Side-by-side distribution
Environmental Scientist
$90,307
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 35.5%
- Live roles
- 183
Researcher
$110,142
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 34.9%
- Live roles
- 3,302
Highest-paying jobs
Senior Consultant, Claims Casualty - E&S/Specialty (Traditional Environmental Property Damage and Bodily Injury)
Computational Ecologist
Senior Managing Consultant, Environmental Services
Principal Consultant, Environmental Health and Safety (EHS)
Environmental Consultant – Senior Level – Mining Focus (Hybrid)
Principal Consultant, Environmental FERC Project Manager
Loss Control Consultant - Environmental
Principal Ecologist – Energy
Environmental Consultant – Mid/Senior Level – Sediment Remediation (Hybrid)
Environmental Consultant – Senior Level (Hybrid)
Highest-paying jobs
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Post Doctoral Research Fellow
Research Fellow
Researcher, Training
Researcher, Training - London
Vice President, Quantitative Researcher, Infrastructure & Real Assets
Researcher, Alignment Interpretability
Researcher, Frontier Risk Mitigations
Researcher, Robustness & Safety Training
Researcher, Multimodal Safety
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
ERM
|
$107,123 | 17 |
|
Barr Engineering
|
$116,250 | 6 |
| SC SLR Consulting | $90,500 | 6 |
AtkinsRéalis
|
$86,425 | 6 |
Apex Companies
|
$71,750 | 6 |
Triumvirate Environmental
|
$80,000 | 3 |
Kpaonline
|
$72,500 | 3 |
| TE True Environmental | $70,000 | 3 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
The University of Texas at Austin
|
$47,500 | 39 |
| NU Northeastern University | $72,754 | 34 |
| WC Worldwide Clinical Trials | $145,000 | 28 |
IQVIA
|
$128,250 | 27 |
ICON plc
|
$124,335 | 26 |
USC
|
$71,892 | 25 |
| MG Mass General Brigham | $70,875 | 21 |
| BN Brookhaven National Laboratory | $81,175 | 18 |
Environmental Scientist salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Seattle | $121,061 | 4 |
| Los Angeles | $117,653 | 4 |
| Austin | $96,292 | 3 |
| New York | $80,000 | 7 |
Environmental Scientist vs Researcher: which pays more?
The median for Environmental Scientist is $90,307 per year (typically $75,103–$108,373), versus $110,142 for Researcher ($74,500–$175,000). That puts Researcher about 22% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Environmental Scientist and Researcher are compared on equal terms regardless of the currency each role was originally posted in. Only roles that publish a salary range feed the medians; numbers refresh every few hours as new roles post and older ones close, so this comparison reflects the market right now rather than a fixed survey. Use it as a directional benchmark when weighing one path against the other.