Where are the high-paying jobs in geology?

Dan's exactly right. Chevron, Shell et al. use lots of geologists. USGS the United States Geological Survey - they track earthquakes among other things.

1. Petroleum and natural gas (energy exploration). 2. Mining, both precious and industrial metals, and uranium. Both these pay more than academia.

Oil companies? I know they have a good need of geologists, and I figure that with the kind of work they'd make you do it'd pay well. Other thought would be gov't jobs.

I am a geologist and I currently work for an oil company and it pays well. In the states if you have a masters you would start at about 70k. Also there are decent paying jobs looking for water, mining, environmental and government. But I would say that oil companies pay the most.

Depends on how long you want to work in the field. Oil and Gas have jobs right now with high paychecks, but they own you, and if the oil industry tanks you're out of a job. With the focus going away from oil for energy, there might be an industrial decline for the need of oil geologists. When the oil industry tanks, all these geologists go to environmental work. This includes hydrogeology, environmental geology, and geological engineering. There's a reason that petroleum geologists go to these specialties when times are hard - consistent work. Although the annual salaries are a tad lower than the oil industry, hydrogeologists make ~$50-60,000 starting with a master's. And they do really interesting work. I should know, I am one!!

Honestly, the oil companies are looking for good geologists that can find oil for them. But lets get realistic. Lots of places where we will be able to find oil (at least in America) will be offshore on the west coast. However, there are too many legalities with the EPA that prevent this from happening. Good thing too, we should start looking at other technologies and finding Renewable resources. But to answer your question to the best of my ability - I would say hydrogeology!!! We are going to have (if not already), a severe shortage of water and right now we're looking at groundwater as our best bet. Ive seen jobs with the USGS thats offering up to 125K as a salary as a hydrologist. Think about it!!! Good luck!

the highest is working in oil & gas, which is concentrated in houston, but you can also find work in louisiana, colorado, wyoming, bakersfield california, etc. of course, there is also abroad (norway, scotland, middle east, indonesia, african coast, etc) mining - theres a big shortage in australia. nowadays the us dollar is weak so getting paid in AUD is nice, too you can also work in the environmental field, or for governmental agencies, or go into teaching; you can do this anywhere, but the pay is not as high

Oil and gas have the highest starting wages, as well as the highest top end. Look at companies such as Schlumberger, Chevron, Hess, etc. Mines employ some geologists, and I don't really know much about their wages, except that they're better than most engineering firms. Engineering (geotechnical and environmental) have low starting wages, but the top end gets pretty nice. There's a decent growth curve. Look at companies like Terracon, Tetra-Tech, Braun Intertec, etc. No money in teaching, especially since most Universities require a PhD. Not worth the time. Don't listen to the hydrogeologists! They're just trying to force bizzare theoretical math on you!

Surveying for oil