Highest-paying science jobs in Los Angeles

Written by:
February 9, 2023
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Highest-paying science jobs in Los Angeles

Stacker compiled a list of the highest-paying science jobs in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metro area using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Jobs are ranked by 2021 annual mean wage. Jobs the BLS lists as "life, physical, and social science occupations" were included.

#30. Agricultural technicians

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Annual mean salary: $53,600
- #13 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: data not available

National
- Annual mean salary: $44,850
- Employment: 13,560
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH ($59,300)
--- Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI ($58,050)
--- Corvallis, OR ($57,990)

#29. Occupational health and safety technicians

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Annual mean salary: $58,080
- #63 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 610

National
- Annual mean salary: $57,560
- Employment: 21,750
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Evansville, IN-KY ($77,880)
--- Anchorage, AK ($77,690)
--- Oklahoma City, OK ($77,100)

#28. Social science research assistants

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Annual mean salary: $58,910
- #10 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 1,530

National
- Annual mean salary: $56,430
- Employment: 28,690
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA ($88,730)
--- Columbia, SC ($77,760)
--- Springfield, MA-CT ($70,570)

#27. Occupational health and safety specialists

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Annual mean salary: $64,190
- #393 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 6,060

National
- Annual mean salary: $78,740
- Employment: 106,340
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Kennewick-Richland, WA ($111,950)
--- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($108,240)
--- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($108,020)

#26. Zoologists and wildlife biologists

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Annual mean salary: $67,690
- #68 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 220

National
- Annual mean salary: $70,300
- Employment: 15,930
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Barnstable Town, MA ($109,570)
--- Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, MS ($106,800)
--- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV ($100,350)

#25. Conservation scientists

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Annual mean salary: $68,920
- #85 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: data not available

National
- Annual mean salary: $68,230
- Employment: 22,550
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Springfield, MA-CT ($108,670)
--- Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI ($106,200)
--- Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV ($101,900)

#24. Survey researchers

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Annual mean salary: $68,970
- #12 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 180

National
- Annual mean salary: $64,690
- Employment: 8,850
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV ($90,860)
--- Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ ($88,580)
--- Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY ($86,230)

#23. Geological technicians, except hydrologic technicians

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Annual mean salary: $69,380
- #9 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 180

National
- Annual mean salary: $59,080
- Employment: 9,210
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Tulsa, OK ($89,210)
--- Anchorage, AK ($88,050)
--- Baton Rouge, LA ($86,860)

#22. Anthropologists and archeologists

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Annual mean salary: $72,790
- #13 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: data not available

National
- Annual mean salary: $66,800
- Employment: 6,650
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Anchorage, AK ($85,120)
--- Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA ($84,300)
--- Urban Honolulu, HI ($81,990)

#21. Chemists

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Annual mean salary: $78,510
- #113 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 2,880

National
- Annual mean salary: $89,130
- Employment: 80,600
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV ($131,290)
--- Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT ($115,790)
--- Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH ($108,330)

#20. Historians

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Annual mean salary: $78,590
- #5 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 50

National
- Annual mean salary: $72,130
- Employment: 2,910
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV ($101,240)
--- Urban Honolulu, HI ($89,840)
--- Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO ($86,780)

#19. Hydrologic technicians

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Annual mean salary: $86,310
- #3 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 40

National
- Annual mean salary: $71,760
- Employment: 3,550
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Baton Rouge, LA ($126,900)
--- Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX ($108,260)
--- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA ($86,310)

#18. Food scientists and technologists

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Annual mean salary: $87,240
- #30 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 440

National
- Annual mean salary: $84,150
- Employment: 13,510
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Kansas City, MO-KS ($138,600)
--- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($103,970)
--- Wichita, KS ($102,100)

#17. School psychologists

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Annual mean salary: $90,010
- #49 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 2,640

National
- Annual mean salary: $82,770
- Employment: 57,110
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Boulder, CO ($116,280)
--- El Centro, CA ($116,010)
--- Fresno, CA ($115,360)

#16. Epidemiologists

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Annual mean salary: $90,290
- #19 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 220

National
- Annual mean salary: $86,740
- Employment: 8,180
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA ($145,410)
--- New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA ($139,240)
--- Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, NY ($124,460)

#15. Microbiologists

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Annual mean salary: $90,560
- #12 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 600

National
- Annual mean salary: $87,820
- Employment: 19,430
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Knoxville, TN ($125,380)
--- Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH ($121,530)
--- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($115,340)

#14. Materials scientists

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Annual mean salary: $92,290
- #25 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 180

National
- Annual mean salary: $104,790
- Employment: 6,690
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD ($142,410)
--- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($135,480)
--- Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH ($133,380)

#13. Geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Annual mean salary: $93,380
- #41 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 670

National
- Annual mean salary: $103,550
- Employment: 23,620
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX ($161,290)
--- Corpus Christi, TX ($156,870)
--- Midland, TX ($156,270)

#12. Environmental scientists and specialists, including health

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Annual mean salary: $93,710
- #14 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 2,410

National
- Annual mean salary: $81,240
- Employment: 76,890
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Idaho Falls, ID ($116,630)
--- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($109,190)
--- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($107,710)

#11. Soil and plant scientists

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Annual mean salary: $95,250
- #10 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: data not available

National
- Annual mean salary: $76,290
- Employment: 15,610
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Durham-Chapel Hill, NC ($111,450)
--- Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX ($109,490)
--- Raleigh, NC ($109,320)

#10. Foresters

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Annual mean salary: $96,820
- #1 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 60

National
- Annual mean salary: $67,710
- Employment: 9,500
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA ($96,820)
--- Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA ($96,220)
--- Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD ($90,320)

#9. Forensic science technicians

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Annual mean salary: $96,980
- #2 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 1,090

National
- Annual mean salary: $66,850
- Employment: 17,020
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($106,600)
--- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA ($96,980)
--- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($96,410)

#8. Urban and regional planners

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Annual mean salary: $98,060
- #14 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 1,850

National
- Annual mean salary: $81,310
- Employment: 38,940
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Boulder, CO ($119,680)
--- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($112,760)
--- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($112,740)

#7. Biochemists and biophysicists

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Annual mean salary: $102,430
- #22 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 780

National
- Annual mean salary: $113,460
- Employment: 35,050
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH ($135,070)
--- Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA ($133,520)
--- Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO ($133,390)

#6. Medical scientists, except epidemiologists

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Annual mean salary: $108,900
- #39 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 4,700

National
- Annual mean salary: $104,050
- Employment: 108,550
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Memphis, TN-MS-AR ($176,770)
--- Columbia, SC ($155,570)
--- Danbury, CT ($151,970)

#5. Hydrologists

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Annual mean salary: $119,890
- #4 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 140

National
- Annual mean salary: $94,780
- Employment: 6,390
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA ($148,150)
--- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV ($136,920)
--- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($125,470)

#4. Clinical and counseling psychologists

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Annual mean salary: $122,170
- #14 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 3,500

National
- Annual mean salary: $99,640
- Employment: 58,100
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- San Diego-Carlsbad, CA ($136,630)
--- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($134,200)
--- Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA ($133,060)

#3. Industrial-organizational psychologists

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Annual mean salary: $136,940
- #1 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 70

National
- Annual mean salary: $113,320
- Employment: 610
- Metros with highest average pay: data not available

#2. Economists

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Annual mean salary: $141,500
- #4 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 640

National
- Annual mean salary: $120,830
- Employment: 15,640
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA ($162,870)
--- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($161,320)
--- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($156,360)

#1. Physicists

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
- Annual mean salary: $153,040
- #10 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 290

National
- Annual mean salary: $151,580
- Employment: 20,020
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD ($199,830)
--- Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ ($195,300)
--- Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX ($188,250)

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