# Astronomers

US SOC code 19-2011. Markdown version of https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/19-2011

Also called: Astrophysicist, Cosmologist, Observational astronomer, Theoretical astrophysicist, Astronomical researcher.

## In brief

In May 2025, [BLS](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip) counted **2,120** US astronomers, with median pay of **$128,820** a year. Of the BLS counts since 2003, the highest was **2,160**, in May 2018, close to the May 2025 count. The earliest figure here is [an estimate](https://aas.org/about/origins-aas) of **200** from 1900, not measured the same way as today's count. The last full technology era for astronomers: Python + astropy ecosystem + machine learning vetting, 2010 to 2022.

## What the sources say

### Official outlook

BLS projects employment to grow 7.8% from 2025 to 2035. Source: [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=19-2011&ioType=o).

### AI exposure studies

- **42.2%** of this job's tasks are exposed to large language models. Not a forecast of job losses. [Eloundou and others, 2023](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv)

Data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35. BLS publishes these counts as yearly survey snapshots and cautions against reading them as a precise trend. In May 2021 BLS changed how it estimates these counts (a model-based method using three years of survey data) and moved fully to the 2018 occupation codes, so part of a change across 2021 can come from the method rather than the work.

## Astronomers employment and pay by year

- On record since: 1842
- Latest US employment: 2,120 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [5]
- Latest US median pay: $128,820 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [8]
- Outlook: +7.8% by 2035. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 [24]

### All 28 years of cited US data

| Year | US employment | Annual pay (median unless marked) | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1900 | 200 (estimate) | n/a | Est., American Astronomical Society [1] |
| 1910 | n/a | $1,400 (estimate) | Est., AMNH [6] |
| 1950 | 1,200 (estimate) | n/a | Est., AIP [2] |
| 1980 | 3,200 (estimate) | n/a | Est., APS News [3] |
| 2000 | 910 | $74,510 | BLS OEWS 2000 [4] |
| 2003 | 770 | $88,310 | BLS OEWS May 2003 [5] |
| 2004 | 680 | $97,320 | BLS OEWS May 2004 [5] |
| 2005 | 970 | $104,670 | BLS OEWS May 2005 [5] |
| 2006 | 1,430 | $95,740 | BLS OEWS May 2006 [5] |
| 2007 | 1,520 | $99,020 | BLS OEWS May 2007 [5] |
| 2008 | 1,280 | $101,300 | BLS OEWS May 2008 [5] |
| 2009 | 1,240 | $104,720 | BLS OEWS May 2009 [5] |
| 2010 | 1,840 | $87,260 | BLS OEWS May 2010 [5] |
| 2011 | 2,080 | $95,500 | BLS OEWS May 2011 [5] |
| 2012 | 2,150 | $96,460 | BLS OEWS May 2012 [5] |
| 2013 | 1,750 | $110,450 | BLS OEWS May 2013 [5] |
| 2014 | 1,660 | $105,410 | BLS OEWS May 2014 [5] |
| 2015 | 1,760 | $104,100 | BLS OEWS May 2015 [5] |
| 2016 | 1,830 | $104,740 | BLS OEWS May 2016 [5] |
| 2017 | 2,020 | $100,590 | BLS OEWS May 2017 [5] |
| 2018 | 2,160 | $105,680 | BLS OEWS May 2018 [5] |
| 2019 | 2,070 | $114,590 | BLS OEWS May 2019 [5] |
| 2020 | 1,910 | $119,730 | BLS OEWS May 2020 [5] |
| 2021 | 1,930 | $128,160 | BLS OEWS May 2021 [5] |
| 2022 | 2,160 | $128,330 | BLS OEWS May 2022 [5] |
| 2023 | 2,080 | $127,930 | BLS OEWS May 2023 [5] |
| 2024 | 1,560 | $132,170 | BLS OEWS May 2024 (employment) [5]; BLS OEWS May 2024 (pay) [9] |
| 2025 | 2,120 | $128,820 | BLS OEWS May 2025 [5] |

