Forest and Conservation Workers · SOC 45-4011

Highest-Paying Metro Areas for Forest and Conservation Workerss

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025U.S. metropolitan areas

Metro areas ranked by published median annual wage for forest and conservation workers. Areas where BLS suppressed the median are not ranked. Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Top 20 of 20 metro areas

Forest and Conservation Workers: metro areas with the highest published median annual wages, May 2025
#	Metro area	Median annual	Employment	Per 1,000 jobs
1	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$52,850	30	0.0
2	Pittsburgh, PA	$51,330	30	0.0
3	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$51,300	80	0.0
4	Rapid City, SD	$50,110	40	0.6
5	Cleveland, OH	$48,470	Not published	Not published
6	Columbus, OH	$47,730	40	0.0
7	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$45,530	30	0.0
8	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$45,510	220	0.1
9	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$43,680	370	0.1
10	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$43,680	180	0.5
11	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$43,680	110	0.1
12	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$43,680	330	0.3
13	Salinas, CA	$43,680	50	0.3
14	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$43,680	140	0.1
15	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$41,610	60	0.1
16	Knoxville, TN	$40,320	30	0.1
17	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$39,490	110	0.0
18	Sioux Falls, SD-MN	$37,470	150	0.8
19	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$36,370	Not published	Not published
20	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$36,080	Not published	Not published

Full state and metro tables, the national distribution, and the pay map are on the Forest and Conservation Workers overview.

About this data. Estimates are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, retrieved from bls.gov/oes/tables.htm on July 24, 2026. OEWS estimates describe metropolitan/nonmetropolitan areas and states — not city limits — and are not designed for year-over-year comparisons. See BLS methodology, our plain-English methodology, and sources. CitySalaryData is independent and not affiliated with BLS.