# Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health

US SOC code 19-2041. Markdown version of https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/19-2041

Also called: Environmental scientist, Environmental analyst, Environmental health specialist, EHS specialist, Environmental protection specialist.

## In brief

In May 2025, [BLS](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip) counted **89,250** US environmental scientists and specialists (including health), with median pay of **$82,220** a year. Of the BLS counts since 2021, the May 2025 count is the highest. The earliest figure here is [an estimate](https://archive.org/details/sanitarianshisto00duff) of **3,500** from 1900, not measured the same way as today's count. The last full technology era for environmental scientists and specialists: Remote sensing and real-time environmental monitoring networks, 2000 to 2020.

## What the sources say

### Official outlook

BLS projects employment to grow 6.1% from 2025 to 2035. Source: [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=19-2041&ioType=o).

### AI exposure studies

- **72.6%** 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)
- **0.033** estimated probability that the whole occupation could be computerised, over an unspecified number of years. Not a forecast of job losses. [Frey and Osborne, 2013](https://oms-www.files.svdcdn.com/production/downloads/academic/The_Future_of_Employment.pdf)

### Since the 2013 prediction

In 2013, Frey and Osborne put this job's probability of computerisation at 0.033. BLS counted **87,380** of these jobs in May 2013 and **89,250** in May 2025. The count moved sharply in one step, May 2020 to May 2021, when BLS changed how it estimates these counts, so no change is derived here.

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.

## Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health employment and pay by year

- On record since: 1870
- Latest US employment: 89,250 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [6]
- Latest US median pay: $82,220 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [10]
- Outlook: +6.1% by 2035. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 [20]

### All 29 years of cited US data

| Year | US employment | Annual pay (median unless marked) | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1900 | 3,500 (estimate) | n/a | Est., Duffy, John [1] |
| 1940 | 12,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., Fee, Elizabeth [2] |
| 1970 | n/a | $11,500 (estimate) | Est., BLS [7] |
| 1975 | 35,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., EPA History [3] |
| 1990 | 57,000 | $35,000 | BLS CPS 1990 (employment) [4]; BLS CPS 1990 (pay) [8] |
| 2000 | 54,860 | $44,180 | BLS OEWS 2000 [5] |
| 2003 | 61,660 | $48,790 | BLS OEWS May 2003 [6] |
| 2004 | 66,850 | $51,080 | BLS OEWS May 2004 [6] |
| 2005 | 72,000 | $52,630 | BLS OEWS May 2005 [6] |
| 2006 | 77,720 | $56,100 | BLS OEWS May 2006 [6] |
| 2007 | 80,070 | $58,380 | BLS OEWS May 2007 [6] |
| 2008 | 80,120 | $59,750 | BLS OEWS May 2008 [6] |
| 2009 | 83,530 | $61,010 | BLS OEWS May 2009 [6] |
| 2010 | 81,690 | $61,700 | BLS OEWS May 2010 [6] |
| 2011 | 83,090 | $62,920 | BLS OEWS May 2011 [6] |
| 2012 | 84,240 | $63,570 | BLS OEWS May 2012 [6] |
| 2013 | 87,380 | $65,090 | BLS OEWS May 2013 [6] |
| 2014 | 88,740 | $66,250 | BLS OEWS May 2014 [6] |
| 2015 | 87,250 | $67,460 | BLS OEWS May 2015 [6] |
| 2016 | 84,250 | $68,910 | BLS OEWS May 2016 [6] |
| 2017 | 81,920 | $69,400 | BLS OEWS May 2017 [6] |
| 2018 | 80,480 | $71,130 | BLS OEWS May 2018 [6] |
| 2019 | 84,290 | $71,360 | BLS OEWS May 2019 [6] |
| 2020 | 84,610 | $73,230 | BLS OEWS May 2020 [6] |
| 2021 | 76,890 | $76,530 | BLS OEWS May 2021 [6] |
| 2022 | 77,270 | $76,480 | BLS OEWS May 2022 [6] |
| 2023 | 80,730 | $78,980 | BLS OEWS May 2023 [6] |
| 2024 | 84,930 | $80,060 | BLS OEWS May 2024 [6] |
| 2025 | 89,250 | $82,220 | BLS OEWS May 2025 [6] |

## Sources (84)

### Employment series

1. [Duffy, John — "The Sanitarians: A History of American Public Health" (University of Illinois Press, 1990): municipal health department staffing levels, 1880-1910](https://archive.org/details/sanitarianshisto00duff), Internet Archive / University of Illinois Press
2. [Fee, Elizabeth — "Public Health, Past and Present: A Shared Social Vision" (American Journal of Public Health, 1994): federal and state public health workforce growth through the New Deal era](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1614757/), American Journal of Public Health / PubMed Central
3. [EPA History — "EPA's 50th Anniversary: The Origins of EPA" (agency employment and early mission): EPA workforce growth 1970-1980](https://www.epa.gov/history/origins-epa), US Environmental Protection Agency
4. [BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 1992-93 Edition (Bulletin 2400-3, Engineering, Scientific, and Related Occupations) — Geologists/Environmental Scientists employment approximately 57,000 in 1990](https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/occupational-outlook-handbook-3964/engineering-scientific-related-occupations-583146/fulltext), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
5. [BLS OES 2000 national estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oes00nat.zip), Bureau of Labor Statistics
6. 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

7. [BLS — "Wage Chronology: Federal Employees Under the General Schedule Pay System, July 1924-October 1974" (BLS Bulletin 1870, FRASER/St. Louis Fed): GS pay rate tables covering 1970, including GS-9 and GS-11 ranges for professional and scientific employees](https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/files/docs/publications/bls/bls_1870_1975.pdf), Bureau of Labor Statistics / FRASER, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
8. [BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 1990-91 Edition — Environmental Scientists: median salaries in the $30,000-$40,000 range reported for 1990](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/environmental-scientists-and-specialists.htm), Bureau of Labor Statistics
9. [BLS OES 2000 national estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oes00nat.zip), Bureau of Labor Statistics
10. 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)

### Tool eras

11. [Duffy, John — "The Sanitarians: A History of American Public Health" (University of Illinois Press, 1990): analytical methods in 19th-century sanitary science](https://archive.org/details/sanitarianshisto00duff), Internet Archive / University of Illinois Press
12. [Wikipedia — "Gas chromatography" (instrument history): invention by James and Martin 1951-52, commercialization from 1954-56, environmental monitoring and trace-contaminant applications](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_chromatography), Wikipedia
13. [Walsh, Alan — "The Application of Atomic Absorption Spectra to Chemical Analysis" (Spectrochimica Acta, 1955): foundational paper; commercial instruments followed in the early 1960s](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0371195155900085), ScienceDirect / Spectrochimica Acta
14. [EPA Science Inventory — "Enhanced Stream Water Quality Models QUAL2E and QUAL2E-UNCAS: Documentation and User Manual" (EPA/600/3-87/007, 1987): early computer water quality modeling at the EPA](https://cfpub.epa.gov/si/si_public_record_report.cfm?Lab=NERL&dirEntryId=41777), US Environmental Protection Agency
15. [Wikipedia — "ArcView 3.x" (history of ESRI ArcView GIS desktop software, initial release 1991-92, role in democratizing desktop GIS mapping)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ArcView_3.x), Wikipedia
16. [EPA — Air Quality System (AQS) Data Mart: national ambient air quality monitoring network documentation and data access](https://www.epa.gov/aqs), US Environmental Protection Agency
17. [USGS — StreamStats Program: web application for automated streamflow statistics and watershed characteristics (launched 2000s)](https://streamstats.usgs.gov/ss/), US Geological Survey
18. [EurekAlert! — "AI is reshaping environmental science into a predictive and precision-driven discipline" (2025): water, soil, air, and waste system AI applications](https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1124599), EurekAlert / AAAS
19. [Google Earth AI — AlphaEarth Foundations, ForestCast, and natural-language satellite querying (2025)](https://ai.google/earth-ai/), Google

### Forecasts and exposure studies

20. [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35, National Employment Matrix: 19-2041 Environmental scientists and specialists, including health (2025: 93.4 thousand; 2035: 99.2 thousand; +6.1%)](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=19-2041&ioType=o), Bureau of Labor Statistics
21. [Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), "GPTs are GPTs", occupation-level exposure data occ\_level.csv (O\*NET-SOC 19-2041.00, human-rated β 0.726)](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv), OpenAI
22. [Frey & Osborne (2013), "The Future of Employment: How Susceptible Are Jobs to Computerisation?", Appendix (SOC 19-2041 Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health: probability 0.033, rank 113 of 702)](https://oms-www.files.svdcdn.com/production/downloads/academic/The_Future_of_Employment.pdf), Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford

### Historical notes

23. [Duffy, John — "The Sanitarians: A History of American Public Health" (University of Illinois Press, 1990): Metropolitan Health Law of 1866 and the first modern Board of Health](https://archive.org/details/sanitarianshisto00duff), Internet Archive / University of Illinois Press
24. [Lockhart, Devra — "Devra Davis on Donora: The Town That Launched a Crusade" (Environmental Health Perspectives, 2002): Donora 1948 smog event and its role in air pollution regulation history](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1241079/), Environmental Health Perspectives / PubMed Central
25. [Library of Congress — "Rachel Carson: A Resource Guide" (overview and legacy of Silent Spring, 1962, and its role in launching the modern environmental movement)](https://guides.loc.gov/rachel-carson), Library of Congress
26. [National Geographic — "Cleveland's Cuyahoga River caught fire 50 years ago. It inspired a movement." (Cuyahoga River fire June 22, 1969, industrial water pollution, and the Clean Water Act)](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/the-cuyahoga-river-caught-fire-it-inspired-a-movement), National Geographic
27. [EPA History — "EPA's 50th Anniversary: The Origins of EPA" (December 2, 1970 founding; NEPA January 1, 1970)](https://www.epa.gov/history/origins-epa), US Environmental Protection Agency
28. [EPA — "Superfund's 40th Anniversary: A Look-Back at the Decades" (history of CERCLA 1980, Love Canal, and 40 years of Superfund cleanup)](https://www.epa.gov/superfund/superfunds-40th-anniversary-look-back-decades), US Environmental Protection Agency
29. [UN Climate Change — "The Paris Agreement" (adoption December 12, 2015; framework for national climate commitments)](https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement), UN Climate Change

### Predecessors & successors

30. [Duffy, John — "The Sanitarians: A History of American Public Health" (1990): origin of environmental inspection function](https://archive.org/details/sanitarianshisto00duff), Internet Archive / University of Illinois Press

### Present-day analysis

- [O\*NET 30.3 — Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health (19-2041.00): tasks, technology skills, work activities, employment data](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/19-2041.00), accessed 2026-06-05
- [BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook — Environmental Scientists and Specialists: 90,300 employed May 2024; median annual wage $80,060; +4% growth 2024-2034](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/environmental-scientists-and-specialists.htm), accessed 2026-06-05
- [Eloundou et al. 2024 — GPTs are GPTs (Science): occupational LLM exposure framework; research/analytical tasks show moderate-to-high LLM augmentation potential](https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130), accessed 2026-06-05
- [EurekAlert! — AI is reshaping environmental science into a predictive and precision-driven discipline (2025): water, soil, air, and waste system applications](https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1124599), accessed 2026-06-05
- [EcoPulse PFAS AI — patent-pending platform: 500,000+ PFAS records; automates 2,500+ hours of manual compliance effort; 5 Fortune 500 customers (2025)](https://www.ecopulsenow.com/platform), accessed 2026-06-05
- [ACS Sustainable Resource Management — AI-Enhanced HRMS Workflows for PFAS forensics (2026)](https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acssusresmgt.6c00048), accessed 2026-06-05
- [Sphera — SpheraCloud Environmental Accounting: 500,000+ proprietary emissions factors; Scope 1/2/3 GHG tracking; Verdantix Market Leader (2025)](https://sphera.com/solutions/environment-health-safety-sustainability/), accessed 2026-06-05
- [GlobeNewswire — Sphera Named EHS Software Market Leader; capabilities in air emissions, GHG, hazardous waste (January 2025)](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/01/09/3007210/0/en/Sphera-Named-An-Environment-Health-and-Safety-Software-Market-Leader-in-Green-Quadrant-Report-Commended-for-Capability-Breadth.html), accessed 2026-06-05
- [Google Earth AI — AlphaEarth Foundations, ForestCast, and natural-language satellite querying (2025)](https://ai.google/earth-ai/), accessed 2026-06-05
- [SpringerLink — AI-Driven Environmental Monitoring Using Google Earth Engine (2024)](https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-68602-3_19?error=cookies_not_supported&code=697cb68a-556e-4b37-9e61-1cfedb24a1f0), accessed 2026-06-05

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