Environmental Specialist Salary & Requirements (2026)
Advertised pay, starting pay, skills and experience from 1,582 US job postings by 549 employers. Data as of October 2026.
What US employers post for environmental specialists: advertised pay, the skills and experience they ask for, and the job titles they use, from 1,582 open job postings (October 2026).
- The median advertised pay for environmental specialists in US job postings is $105,000 a year (465 postings from 177 employers, October 2026).
- The middle half of those postings offer $76,000 to $129,000.
- The skills that most set environmental specialist postings apart are environmental regulations, environmental compliance, environmental consulting.
- Postings that state a minimum ask for a median of 5 years of experience.
Environmental Specialist job postings in the US, October 2026
- $105,000
- Median advertised pay (465 postings)
- $76,000–$129,000
- Middle 50% of postings
- 1,582
- US job postings from 549 employers
- 5 years
- Median experience asked
How much does an environmental specialist make?
The median advertised pay is $105,000 a year, from 465 US job postings by 177 employers that state pay. One in ten postings offers $162,000 or more.
Advertised pay in 465 US environmental specialist job postings: median $105,000 a year, middle half $76,000 to $129,000.
- Median: $105,000
- 25th percentile: $76,000
- 75th percentile: $129,000
The figures as a table
| Annual pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| $30K–$40K | 1.8% |
| $40K–$50K | 8.4% |
| $50K–$60K | 6.6% |
| $60K–$70K | 5.1% |
| $70K–$80K | 5.8% |
| $80K–$90K | 8.6% |
| $90K–$100K | 6.9% |
| $100K–$110K | 14.7% |
| $110K–$120K | 8.9% |
| $120K–$130K | 8.4% |
| $130K–$140K | 8.6% |
| $140K–$150K | 4.1% |
| $150K–$160K | 1.5% |
| $160K–$170K | 5.3% |
| $170K–$180K | 3.3% |
| $180K–$190K | 1.8% |
Midpoint of each posting's pay range, hourly pay × 2,080 hours; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
| Median | Middle 50% | Postings | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Postings that state an annual salary | $110,000 | $92K–$133K | 315 |
| All pay postings, annualised | $105,000 | $76K–$129K | 465 |
What is the starting salary for an environmental specialist?
Figure withheld: fewer than 250 US postings list pay. How we decide.
Environmental specialist levels and pay
Levels as they appear in job titles, ordered by the median experience asked.
| Level in title | Share of postings | Median experience asked | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| No level in title | 78.5% | 5 years | $102,000 |
| Senior | 11.1% | 8 years | – |
Skills employers ask for in environmental specialist job postings
| Skill | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| Communication | 53% |
| Excel | 25% |
| Problem-solving | 21% |
| Microsoft Office | 21% |
| Organizational skills | 19% |
| Analytical skills | 18% |
| Word | 17% |
| Interpersonal skills | 15% |
| Attention to detail | 14% |
| Powerpoint | 14% |
Skills named in the posting text; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026. Methodology.
Skills that set environmental specialists apart
- Environmental regulations190.4× as often as in all postings · 7%
- Environmental compliance215.3× as often as in all postings · 7%
- Environmental consulting484.2× as often as in all postings · 5%
- Technical writing32.8× as often as in all postings · 8%
- Project management7.2× as often as in all postings · 11%
- Powerpoint3.6× as often as in all postings · 14%
- Oral and written communication skills3.7× as often as in all postings · 5%
Skills named in at least 5% of these postings and at least 3 times as often as in job postings overall.
Have a environmental specialist job posting in front of you? See which of its skills your resume is missing.
What does an environmental specialist do?
Employers post these jobs as Environmental Scientist, Environmental Manager, Environmental Project Manager, Senior Environmental Project Manager, Environmental Intern and other titles. The largest specializations are Environmental Engineer (29%), Air Quality Project Manager (6%), Environmental Remediation Project Manager (2%), Forester (1%).
The closest official occupation is Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health (19-2041.00). Its most important tasks:
- Communicate scientific or technical information to the public, organizations, or internal audiences through oral briefings, written documents, workshops, conferences, training sessions, or public hearings.