## Sources (95)

### Employment series

1. [American Astronomical Society — History: AAS founded 1899 with 114 charter members at Yerkes Observatory](https://aas.org/about/origins-aas), American Astronomical Society
2. [AIP — Finding Aid to the Records of the American Astronomical Society, 1897-1988: AAS membership and meeting attendance growth post-WWII](https://history.aip.org/ead/20000093.html), American Institute of Physics Center for History of Physics
3. [APS News — Launch of the Hubble Space Telescope (April 24, 1990): context on the post-war expansion of US astronomy infrastructure and workforce](https://www.aps.org/apsnews/2022/04/launch-hubble-space-telescope), American Physical Society
4. [BLS OES 2000 national estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oes00nat.zip), Bureau of Labor Statistics
5. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)

### Wage series

6. [AMNH — Harvard Computers: Women Who Analyzed the Night Sky (salary context: women computers paid 25-50 cents/hour, male astronomers substantially more)](https://www.amnh.org/explore/news-blogs/harvard-computers-history), American Museum of Natural History
7. [BLS OES 2000 national estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oes00nat.zip), Bureau of Labor Statistics
8. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)
9. [BLS OOH — Physicists and Astronomers: median annual wage for Astronomers $132,170 in May 2024](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/physicists-and-astronomers.htm), Bureau of Labor Statistics

### Tool eras

10. [US Naval Observatory — History: established by Congress in 1842 for positional astronomy and timekeeping](https://www.cnmoc.usff.navy.mil/usno/), US Naval Observatory
11. [AAS — History of the American Astronomical Society: origins and early professional context](https://aas.org/about/origins-aas), American Astronomical Society
12. [AMNH — Harvard Computers: Women Who Analyzed the Night Sky: Pickering photography program from 1877, Cannon classification of 225,000 stars](https://www.amnh.org/explore/news-blogs/harvard-computers-history), American Museum of Natural History
13. [Harvard Plate Stacks — Terminology: Women Astronomical Computers (historical context for Pickering's Harvard Computers program)](https://platestacks.cfa.harvard.edu/terminology-women-astronomical-computers), Harvard College Observatory / CfA
14. [National Radio Astronomy Observatory — History: NRAO founded 1956, VLA completed 1980](https://public.nrao.edu/telescopes/vla/), National Radio Astronomy Observatory
15. [APS News — Launch of the Hubble Space Telescope: historical context for post-war US astronomy infrastructure and workforce expansion](https://www.aps.org/apsnews/2022/04/launch-hubble-space-telescope), American Physical Society
16. [NASA — April 1990: Hubble Space Telescope Launched: instrument context, STScI history](https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/april-1990-hubble-space-telescope-hst-launched/), NASA
17. [Hubble Space Telescope Science Metrics (arXiv astro-ph/0406655) — 20,000 publications from HST observations; archive-based research model](https://arxiv.org/pdf/astro-ph/0406655), arXiv / STScI
18. [Astropy Collaboration (2022) — The Astropy Project: community Python package for astronomy; standard library for photometry, spectroscopy, coordinate handling, FITS I/O (www.astropy.org)](https://www.astropy.org/), Astropy Collaboration
19. [AJ 155 94 (Shallue and Vanderburg 2018) — Identifying Exoplanets with Deep Learning: Astronet 1D CNN for Kepler transit vetting, extended to TESS by community](https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/aa9e09), The Astronomical Journal
20. [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory — Vera C. Rubin Observatory first imagery released June 2025: LSST alert stream, ML broker ecosystem](https://www6.slac.stanford.edu/news/2025-06-23-ever-changing-universe-revealed-first-imagery-nsf-doe-vera-c-rubin-observatory), SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory / NSF
21. [arXiv:2404.08315 (Smith et al. 2024) — Enabling Science from the Rubin Alert Stream with Lasair: ML-classified transient broker for LSST; boosted decision tree classification of ~10M nightly alerts](https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.08315), arXiv
22. [STScI JWST Science Calibration Pipeline — open-source Python pipeline for JWST Stages 1-3 reduction (jwst-pipeline.readthedocs.io)](https://jwst-pipeline.readthedocs.io/en/stable/), Space Telescope Science Institute
23. [TheCAMELS (Villaescusa-Navarro et al. 2021, arXiv:2109.01611) — Cosmology and Astrophysics with Machine Learning Simulations: CNN/GNN emulators for cosmological inference from IllustrisTNG/SIMBA](https://arxiv.org/abs/2109.01611), arXiv

### Forecasts and exposure studies

24. [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35, National Employment Matrix: 19-2011 Astronomers (2025: 2.4 thousand; 2035: 2.6 thousand; +7.8%)](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=19-2011&ioType=o), Bureau of Labor Statistics
25. [Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), "GPTs are GPTs", occupation-level exposure data occ\_level.csv (O\*NET-SOC 19-2011.00, human-rated β 0.422)](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv), OpenAI

### Historical notes

26. [US Naval Observatory — History: established 1842, positional astronomy and timekeeping mission](https://www.cnmoc.usff.navy.mil/usno/), US Naval Observatory
27. [AMNH — Harvard Computers: Women Who Analyzed the Night Sky: Pickering program, women paid 25-50 cents/hour, male astronomers earned more](https://www.amnh.org/explore/news-blogs/harvard-computers-history), American Museum of Natural History
28. [AAS — History: AAS founded 1899 at Yerkes Observatory with 114 charter members; Simon Newcomb first president](https://aas.org/about/origins-aas), American Astronomical Society
29. [NASA — April 1990 Hubble Space Telescope Launched: NASA history context from 1958 founding through HST development](https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/april-1990-hubble-space-telescope-hst-launched/), NASA
30. [NASA — 30 Years Ago: Hubble Launched to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe: 1.5M observations, ~20,000 scientific publications](https://www.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/30-years-ago-hubble-launched-to-unlock-the-secrets-of-the-universe/), NASA
31. [SLAC — Vera C. Rubin Observatory first imagery released June 23, 2025: 8.4m telescope, LSST 10-year survey, 10M nightly alerts](https://www6.slac.stanford.edu/news/2025-06-23-ever-changing-universe-revealed-first-imagery-nsf-doe-vera-c-rubin-observatory), SLAC / NSF / DOE

### Predecessors & successors

32. [AAS — Origins of the AAS: in the 1890s, most astronomers served as college-level teachers for whom research was secondary](https://aas.org/about/origins-aas), American Astronomical Society
33. [US Naval Observatory — History: established 1842 by Congress; early staff drawn from Naval officers assigned to navigational astronomy](https://www.cnmoc.usff.navy.mil/usno/), US Naval Observatory
34. [BLS OOH — Physicists and Astronomers: doctoral degree required for most research positions; physics and astronomy PhDs are largely interchangeable at the research frontier](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/physicists-and-astronomers.htm), Bureau of Labor Statistics
35. [AAS Career Resources 2025 — \>30% of astronomy PhDs entering non-academic sectors; ML pipeline skills primary transition asset](https://aas.org/careers/career-resources), American Astronomical Society

