Money · 1 of 5
What the wage survey shows
Median
$101,920
Entry technician
$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 sit near $59,330. Be careful with the top figure: that $200,230 is lifted by petroleum geoscientists in the oil industry. Ocean scientists in universities and government sit much closer to the middle.