Career Atlas USA

Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary

Median salary
$103,170
Average salary
$116,020
Employment
9,900
Projected growth
2.6% growth
Annual openings
1,000
Typical entry education
Doctoral or professional degree

What Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary Do

Teach courses in the physical sciences, except chemistry and physics. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching, and those who do a combination of teaching and research.

See full salary breakdown & percentiles →

Career Outlook

National employment outlook, 20242034.

Related work experience
None
On-the-job training
None
Self-employed
Not available

Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.

How Much Preparation Does This Take?

Job Zone 5 of 5

Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed

Experience
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience.
Education
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Job training
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.

Source: O*NET Job Zones.

Key Knowledge Areas

Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.

  • Education and Trainingimportance 4.7/5
  • English Languageimportance 4.5/5
  • Mathematicsimportance 4.3/5
  • Physicsimportance 3.9/5
  • Chemistryimportance 3.8/5
  • Computers and Electronicsimportance 3.6/5
  • Biologyimportance 3.5/5
  • Geographyimportance 3.5/5

Work Environment

What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.

  • E-Mail5.0/5
  • Freedom to Make Decisions4.9/5
  • Indoors, Environmentally Controlled4.8/5
  • Determine Tasks, Priorities and Goals4.7/5
  • Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams4.6/5
  • Contact With Others4.3/5

Careers With Similar Skills

Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.

Transferable Skills

Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.

  • Instructingimportance 4.0/5
  • Complex Problem Solvingimportance 3.8/5
  • Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 3.5/5
  • Social Perceptivenessimportance 3.1/5
  • Systems Analysisimportance 3.1/5
  • Coordinationimportance 3.0/5
  • Service Orientationimportance 3.0/5
  • Systems Evaluationimportance 3.0/5

Software & Technologies

Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.

In-Demand Technologies

Work Style

Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.

  • Intellectual Curiosity
  • Dependability
  • Achievement Orientation
  • Cooperation
  • Innovation
  • Social Orientation
  • Integrity

Career Interests

This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.

  • SocialHigh
  • InvestigativeHigh
  • RealisticMedium
  • ConventionalMedium
  • ArtisticMedium
  • EnterprisingLow

This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.

Where This Career Is Most Concentrated

Metro areas where atmospheric, earth, marine, and space sciences teachers, postsecondary make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).

  1. 1Bangor, ME16.70× national avg
  2. 2College Station-Bryan, TX11.83× national avg
  3. 3Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA8.36× national avg
  4. 4Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY4.99× national avg
  5. 5Rochester, NY4.20× national avg

Possible Career Moves

A computed starting point, not observed job-change data — see the full list for why each one might fit.

See the full career path from Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary

Related Education Programs

Schools that offer related fields of study, based on the NCES CIP-SOC crosswalk — not a guarantee that graduates enter this specific career.

Full salary data & percentiles →Best states for this career →Highest-paying states →