Work Environment

Environmental science and protection technicians held about 34,200 jobs in 2020. The largest employers of environmental science and protection technicians were as follows:

Management, scientific, and technical consulting services - 25%
Local government, excluding education and hospitals - 18%
Testing laboratories - 11%
Engineering services - 7%
State government, excluding education and hospitals - 7%

Environmental science and protection technicians work in laboratories, offices, and the field. Fieldwork offers a variety of settings. For example, technicians may investigate an abandoned manufacturing plant, or work outdoors to test the water quality of lakes and rivers. They may work near streams and rivers, monitoring the levels of pollution caused by runoff from cities and landfills, or they may have to use the crawl spaces under a house in order to neutralize natural health risks such as radon. While working outdoors, they may be exposed to adverse weather conditions.

In the field, environmental science and protection technicians spend most of their time on their feet, which can be physically demanding. They also may need to carry and set up testing equipment, which can involve some heavy lifting and frequent bending and crouching. Fieldwork may be seasonal, depending on the location, since low temperatures in the winter could inhibit taking samples from water sources or soil.

Depending on the type of work and fieldwork they do, technicians may need to wear protective gear such as hardhats, masks, and coveralls to protect them from hazards.

Work Schedules

Environmental science and protection technicians typically work full time. Working in the field exposes them to all types of weather. Also, technicians may need to travel to meet with clients or to perform fieldwork, either of which may require technicians to work additional or irregular hours.

Job Outlook

Employment of environmental science and protection technicians is projected to grow 11 percent from 2020 to 2030, faster than the average for all occupations.

About 4,700 openings for environmental science and protection technicians are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.

Employment

Heightened public interest in issues involving the environment, such as fracking, and the increasing demands placed on the environment by population growth should lead to more jobs for environmental science and protection technicians as businesses and governments rely on these workers to help monitor the environment and comply with regulations.

Earnings

The median annual wage for environmental science and protection technicians was $47,370 in May 2021. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $30,050, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $76,810.

In May 2021, the median annual wages for environmental science and protection technicians in the top industries in which they worked were as follows: