Highest-paying science jobs in Sacramento

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

Stacker compiled a list of the highest-paying science jobs in Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, 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. Food science technicians

Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA
- Annual mean salary: $48,810
- #30 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 60

National
- Annual mean salary: $47,870
- Employment: 11,530
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- St. Louis, MO-IL ($66,580)
--- Owensboro, KY ($63,700)
--- Columbus, OH ($61,420)

#29. Environmental science and protection technicians, including health

Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA
- Annual mean salary: $50,480
- #67 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 550

National
- Annual mean salary: $50,550
- Employment: 34,110
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Kennewick-Richland, WA ($79,780)
--- Huntsville, AL ($78,320)
--- Birmingham-Hoover, AL ($76,970)

#28. Biological technicians

Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA
- Annual mean salary: $50,970
- #45 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 400

National
- Annual mean salary: $51,770
- Employment: 76,150
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX ($69,050)
--- Boulder, CO ($68,640)
--- Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA ($65,940)

#27. Chemical technicians

Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA
- Annual mean salary: $51,640
- #122 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 200

National
- Annual mean salary: $55,040
- Employment: 57,690
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Billings, MT ($86,340)
--- Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV ($78,000)
--- Baton Rouge, LA ($77,020)

#26. Agricultural technicians

Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA
- Annual mean salary: $53,760
- #12 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)

#25. Social science research assistants

Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA
- Annual mean salary: $57,940
- #15 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 850

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)

#24. Occupational health and safety technicians

Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA
- Annual mean salary: $61,430
- #53 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 140

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)

#23. Hydrologic technicians

Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA
- Annual mean salary: $66,520
- #4 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 60

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)

#22. Anthropologists and archeologists

Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA
- Annual mean salary: $80,640
- #4 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 190

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. Zoologists and wildlife biologists

Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA
- Annual mean salary: $83,540
- #16 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 80

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)

#20. Chemists

Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA
- Annual mean salary: $86,330
- #70 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 310

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)

#19. Forensic science technicians

Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA
- Annual mean salary: $86,530
- #8 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 170

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)

#17 (tie). Soil and plant scientists

Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA
- Annual mean salary: $87,320
- #15 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 150

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)

#17 (tie). Conservation scientists

Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA
- Annual mean salary: $87,320
- #9 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 130

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)

#16. Food scientists and technologists

Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA
- Annual mean salary: $87,400
- #29 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 60

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)

#15. Foresters

Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA
- Annual mean salary: $89,390
- #5 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)

#14. School psychologists

Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA
- Annual mean salary: $90,780
- #47 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 540

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)

#13. Occupational health and safety specialists

Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA
- Annual mean salary: $91,020
- #19 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 640

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)

#12. Urban and regional planners

Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA
- Annual mean salary: $93,800
- #19 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 870

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)

#11. Economists

Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA
- Annual mean salary: $97,380
- #37 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 230

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)

#10. Environmental scientists and specialists, including health

Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA
- Annual mean salary: $100,870
- #6 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 3,020

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)

#9. Epidemiologists

Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA
- Annual mean salary: $102,140
- #9 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 180

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)

#8. Biochemists and biophysicists

Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA
- Annual mean salary: $103,960
- #20 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 180

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)

#7. Sociologists

Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA
- Annual mean salary: $105,920
- #5 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 120

National
- Annual mean salary: $96,260
- Employment: 2,640
- Metros with highest average pay:
--- Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC ($129,870)
--- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI ($117,170)
--- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA ($109,760)

#6. Microbiologists

Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA
- Annual mean salary: $106,030
- #7 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 100

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)

#5. Geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers

Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA
- Annual mean salary: $106,230
- #25 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 440

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)

#4. Hydrologists

Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA
- Annual mean salary: $107,810
- #12 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)

#3. Medical scientists, except epidemiologists

Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA
- Annual mean salary: $113,140
- #28 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 910

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)

#2. Clinical and counseling psychologists

Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA
- Annual mean salary: $119,240
- #18 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: 560

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)

#1. Physicists

Sacramento--Roseville--Arden-Arcade, CA
- Annual mean salary: $145,630
- #17 highest pay among all metros
- Employment: data not available

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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