 1.6 indicates that it has the highest concentration of engineering workers. High LQs tend to be good indicators of specialization, so this is basically saying that Washington tends to specialize in this type of worker. There are currently 125,000 engineering jobs in the state. Average pay is about $41 per hour, and jobs increased by nearly 3% since 2009. Other states with high concentration are Colorado (1.58), Massachusetts (1.50), Virginia (1.44), Maryland (1.36), D.C. (1.36), Michigan (1.35), New Hampshire (1.35), California (1.23), Alaska (1.23), and New Mexico (1.22).

• Fastest-Growing – The little engine that could continues to be North Dakota. Over the past two years engineering occupations in the state have grown by 12.5%. Also note that North Dakota is second only to South Dakota for the lowest level of employment. So it’s small, and — like almost everything else in that state – expanding. Other states with good growth over the past two years are: Michigan (6.8%), D.C. (6.7%), Vermont (6.4%), and South Carolina (4%).

• Highest-Paying – Not surprisingly, D.C. offers the highest wages. The D.C. metro now has the highest cost of living in the U.S. and these engineering occupations average over $46 per hour in the city boundaries. Other high-paying states are California ($45), Massachusetts ($43), New Jersey ($42), Washington ($41), Virginia ($41), and Maryland ($41).

• Decline – A handful of states shed engineering jobs over the past two years. With a decline of over 2,000 jobs, Florida lost the most. After that come Kansas (-1,900) Missouri (-1,700), Nevada (-1,200), Alabama (-1,100), and Arizona (-1,000). Nevada lost the highest percentage (-6.6%).

See the table for the complete results:

OCCUPATION DETAIL

Here is a closer look at the national data for the occupations. Again, these are all occupations and not just the ones that staff manufacturing.

• Most Jobs & Most New Jobs – The largest category of jobs are computer software engineers, applications (506,000 jobs) and computer software engineers, system software (393,000 jobs). These jobs pay well — between $42 and $45 per hour as a national average, and require a bachelor’s degree. Over the past couple of years growth has been 4%, which translates to about 34,000 new jobs.

• Fastest-Growing – With 11% growth over the past two years, the fastest-growing jobs are petroleum engineers and biomedical engineers. Because the total employment size isn’t as large as the previous example, not as many jobs were actually added (about 3,400 jobs), but it is still worth noting as there appears to be substantial demand. Petroleum engineers are also the highest-paying job on the list.

• Decline – Operating engineers lost over 9,000 jobs since 2009, which is a 3% decline in the total workforce. After that electronic and electrical engineers as well as electrical and electronic engineering technicians lost about 1% of their total workforce. Civil engineering occupations also suffered a bit.

For the complete list, see the table below:

TECHNICIANS

We’ve seen lots of interest in the performance of the technician positions — so we’ve broken them out and included them in this analysis. Nine of the 31 occupation we selected are technicians. There are 490,000 of these jobs and all but two require associate’s degrees. The average pay is about $25 per hour. As a group, these occupations experienced no real growth over the past two years.

• Largest Employer – Electrical and electronic engineering technicians is the largest in terms of jobs (about 150,000) and has seen the steepest decline (more than 1,100 in the last two years).

• Fastest-Growing – Industrial engineering technicians gained 3% and added 1,655 jobs. Engineering technicians (except drafters) gained 1,371 jobs and is also the highest-paying job on the list.

Here is a closer look at the industries that employ these technicians. Note: This is not the complete list.

Some quick observations:

• Nearly 13% (or 61,500) of all engineering techs – not surprisingly – work in the engineering services sector.
• Nearly 10% of the testing laboratory industry is composed of engineering techs.
• Local, state and federal governments employ 110,000 engineering techs, which is 22.4% of the total engineering tech workforce.

Here is a look at the top programs that train engineering techs.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

Engineering clearly offers a wide array of intriguing employment and training options in the United States. It was particularly interesting to see how many computer software engineers are being employed in domestic manufacturing. Jobs related to anything that has to do with the domestic oil and gas boom are also thriving.

Lots of data has been presented here, so as always, if you have questions, comments, or would like to dig in deeper, please let us know. Also, follow us on Twitter @DesktopEcon to stay up with our data posts.

