National Salary Info » Social Scientists and Related Workers

Highest Paying Industries for Social Scientists and Related Workers

The top 100 highest paying industries for social scientists and related workers (ranked by average annual salary) are listed in Table 1. The entry level salary (as measured by the salary of the lowest 10% paid earners) and the number of employment in those industries are also shown. As shown in the table, with an average annual salary of $139,190, pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing is the highest paying industry for social scientists and related workers. It is followed by chemical manufacturing industry (average annual salary $132,410). The salary and employment information is computed from data published by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in May 2015 [1]. For more information about salaries of social scientists and related workers in a specific industry, use the links in the table.

Table 1. 100 Highest Paying Industries for Social Scientists and Related Workers

Rank	Industry	Average Salary i	Entry Level Salary i	# of Empl. i
1	Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing	$139,190	$41,830	120
2	Chemical Manufacturing	$132,410	$44,200	140
3	Credit Intermediation and Related Activities	$131,890	$66,400	260
4	Depository Credit Intermediation	$124,540	$55,620	140
5	Securities and Commodity Contracts Intermediation and Brokerage	$121,880	$65,050	280
6	Legal Services	$120,730	$65,930	60
7	Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing	$113,230	$67,520	50
8	Monetary Authorities-Central Bank	$113,150	$52,160	380
9	Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities	$111,870	$64,220	400
10	Computer Systems Design and Related Services	$108,890	$58,980	700
11	Postal Service (federal government)	$104,400	$65,970	70
12	Oil and Gas Extraction	$103,430	$55,350	150
13	Mining	$102,920	$56,630	160
14	Other Insurance Related Activities	$102,790	$54,740	n/a
15	Other Financial Investment Activities	$100,470	$58,710	130
16	Agencies, Brokerages, and Other Insurance Related Activities	$100,310	$48,380	80
17	Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution	$96,150	$59,900	n/a
18	Manufacturing	$94,270	$44,640	300
19	Utilities	$94,240	$58,310	n/a
20	Specialty hospitals - State government owned	$94,210	$53,000	140
21	Federal government, including USPS	$90,350	$57,510	35,460
22	Federal Executive Branch (OES Designation)	$90,350	$57,510	35,390
23	Real Estate and Rental and Leasing	$89,610	$50,340	50
24	Real Estate	$88,870	$48,970	40
25	Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services	$85,840	$52,370	50
26	Transportation and Warehousing	$85,040	$23,500	120
27	Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods	$85,020	$50,470	40
28	Specialty (except Psychiatric and Substance Abuse) Hospitals	$84,860	$46,700	710
29	Specialty hospitals - Privately owned	$83,870	$45,020	560
30	Other Personal Services	$83,310	$25,800	n/a
31	Personal and Laundry Services	$83,310	$25,800	n/a
32	Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Hospitals - State government owned	$83,160	$50,160	2,490
33	Offices of Physical, Occupational and Speech Therapists, and Audiologists	$82,170	$50,850	530
34	Finance and Insurance	$82,110	$47,940	1,980
35	Hospitals - State government owned	$82,060	$49,830	2,860
36	General Medical and Surgical Hospitals - Privately owned	$81,130	$43,110	4,320
37	General Medical and Surgical Hospitals - Local government owned	$80,590	$52,090	1,260
38	General Medical and Surgical Hospitals	$80,270	$44,230	5,800
39	Machinery Manufacturing	$80,200	$46,930	n/a
40	Hospitals (including private, state, and local government hospitals)	$80,040	$44,420	9,970
41	Hospitals - Local government owned	$79,710	$51,260	1,320
42	Wholesale Trade	$79,500	$45,880	50
43	Hospitals - Privately owned	$78,920	$41,680	5,790
44	Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Hospitals	$78,720	$44,090	3,470
45	Management of Companies and Enterprises	$78,300	$41,530	840
46	Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities	$77,170	$38,640	11,750
47	Labor Unions and Similar Labor Organizations	$77,050	$45,850	60
48	Scientific Research and Development Services	$76,860	$39,310	14,410
49	Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations	$76,460	$30,310	840
50	Colleges, universities, and professional schools - Local government owned	$76,280	$51,420	30
51	Software Publishers	$76,040	$50,550	50
52	Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences	$75,540	$41,230	2,650
53	Federal, State, and Local Government (OES Designation)	$75,380	$44,720	80,750
54	Federal, State, and Local Government	$75,380	$44,720	80,750
55	Other Services (except Federal, State, and Local Government)	$74,430	$33,230	3,310
56	Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services	$74,300	$37,100	11,020
57	Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations	$74,060	$33,710	3,230
58	Business schools and computer and management training - Privately owned	$73,970	$60,230	90
59	Business Schools and Computer and Management Training	$72,970	$52,880	90
60	Engineering Services	$72,810	$43,430	4,000
61	Educational Support Services - Privately owned	$72,710	$38,670	2,170
62	Public sector -- Federal, state, and local government, including government owned schools and hospit	$72,670	$43,740	134,380
63	Employment Services	$72,390	$39,040	830
64	Administrative and Support Services	$72,310	$39,840	1,370
65	Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services	$72,220	$39,860	1,390
66	Offices of All Other Health Practitioners	$72,110	$31,640	290
67	Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services	$71,510	$42,680	6,390
68	Elementary and Secondary Schools - Local government owned	$70,530	$45,860	40,030
69	Offices of Other Health Practitioners	$70,380	$34,600	15,720
70	Educational Services - Local government owned	$70,360	$45,660	41,280
71	Grantmaking and Giving Services	$70,340	$31,970	320
72	Elementary and Secondary Schools	$70,130	$45,000	44,240
73	Offices of Mental Health Practitioners (except Physicians)	$69,860	$34,390	14,900
74	Educational Support Services	$69,750	$40,010	3,180
75	General Medical and Surgical Hospitals - State government owned	$69,660	$43,920	230
76	Testing Laboratories	$69,500	$43,070	50
77	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	$69,370	$28,550	41,760
78	Offices of Physicians	$69,260	$39,770	4,330
79	Local government, including schools and hospitals	$68,850	$42,980	73,990
80	Nursing Care Facilities (Skilled Nursing Facilities)	$68,400	$32,770	150
81	Publishing Industries (except Internet)	$68,020	$41,660	190
82	Health Care and Social Assistance	$67,750	$35,650	48,100
83	Temporary Help Services	$67,680	$37,090	520
84	Ambulatory Health Care Services	$67,550	$34,780	26,360
85	Educational Services	$67,540	$41,810	59,220
86	State Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OES Designation)	$67,100	$42,180	13,980
87	Elementary and Secondary Schools - Privately owned	$66,750	$38,760	3,730
88	Local Government, excluding schools and hospitals (OES Designation)	$66,270	$40,370	31,380
89	Insurance Carriers and Related Activities	$66,080	$41,850	930
90	Educational Services - Privately owned	$65,650	$39,580	9,840
91	Facilities Support Services	$65,210	$34,360	90
92	Educational Support Services - Local government owned	$64,990	$42,590	1,010
93	Insurance Carriers	$64,720	$41,400	850
94	State government, including schools and hospitals	$64,280	$39,030	24,930
95	Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Hospitals - Privately owned	$63,450	$35,390	910
96	Direct Health and Medical Insurance Carriers	$62,140	$40,270	720
97	Colleges, universities, and professional schools - Privately owned	$61,440	$40,680	3,690
98	Outpatient Care Centers	$61,380	$32,910	5,870
99	Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers	$61,180	$41,430	n/a
100	Child Day Care Services	$60,940	$39,770	350