Pay for environmental engineers is unusually consistent across the country: $63,090 at the bottom of the range, $142,700 at the top, a spread of only 2.26×. Where you work matters less for this role than it does for most — which usually points to pay being set by structure (scales, licensure, collective agreements) rather than local bidding.
Ten per cent of environmental engineers earn below $69,990 and ten per cent above $162,220 — a 2.32× band. The upside from median to 90th percentile is 51%, which is a normal amount of room for experience and specialisation to matter. An offer below the 25th percentile is worth questioning; one above the 75th is worth taking seriously.
6 of the ten best-paying metros for environmental engineers are in CA. When one state dominates the top of the table like this, cost of living is doing part of the work but rarely all of it — state licensing rules, public-sector pay scales and the presence of a few large employers usually explain the rest. If you are comparing an offer in CA against one elsewhere, adjust for housing before concluding anything.
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cape Coral-Fort Myers FL | $142,700 | $68.60 | 0.61 | 50 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma CA | $141,560 | $68.06 | 2.07 | 100 |
| Redding CA | $140,570 | $67.58 | 2.31 | 40 |
| Kennewick-Richland WA | $140,060 | $67.34 | 12.12 | 390 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont CA | $138,840 | $66.75 | 0.94 | 550 |
| Stockton-Lodi CA | $138,700 | $66.68 | 0.61 | 40 |
| Baton Rouge LA | $138,000 | $66.34 | 1.65 | 170 |
| Vallejo CA | $136,640 | $65.69 | 0.89 | 30 |
| Beaumont-Port Arthur TX | $135,240 | $65.02 | 2.03 | 80 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom CA | $133,240 | $64.06 | 4.5 | 1,200 |
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville CA | $130,270 | $62.63 | 1.31 | 30 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles CA | $129,780 | $62.39 | 2.01 | 60 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington PA-NJ-DE-MD | $129,390 | $62.21 | 1.46 | 1,040 |
| Decatur AL | $129,290 | $62.16 | 3.54 | 50 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue WA | $128,410 | $61.74 | 2.04 | 1,050 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim CA | $127,900 | $61.49 | 0.58 | 890 |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands TX | $127,340 | $61.22 | 0.86 | 690 |
| Columbus OH | $127,190 | $61.15 | 0.49 | 130 |
| Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro OR-WA | $127,080 | $61.10 | 1.68 | 500 |
| Salinas CA | $126,670 | $60.90 | 0.7 | 30 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington TX | $126,650 | $60.89 | 0.37 | 370 |
| Gainesville FL | $126,440 | $60.79 | 1.32 | 50 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara CA | $125,550 | $60.36 | 0.64 | 180 |
| Corpus Christi TX | $125,330 | $60.25 | 0.64 | 30 |
| Bakersfield-Delano CA | $124,920 | $60.06 | 0.64 | 50 |
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pueblo CO | $63,090 | $30.33 | 2.1 | 30 |
| Southwest Maine nonmetropolitan area | $75,960 | $36.52 | 1.51 | 50 |
| Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway AR | $76,250 | $36.66 | 1.14 | 100 |
| Jackson MS | $77,460 | $37.24 | 2.28 | 150 |
| San Juan-Bayamon-Caguas PR | $77,710 | $37.36 | 0.5 | 90 |
| Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford FL | $82,500 | $39.67 | 0.63 | 220 |
| Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia NC-SC | $82,840 | $39.83 | 0.29 | 100 |
| Southwest Montana nonmetropolitan area | $83,230 | $40.02 | 3.95 | 40 |
| Northeastern Wisconsin nonmetropolitan area | $83,510 | $40.15 | 0.75 | 40 |
| Northern West Virginia nonmetropolitan area | $84,440 | $40.60 | 1.6 | 60 |
Kennewick-Richland has 12.12× the national concentration of environmental engineers — the densest market in the country for this role, with 390 employed locally. It also ranks among the ten best-paying metros at $140,060, which is the rarer combination: deep market and good pay together.
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kennewick-Richland WA | $140,060 | $67.34 | 12.12 | 390 |
| Helena MT | $100,140 | $48.15 | 8.65 | 90 |
| Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater WA | $108,240 | $52.04 | 5.83 | 190 |
| Fairbanks-College AK | $109,410 | $52.60 | 5.43 | 50 |
| Trenton-Princeton NJ | $92,150 | $44.30 | 5.41 | 320 |
| Albany-Schenectady-Troy NY | $96,540 | $46.41 | 5.15 | 570 |
| Springfield IL | $103,190 | $49.61 | 4.63 | 120 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom CA | $133,240 | $64.06 | 4.5 | 1,200 |
| Northern New Mexico nonmetropolitan area | $115,190 | $55.38 | 4.26 | 90 |
| Eastern Wyoming nonmetropolitan area | $105,740 | $50.84 | 4.22 | 90 |
| Pittsfield MA | $119,190 | $57.30 | 4.19 | 60 |
| Montgomery AL | $95,370 | $45.85 | 3.99 | 160 |
| Metropolitan area | Median | Hourly | LQ | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York-Newark-Jersey City NY-NJ | $107,910 | $51.88 | 0.77 | 1,810 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton MA-NH | $109,620 | $52.70 | 2.18 | 1,460 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom CA | $133,240 | $64.06 | 4.5 | 1,200 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue WA | $128,410 | $61.74 | 2.04 | 1,050 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington PA-NJ-DE-MD | $129,390 | $62.21 | 1.46 | 1,040 |
| Denver-Aurora-Centennial CO | $107,880 | $51.86 | 2.29 | 910 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim CA | $127,900 | $61.49 | 0.58 | 890 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria DC-VA-MD-WV | $120,580 | $57.97 | 1.04 | 810 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington MN-WI | $115,750 | $55.65 | 1.56 | 750 |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands TX | $127,340 | $61.22 | 0.86 | 690 |
| Baltimore-Columbia-Towson MD | $97,570 | $46.91 | 2.03 | 680 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin IL-IN | $110,700 | $53.22 | 0.59 | 660 |
Figures come from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics programme, May 2025 release, SOC code 17-2081. OEWS surveys employers, so it reports what is actually paid rather than what job advertisements claim, and it excludes the self-employed. Estimates are published for 173 of 528 metropolitan areas; the remaining 355 had too few survey responses for BLS to publish without risking disclosure, so they are absent here rather than estimated. For a specialised role that is normal. Read the methodology.