One of the most valuable things that our data does is unsuppress the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) with a high degree of accuracy (in its raw form, QCEW hides firm-specific numbers for confidentiality reasons). But because of this unsuppression, our Covered set wasn’t exactly the same as the QCEW set. And our Complete set was and is comprehensive, but it has actually contained three other employment categories in addition to the Covered data. Wouldn’t it be nice to see these three other categories on their own? Wouldn’t it be nice to show numbers in the tool that match QCEW?

We thought so.

That’s why, in the next few months, we’re going to issue our industry data in four sets that you can mix and match. The fours sets are:

1. QCEW – this set will simply be QCEW unsuppressed. This means that any employment number that QCEW publishes will show up in our tool as the exact same number. Anyone who needs EMSI numbers to stick closely to Bureau of Labor Statistics QCEW numbers will have employment numbers that match exactly.

2. Non-QCEW Employees – this set will be other groups who are not captured by QCEW, but who still count as employees. This includes railroad, military, some non-QCEW federal government workers, unreported employees estimated by the BEA, and a few other miscellaneous categories. This is particularly helpful for evaluating those tricky military and government sectors that can dominate regional economies.

3. Self-Employed – this set will be self-employed workers who count their self-employed work as their primary source of income. This is an ever-growing sector and being able to include it along side our more traditional datasets will be very informative.

4. Extended Proprietors – this set will be workers who are counted as self-employed, but classify the income as peripheral to their primary employment. Again, a lot of people fall into this category (e.g., those who do freelance work on the side, like writers or musicians) and now you will be able to see who they are more clearly.

Now, how is this going to make a difference?

These categories mean that you can choose exactly what numbers you’re showing. Many of our users will choose just to use all four sets together. But others will be able to make the data much more transparent than it has been. Obviously, you can pare the data down to simply an unsuppressed QCEW set. You can remove all self-employed/proprietor workers from the set. You can look at only self-employed/proprietor workers.

Sometimes including self-employed workers overstates the workforce presence in an area. Sometimes you want to be able to show absolutely every resource available in your region.

EMSI is committed to making accurate, comprehensive data that serves your needs. This is just part of getting even better at doing that.

The following graphic gives even more detail on the changes for the nerds anyone interested.

Email Rob Sentz (rob@economicmodeling.com) with any questions. And follow EMSI on Twitter @DesktopEcon.

*All data comes from Analyst, EMSI’s web-based, labor market analysis tool that features the most comprehensive and up-to-date employment data available.

Job Description

What do biochemists and biophysicists do? Here’s a quick description from Analyst:

SOC 19-1021: Study the chemical composition and physical principles of living cells and organisms, their electrical and mechanical energy, and related phenomena. May conduct research to further understanding of the complex chemical combinations and reactions involved in metabolism, reproduction, growth, and heredity. May determine the effects of foods, drugs, serums, hormones, and other substances on tissues and vital processes of living organisms.

National Overview

Here are some handy facts about the occupation across the nation:

Regional Trends

This chart shows how the occupation has performed since 2007. The dotted line is a projection based on historical data; it is not an economic forecast.

 Educational Attainment

These are the typical levels of education for this occupation:

Educational Programs

Here are the educational programs that help prepare people for this occupation (click the table to enlarge):

 Inverse Staffing Patterns

These are the industries that employ this occupation (click the table to enlarge):

Jump to another occupation in this series:

1. Geological and petroleum technicians
2. Forest and conservation technicians
3. Life, physical, and social science technicians (all other)
4. Biological technicians
5. Survey researchers
6. Market research analysts
7. Physical scientists (all other)
8. Environmental scientists and specialists (including health)
9. Geoscientists (except hydrologists and geographers)
10. Social scientists and related workers (all other)
11. Biological scientists (all other)
12. Medical scientists (except epidemiologists)
13. Clinical, counseling, and school psychologists
14. Biochemists and biophysicists

Return to The Growth in Science & Research Occupations

*All data comes from Analyst, EMSI’s web-based, labor market analysis tool that features the most comprehensive and up-to-date employment data available.

