CitySalaryData

Official BLS salary lookup

Search a job and place

Soil and Plant Scientists · SOC 19-1013

Soil and Plant Scientists Salary in the San Francisco Metro Area

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro area

Figures describe the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metropolitan statistical area as defined by BLS/OMB — the whole multi-county metro region, not San Francisco city limits.

Median annual wage$108,200
Median hourly wage$52.02

Soil and Plant Scientists in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro area earned a median of $108,200 per year ($52.02 per hour) as of the May 2025 BLS OEWS estimates. Pay ranged from $77,130 at the 10th percentile to $170,710 at the 90th. BLS estimates 140 people work in this occupation in the area.

Pay distribution

Half of Soil and Plant Scientists in the San Francisco metro area earn more than $108,200 per year, half earn less; the middle half earn between $85,200 and $170,700.

Wage percentiles (BLS OEWS)
Wage10th25thMedian75th90th
Annual$77,130$85,200$108,200$170,700$170,710
Hourly$37.08$40.96$52.02$82.07$82.07

A percentile is a cut point: 25% of workers in this occupation and area earn less than the 25th-percentile wage. The median is the 50th percentile — half earn less, half earn more.

Download CSV

How this area compares

  • San Francisco metro areathis metro area
    $108,200
  • Californiastate (CA)
    $91,930
  • United Statesnational
    $78,850

Bars span the 25th–75th percentile (the middle half of workers); the tick marks the median.

The median here is +18% vs California overall and +37% vs the U.S. median for this occupation.

Compare with other areas

Where this metro sits nationally

$37,830$69,317$100,803$132,290Tulsa, OK — $37,830San Juan-Bayamon-Caguas, PR — $38,200Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN — $50,160Knoxville, TN — $51,110Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN — $56,470Green Bay, WI — $56,770Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI — $57,160Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD — $57,840Cleveland, OH — $58,220Salt Lake City-Murray, UT — $59,900Columbus, OH — $60,970Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA — $61,610Auburn-Opelika, AL — $61,840Lincoln, NE — $63,760Bozeman, MT — $64,010Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD — $64,070Champaign-Urbana, IL — $64,460Ames, IA — $65,080Kansas City, MO-KS — $65,190Appleton, WI — $65,290Fargo, ND-MN — $65,320Lansing-East Lansing, MI — $65,390Manhattan, KS — $66,100Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI — $66,200Memphis, TN-MS-AR — $66,450Fort Collins-Loveland, CO — $67,330Lexington-Fayette, KY — $67,340Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH — $69,880Reno, NV — $70,450Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT — $72,750Rapid City, SD — $73,310Sioux Falls, SD-MN — $73,320Madison, WI — $73,510Richmond, VA — $73,920Greensboro-High Point, NC — $74,280Wichita, KS — $74,440Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC — $76,330Las Cruces, NM — $76,400St. Louis, MO-IL — $76,790Charleston-North Charleston, SC — $77,090Raleigh-Cary, NC — $78,020New Orleans-Metairie, LA — $78,870Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI — $79,610Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN — $80,030Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN — $80,360Omaha, NE-IA — $81,300Missoula, MT — $81,350Corvallis, OR — $81,420Modesto, CA — $81,570San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA — $81,570Urban Honolulu, HI — $82,110Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV — $82,490Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA — $82,490Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ — $82,510Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI — $83,370Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA — $83,390Idaho Falls, ID — $83,780Iowa City, IA — $84,360New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ — $84,740Bismarck, ND — $86,110San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA — $86,330Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN — $86,380Durham-Chapel Hill, NC — $86,570New Haven, CT — $87,110Boise City, ID — $90,610Salem, OR — $93,620Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA — $94,900Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA — $94,940Cedar Rapids, IA — $94,980Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV — $95,870Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA — $96,480Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA — $98,340Kennewick-Richland, WA — $99,110Fresno, CA — $100,050Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA — $101,660Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL — $103,740Napa, CA — $104,120Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL — $106,410San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA — $108,200Salinas, CA — $115,910San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA — $116,660Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA — $132,290

Each dot is one metro area with a published median — hover any dot for the name and figure. Metros without published estimates are not drawn.

The San Francisco metro area has the 4th-highest published median for this occupation among the 82 metro areas where BLS publishes it. Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Other metro areas in California

Metro areas in the same state with published May 2025 medians for soil and plant scientists, highest first. Areas without published estimates are not listed.

  • San Francisco metro areathis page
    $108,200
  • San Jose metro area
    $116,660
  • Salinas metro area
    $115,910
  • Napa metro area
    $104,120
  • Santa Rosa metro area
    $101,660
  • Fresno metro area
    $100,050
  • Sacramento metro area
    $98,340

Bars span the 25th–75th percentile (the middle half of workers); the tick marks the median.

Keep exploring

Other occupations in the same SOC group with published medians here, largest employment first:

Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists$160,180Biological Scientists, All Other$138,160Biological Technicians$95,220Occupational Health and Safety Specialists$126,860Chemists$127,790Life, Physical, and Social Science Technicians, All Other$77,670

Highest-paying metro areas for soil and plant scientistss · Highest-paying occupations in San Francisco Metro

About this estimate

These figures are survey estimates from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program — modeled from employer reports collected over three years and benchmarked to May 2025. They describe what employers in this area currently pay across all industries, not what any individual worker will be offered.

Employment counts wage-and-salary jobs in the occupation (self-employed workers are excluded). Estimates carry sampling error; percentile wages are rounded by BLS. Some values are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality or quality — suppressed values appear here as “not published”, never as zero. Read the full methodology.

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.