Money · 1 of 5
What the wage survey shows
Median
$101,920
Bottom tenth
$59,330
Top tenth
$200,230
There is no separate federal wage line for oceanographers. The survey files them with geoscientists, where the median is $101,920 a year and the bottom tenth earn $59,330 or less. Be careful with the top figure of $200,230: the group includes petroleum geoscientists in the oil industry, and there is no official figure for oceanographers alone.