Job Description

What do clinical, counseling, and school psychologists do? Here’s a quick description from Analyst:

SOC 19-3031: Diagnose and treat mental disorders; learning disabilities; and cognitive, behavioral, and emotional problems using individual, child, family, and group therapies. May design and implement behavior modification programs.

National Overview

Here are some handy facts about the occupation across the nation:

Regional Trends

This chart shows how the occupation has performed since 2007. The dotted line is a projection based on historical data; it is not an economic forecast.

 Educational Attainment

These are the typical levels of education for this occupation:

Educational Programs

Here are the educational programs that help prepare people for this occupation (click the table to enlarge):

 Inverse Staffing Patterns

These are the industries that employ this occupation (click the table to enlarge):

Jump to another occupation in this series:

1. Geological and petroleum technicians
2. Forest and conservation technicians
3. Life, physical, and social science technicians (all other)
4. Biological technicians
5. Survey researchers
6. Market research analysts
7. Physical scientists (all other)
8. Environmental scientists and specialists (including health)
9. Geoscientists (except hydrologists and geographers)
10. Social scientists and related workers (all other)
11. Biological scientists (all other)
12. Medical scientists (except epidemiologists)
13. Clinical, counseling, and school psychologists
14. Biochemists and biophysicists

Return to The Growth in Science & Research Occupations

*All data comes from Analyst, EMSI’s web-based, labor market analysis tool that features the most comprehensive and up-to-date employment data available.

Job Description

What do medical scientists do? Here’s a quick description from Analyst:

SOC 19-1042: Conduct research dealing with the understanding of human diseases and the improvement of human health. Engage in clinical investigation or other research, production, technical writing, or related activities. Includes medical scientists such as physicians, dentists, public health specialists, pharmacologists, and medical pathologists.

National Overview

Here are some handy facts about the occupation across the nation:

Regional Trends

This chart shows how the occupation has performed since 2007. The dotted line is a projection based on historical data; it is not an economic forecast.

 Educational Attainment

These are the typical levels of education for this occupation:

Educational Programs

Here are the top 24 of the 36 educational programs that help prepare people for this occupation (click the table to enlarge):

 Inverse Staffing Patterns

These are the industries that employ this occupation (click the table to enlarge):

Jump to another occupation in this series:

1. Geological and petroleum technicians
2. Forest and conservation technicians
3. Life, physical, and social science technicians (all other)
4. Biological technicians
5. Survey researchers
6. Market research analysts
7. Physical scientists (all other)
8. Environmental scientists and specialists (including health)
9. Geoscientists (except hydrologists and geographers)
10. Social scientists and related workers (all other)
11. Biological scientists (all other)
12. Medical scientists (except epidemiologists)
13. Clinical, counseling, and school psychologists
14. Biochemists and biophysicists

Return to The Growth in Science & Research Occupations

*All data comes from Analyst, EMSI’s web-based, labor market analysis tool that features the most comprehensive and up-to-date employment data available.

Job Description

SOC 19-1029: All biological scientists not listed separately.

National Overview

Here are some handy facts about the occupation across the nation:

Regional Trends

This chart shows how the occupation has performed since 2007. The dotted line is a projection based on historical data; it is not an economic forecast.

 Educational Attainment

These are the typical levels of education for this occupation:

Educational Programs

Here are the top 23 of the 54 educational programs that help prepare people for this occupation (click the table to enlarge):

 Inverse Staffing Patterns

These are the industries that employ this occupation (click the table to enlarge):

Jump to another occupation in this series:

1. Geological and petroleum technicians
2. Forest and conservation technicians
3. Life, physical, and social science technicians (all other)
4. Biological technicians
5. Survey researchers
6. Market research analysts
7. Physical scientists (all other)
8. Environmental scientists and specialists (including health)
9. Geoscientists (except hydrologists and geographers)
10. Social scientists and related workers (all other)
11. Biological scientists (all other)
12. Medical scientists (except epidemiologists)
13. Clinical, counseling, and school psychologists
14. Biochemists and biophysicists

Return to The Growth in Science & Research Occupations

*All data comes from Analyst, EMSI’s web-based, labor market analysis tool that features the most comprehensive and up-to-date employment data available.

Job Description

SOC 19-3099: All social scientists and related workers not listed separately.

National Overview

Here are some handy facts about the occupation across the nation:

Regional Trends

This chart shows how the occupation has performed since 2007. The dotted line is a projection based on historical data; it is not an economic forecast.

 Educational Attainment

These are the typical levels of education for this occupation:

Educational Programs

Here are the educational programs that help prepare people for this occupation (click the table to enlarge):

 Inverse Staffing Patterns

These are the industries that employ this occupation (click the table to enlarge):

Jump to another occupation in this series:

1. Geological and petroleum technicians
2. Forest and conservation technicians
3. Life, physical, and social science technicians (all other)
4. Biological technicians
5. Survey researchers
6. Market research analysts
7. Physical scientists (all other)
8. Environmental scientists and specialists (including health)
9. Geoscientists (except hydrologists and geographers)
10. Social scientists and related workers (all other)
11. Biological scientists (all other)
12. Medical scientists (except epidemiologists)
13. Clinical, counseling, and school psychologists
14. Biochemists and biophysicists

Return to The Growth in Science & Research Occupations

*All data comes from Analyst, EMSI’s web-based, labor market analysis tool that features the most comprehensive and up-to-date employment data available.

Job Description

What do geoscientists do? Here’s a quick description from Analyst:

SOC 19-2042: Study the composition, structure, and other physical aspects of the earth. May use geological, physics, and mathematics knowledge in exploration for oil, gas, minerals, or underground water; or in waste disposal, land reclamation, or other environmental problems. May study the earth’s internal composition, atmospheres, oceans, and its magnetic, electrical, and gravitational forces. Includes mineralogists, crystallographers, paleontologists, stratigraphers, geodesists, and seismologists.

National Overview

Here are some handy facts about the occupation across the nation:

Regional Trends

This chart shows how the occupation has performed since 2007. The dotted line is a projection based on historical data; it is not an economic forecast.

 Educational Attainment

These are the typical levels of education for this occupation:

Educational Programs

Here are the educational programs that help prepare people for this occupation (click the table to enlarge):

 Inverse Staffing Patterns

These are the industries that employ this occupation (click the table to enlarge):

Jump to another occupation in this series:

1. Geological and petroleum technicians
2. Forest and conservation technicians
3. Life, physical, and social science technicians (all other)
4. Biological technicians
5. Survey researchers
6. Market research analysts
7. Physical scientists (all other)
8. Environmental scientists and specialists (including health)
9. Geoscientists (except hydrologists and geographers)
10. Social scientists and related workers (all other)
11. Biological scientists (all other)
12. Medical scientists (except epidemiologists)
13. Clinical, counseling, and school psychologists
14. Biochemists and biophysicists

Return to The Growth in Science & Research Occupations

*All data comes from Analyst, EMSI’s web-based, labor market analysis tool that features the most comprehensive and up-to-date employment data available.

Job Description

What do environmental scientists and specialists do? Here’s a quick description from Analyst:

SOC 19-2041: Conduct research or perform investigation for the purpose of identifying, abating, or eliminating sources of pollutants or hazards that affect either the environment or the health of the population. Utilizing knowledge of various scientific disciplines may collect, synthesize, study, report, and take action based on data derived from measurements or observations of air, food, soil, water, and other sources.

National Overview

Here are some handy facts about the occupation across the nation:

Regional Trends

This chart shows how the occupation has performed since 2007. The dotted line is a projection based on historical data; it is not an economic forecast.

 Educational Attainment

These are the typical levels of education for this occupation:

Educational Programs

Here are the educational programs that help prepare people for this occupation:

 Inverse Staffing Patterns

These are the industries that employ this occupation (click the table to enlarge):

Jump to another occupation in this series:

1. Geological and petroleum technicians
2. Forest and conservation technicians
3. Life, physical, and social science technicians (all other)
4. Biological technicians
5. Survey researchers
6. Market research analysts
7. Physical scientists (all other)
8. Environmental scientists and specialists (including health)
9. Geoscientists (except hydrologists and geographers)
10. Social scientists and related workers (all other)
11. Biological scientists (all other)
12. Medical scientists (except epidemiologists)
13. Clinical, counseling, and school psychologists
14. Biochemists and biophysicists

Return to The Growth in Science & Research Occupations