### Present-day analysis

- [O\*NET 30.3 — Astronomers (19-2011.00): tasks, work activities, technology skills, employment data](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/19-2011.00), accessed 2026-05-24
- [BLS OOH — Physicists and Astronomers: ~24,600 employed May 2024; 3-4% growth 2024-2034; median annual wage $166,290; primary employers NASA, federally funded observatories, universities](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/physicists-and-astronomers.htm), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Eloundou et al. 2024 — GPTs are GPTs (Science): occupational LLM exposure framework; observational astronomy scored moderate-to-high on data analysis exposure; augmentation dominant over displacement for research roles](https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130), accessed 2026-05-24
- [arXiv:2404.08315 (Smith et al., April 2024) — Enabling Science from the Rubin Alert Stream with Lasair: ML-classified transient alert broker for LSST; boosted decision tree classification; real-time broker for ~10M nightly alerts](https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.08315), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Rubin Observatory — First alerts from LSST: real-time transient discovery; ANTARES, Lasair, ALeRCE, AMPEL, Fink community brokers operational (rubinobservatory.org, 2025)](https://rubinobservatory.org/news/first-alerts), accessed 2026-05-24
- [arXiv:2306.02467 (Bunker et al. / JADES 2023) — JADES: New z \> 6.3 Galaxy Candidates from JWST; ML photometric redshift and SED fitting for deep JWST extragalactic fields](https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.02467), accessed 2026-05-24
- [arXiv:2401.08760 (Casey et al. / COSMOS-Web 2024) — COSMOS-Web: overview of JWST 0.54 sq deg NIRCam+MIRI survey; ML morphology classifiers and photometric-redshift neural nets applied post-pipeline](https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.08760), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Morpheus (Hausen & Robertson, ApJS 2020) — deep-learning source morphology segmentation tool for astronomical imaging surveys; pixel-by-pixel classification (spheroid, disk, irregular, point source); open-source Python](https://morpheus-astro.readthedocs.io/en/latest/), accessed 2026-05-24
- [AJ 155 94 (Shallue & Vanderburg 2018) — Identifying Exoplanets with Deep Learning: Astronet 1D CNN for Kepler/TESS light-curve transit vetting; foundational exoplanet ML classification paper](https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/aa9e09), accessed 2026-05-24
- [arXiv:2205.09432 (Cabrera-Ziri et al. 2022) — Sherlock pipeline: multi-detrending + ML vetting for TESS/K2 exoplanet candidates; community tool for automated transit classification](https://arxiv.org/abs/2205.09432), accessed 2026-05-24
- [DESI Collaboration (arXiv:2404.03249, 2024) — DESI Year 1 BAO cosmological results; neural-network Redrock pipeline classifies \>6 million spectra; random-forest redshift classifier in production pipeline](https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.03249), accessed 2026-05-24
- [TheCAMELS (Villaescusa-Navarro et al. 2021) — Cosmology and Astrophysics with Machine Learning Simulations: CNN/GNN emulators for cosmological parameter inference from IllustrisTNG/SIMBA fields](https://arxiv.org/abs/2109.01611), accessed 2026-05-24
- [AAS Career Survey 2025 — Astronomy Demographics Project: \>30% of astronomy PhDs entering non-academic sectors; data science, ML engineering, and quant finance as primary destinations; ML pipeline skills cited as primary transition asset](https://aas.org/careers/career-resources), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Goldman Sachs — The Potentially Large Effects of Artificial Intelligence on Economic Growth (Briggs/Kodnani, 2023): science research occupations face lower displacement risk; augmentation dominant narrative](https://www.gspublishing.com/content/research/en/reports/2023/03/27/d64e052b-0f6e-45d7-967b-d7be35fabd16.html), accessed 2026-05-24
- [arXiv:2009.10185 (Möller et al. 2020) — Fink: a new generation of broker for the Rubin Observatory LSST; ML classification framework with random forest, SNAD, and neural-network classifiers](https://arxiv.org/abs/2009.10185), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Ness et al. 2015 — The Cannon: a data-driven approach to stellar label transfer in large spectroscopic surveys; widely used for APOGEE and GALAH stellar parameter propagation](https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/808/1/16), accessed 2026-05-24
- [SourceXtractor++ — next-generation source extraction and photometry tool for survey imaging; ML-extended from SExtractor; developed for Euclid and future surveys (sourcextractorplusplus.readthedocs.io)](https://sourcextractorplusplus.readthedocs.io/en/latest/), accessed 2026-06-21

How to read these figures: https://futurehistory.earth/methodology. Every figure links to its own source; gaps stay gaps.