- Monitor effects of pollution or land degradation and recommend means of prevention or control.
- Collect, synthesize, analyze, manage, and report environmental data, such as pollution emission measurements, atmospheric monitoring measurements, meteorological or mineralogical information, or soil or water samples.
- Review and implement environmental technical standards, guidelines, policies, and formal regulations that meet all appropriate requirements.
- Provide scientific or technical guidance, support, coordination, or oversight to governmental agencies, environmental programs, industry, or the public.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (CC BY 4.0).
How much experience do you need to be an environmental specialist?
Among 796 postings that state a minimum, the median is 5 years. 5% say 0 years and 10% ask for 1 year or less.
Minimum experience asked in 796 US environmental specialist job postings: median 5 years, and 10% ask for 1 year or less.
The figures as a table
| Minimum experience asked | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| 0 yr | 5% |
| 1 yr | 5% |
| 2 yrs | 13% |
| 3-4 yrs | 21% |
| 5-7 yrs | 32% |
| 8-9 yrs | 6% |
| 10+ yrs | 18% |
Postings that state a minimum (required or preferred); at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
We do not show a degree figure: in our checks, degree requirements in posting text were found too rarely to publish one. Why.
Other names for an environmental specialist: job titles employers use
| Job title | Employers using it |
|---|---|
| Environmental Scientist | 68 (12.4%) |
| Environmental Manager | 66 (12.0%) |
| Environmental Project Manager | 65 (11.8%) |
| Environmental Specialist | 52 (9.5%) |
| Senior Environmental Project Manager | 36 (6.6%) |
| Environmental Intern | 30 (5.5%) |
| Environmental Compliance Specialist | 23 (4.2%) |
| Environmental Compliance Manager | 22 (4.0%) |
| Senior Environmental Scientist | 18 (3.3%) |
| Environmental Consultant | 17 (3.1%) |
| Senior Environmental Specialist | 16 (2.9%) |
| Environmental Coordinator | 14 (2.5%) |
| Environmental Scientist II | 12 (2.2%) |
| Environmental Analyst | 11 (2.0%) |
| Environmental Protection Specialist | 11 (2.0%) |
| Environmental Compliance Inspector | 11 (2.0%) |
| Environmental Specialist I | 10 (1.8%) |
| Environmental Specialist II | 9 (1.6%) |
| Environmental Scientist I | 9 (1.6%) |
| Air Quality Project Manager | 9 (1.6%) |
Titles read in our audit and used by at least 3 employers.
Environmental Specialist compared with similar careers
| Career | Median pay | Median experience | Postings | Shares N of top 25 skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Environmental Specialist | $105K | 5 years | 1,582 | – |
| Geologist | – | 4 years | 660 | 19 |
| Technical Writer | $100K | 3 years | 1,551 | 16 |
| Chemist | – | 2 years | 1,002 | 19 |
| Urban Planner | – | 3 years | 693 | 19 |
Similar careers
| Career | Shares N of the top 25 skills | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Geologist | 19 | – |
| Technical Writer | 16 | $100K |
| Chemist | 19 | – |
| Urban Planner | 19 | – |
| Archaeologist | 16 | – |
| Policy Analyst | 16 | – |
Applying for environmental specialist jobs?
- Environmental specialist resume examples: one-page examples for these roles
- Match your resume to a job: paste a posting and see the skills your resume is missing
- Check your resume: see how an applicant tracking system reads it
- Find environmental specialist jobs: search open postings
Frequently asked questions
How much does an environmental specialist make?
Source and method
Open US job postings collected from employers' applicant tracking systems, de-duplicated, counted only when their job title was read in our audit. Shares count at most 20 postings per employer, and franchise locations of one brand count as one employer. Pay uses hourly and annual figures only; a figure is shown when leaving out the largest employer moves it by 10% or less. Every figure states its number of postings. Methodology and measured accuracy.
Accuracy check: we read 20 randomly chosen postings counted on this page in full; 20 of them were this career or a closely related one (October 2026).
Download the figures on this page (CSV): every number above with its count of postings. Aggregate figures are licensed CC BY 4.0; cite the page when you reuse them.