Researching Geologist Salaries

Pursuing a geology career opens up a vast amount of career choices. A geologist may use his or her expertise to assess the most secure places to build in areas of high volcanic or earthquake activity, work mapping natural gas or oil fields, advise a mining company or environmental engineer, or research past geologic events. It's a diverse field, and for someone with an interest in the Earth's materials, geology provide numerous opportunities to their unique preferences. With so many different career options available, geologist salaries will vary accordingly. If you're considering a geology career, PayScale's geologist salary data can provide valuable insight into the various factors affecting geologist salaries.

Geologist Salaries by Industry

In today's job market, many of the most lucrative careers in geology are in the oil and gas industries; our dependence on these natural fuels means that oil and gas companies are continually on the lookout for new sources. It also means that oil and gas companies can afford to offer highly competitive geologist salaries. Measuring Geologist Salaries by Industry shows that geologist salary is much, much higher in the Oil & Gas and Oil & Gas Exploration industries than in any other industry.

Geologist Salaries and Cost of Living Data

Researching a geologist salary by location corroborates the data on geologist salaries by industry; oil-rich Texas is the place to go for high geologist salaries. Houston is the top city on the Geologist Salaries by City chart and Texas wins overall when measuring Geologist Salaries by State. Houston may offer some of the highest geologist salaries, but how does the city rank in terms of cost of living? Using PayScale's Cost of Living Calculator to find both Cost of Living and Median Geologist Salaries in Houston, we can see that the cost of housing there is 27 percent below the national average. That helps Houston to have a relatively low cost of living overall.

Geologist Salaries: Experience vs. Education

While a geologist may gain the fundamental knowledge required for a career in geology during college, experience offers the best education. The Geologist Salary by Years Experience chart shows that geologist salaries are over twice as high for geologists with 20 years of experience or more compared to those with only 1-4 years under their belts. This also explains why geologists aged 44-65 earn the highest median Geologist Salary by Age. For many geology careers, experience factors much more into a geologist's salary than advanced degree: researching Geologist Salaries by Degree shows that, for those who have earned a Master's degree, geologist salaries aren't that much higher than for those with Bachelor's degrees. However, geologist salaries are not the only motivation for pursuing a career in geology. Earning an advanced degree in geology makes it much easier to get jobs in research or teaching, which are coveted by many geologists.