Average Salary

• For its May 2010 analysis of employment across the country, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics categorized biological oceanographers with scientists specializing in other areas of oceanography, physical and chemical, as well as different spheres of hydrological science. It concluded that the average annual salary across the profession was $79,280, equivalent to $6,607 per month and $38.11 an hour. Pay comparison website SimplyHired.com reported that as of May 2011, the average yearly salary for a biological oceanographer specifically was $78,000.
  
  

Salary by Industry

• According to the report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most hydrological scientists, such as biological oceanographers, are employed by the federal executive branch. The average yearly wage in this sector was reported as $82,900. Positions with state governments paid an average of $66,320, while those at local government level had an average rate of $71,720. Biological oceanographers may also find employment in scientific research and development services, which averaged $70,570, or academic institutions such as colleges, universities and professional schools, which paid $74,730.
  
  

Salary by Location

• The bureau also detailed how location can affect an oceanographer's salary. Wage levels across all industry sectors for hydrologists were among the highest in Virginia and California, averaging $126,010 and $92,950, respectively. Florida was listed at $75,660, while Texas had an average annual pay rate of $69,350. The area around Washington, D.C., including parts of Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland, had the highest annual salary average of any metropolitan area, at $119,050. The Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine metropolitan area of California was second, with an average of $103,760, while Anchorage, Alaska, was listed at just $75,230.
  
  

Outlook

• Across the field of hydrological and geophysical sciences, the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects to see a rise in employment opportunities of around 18 percent through 2018. The continuing trend of people moving to environmentally sensitive locations, such as coastal regions, will be a primary motivation for the growth among hydrologists, as will an increasing focus on environmental management, such as the management of wild fish stocks, which will benefit biological oceanographers particularly. As such, wage levels for the occupation are likely to remain attractive.