Government Sector

This sector includes jobs within local, state, and federal governments, all of which are major employers of people with advanced scientific degrees. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, as outlined in their Occupational Outlook Handbook:

-- almost one in four biological scientists was employed by federal, state, or local government in 1996. At the federal level, biological scientists worked in the US Departments of Agriculture, Interior, and Defense, and for the National Institutes of Health.

-- science technicians accounted for 228,000 jobs in 1996. Over 35% worked in manufacturing (industry), about 16% worked in academia/education, and another 15% worked in research and testing services. In 1996, the federal government employed about 16,000 science technicians.

-- of the 47,000 jobs held by geologists and geophysicists* in 1996, nearly 40% were in engineering and management services. Twenty percent worked for oil and gas extraction companies or metal mining companies. About 1 of every 7 geoscientist was self-employed, many working as consultants to industry or government.

-- approximately 5,800 geologists, geophysicists, oceanographers, and hydrologists were employed by the federal government in 1996. Over half worked for the Department of the Interior, mostly with the US Geological Survey. Additionally, over 3,000 worked for state agencies.

-- chemists* held about 91,000 jobs in 1996. Nearly half were employed by manufacturing firms. Other employers for chemists included state and local governments and federal agencies (primarily Health and Human Services, which includes the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control). Additional chemists worked for research, development, and testing services.

* the salary figures (below) and statistics listed above do not include people who hold faculty positions in chemistry, geology, geophysics, or oceanography at colleges and universities.

Another source of salary data for the government sector is listed below: