U.S. Geoscience Monthly Employment

Data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Population Survey provides monthly occupational employment data to examine changes in geoscience employment over time. The chart shows monthly occupational data from January 2019 through May 2026.

The monthly average number of working geoscientists in the United States was 353,415 as of May 2026, an increase of 4% (12,917) since April 2026. The largest employment gains between April and May were for environmental engineers, environmental scientists and geoscientists, and atmospheric and space scientists. Occupations reporting declines between April and May 2026 included petroleum, mining and geological engineers, environmental science and geoscience technicians, geoscience postsecondary teachers, geoscience engineering managers, and geoscience natural sciences managers. Note that employment trends in environmental science and geoscience technician occupations are traditionally volatile due to work stops/starts, contract cycles, weather, etc.

Monthly geoscience employment by occupational category

Interactive view of monthly occupational employment estimates from January 2019 through May 2026.

Data Download

• Monthly Geoscience Employment (.xlsx)

About the data

Data is sourced from the US Census Bureau CPS Basic Monthly microdata file. The Current Population Survey (CPS) is a monthly survey of U.S. households conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational data reported by the CPS describes a person’s job or the type of work they did during the reporting period, not their specific job title.

Note: No employment data is available for October 2025. See Footnote 25 at https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/data/datasets/cps-basic-footnotes.html