Degree to Occupation Map
Occupations related to a ecology degree
NCES and BLS publish a crosswalk relating instructional programs to occupations. This page lists every occupation that crosswalk relates to ecology, with the BLS typical entry education, 2025 median wage and projected growth for each, and links to the RoleSprint page covering the role where one exists.
What occupations does the official crosswalk relate to a ecology degree?
The CIP 2020-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk published by NCES and BLS relates 12 CIP 2020 programs in ecology to 12 occupations. That maps a field of study to lines of work; it is not a statement that a ecology degree qualifies someone for any of them, and the crosswalk carries no figure for how many graduates enter each. Across the 12 with a published 2025 BLS wage the median is $96,950, ranging from $57,510 for Biological Technicians to $167,220 for Natural Sciences Managers. BLS typical entry-level education splits 5 at bachelor's degree, 2 at master's degree, 5 at doctoral or professional degree: 5 at or below a bachelor's degree and 7 above it. Epidemiologists is projected to grow fastest at +18.7% over 2025-35. The highest-paid are Natural Sciences Managers ($167,220), Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary ($107,310) and Statisticians ($105,650).
- Related occupations
- 12, from 12 CIP 2020 programs in ecology (a further 1 related occupation has no BLS or O*NET row on this site and are not listed)
- What the mapping means
- NCES states only that it "crosswalks 2020 CIP Codes to 2018 SOC Codes". It relates a program to an occupation. It does not establish qualification, hiring, or how many graduates take that path.
- BLS typical entry-level education
- Bachelor's degree: 5; Master's degree: 2; Doctoral or professional degree: 5
- Median wage across these occupations
- $96,950 (2025); 12 of 12 have a published BLS wage
- Next step
- 4 of the 12 occupations have a dedicated RoleSprint page covering what the role requires and how the work is performed.
Source and method
2020 CIP / 2018 SOC Crosswalk, National Center for Education Statistics and Bureau of Labor Statistics, and BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2. Verified 2026-09-06. Program-to-occupation relationships are reproduced from the NCES/BLS crosswalk exactly as published; RoleSprint groups CIP programs into the field of study a person would search for and lists the union of their related occupations, showing every member CIP code. Wage, typical entry education and outlook are reproduced from BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2 for the matching SOC code. Working-condition figures are O*NET 30.3 means. No relationship strength, employment share or qualification judgement is published, because no source supplies one.
What this list is, and what it is not
The crosswalk's own description of itself is one sentence: “This file crosswalks 2020 CIP Codes to 2018 SOC Codes in ascending order by CIP Code.” It relates a field of study to lines of work.
It does not say a ecology degree qualifies anyone for these occupations, that graduates usually enter them, or what share do: the crosswalk publishes no such figure. The wage and education columns come from a separate source, BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, and describe the occupation rather than the degree. Typical entry education is what BLS observes most often among people already doing the work; it is not a rule about who may be hired.
The 12 related occupations
Ordered by BLS median wage, highest first. 12 of 12 have a published wage.
| Occupation | BLS typical entry-level education | Median wage | Outlook |
|---|---|---|---|
Natural Sciences Managers SOC 11-9121 Contact with others 4.0 · Time pressure 3.3 · Sitting 4.1 · Outdoors, all weather 1.5 of 5 | Bachelor's degree At or below bachelor's | $167,220 2025 median | +8.2% 2025-35 · 9.2 openings/yr |
Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary SOC 25-1071 Contact with others 4.8 · Time pressure 3.8 · Sitting 3.9 · Outdoors, all weather 1.3 of 5 | Doctoral or professional degree Above bachelor's | $107,310 2025 median | +17.9% 2025-35 · 24.9 openings/yr |
Statisticians SOC 15-2041 Contact with others 3.4 · Time pressure 3.3 · Sitting 4.7 · Outdoors, all weather 1.1 of 5 | Master's degree Above bachelor's | $105,650 2025 median | +11% 2025-35 · 1.9 openings/yr |
Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists SOC 19-1042 Contact with others 4.7 · Time pressure 3.7 · Sitting 3.3 · Outdoors, all weather 1.1 of 5 | Doctoral or professional degree Above bachelor's | $103,410 2025 median | +12.6% 2025-35 · 10.5 openings/yr |
Forestry and Conservation Science Teachers, Postsecondary SOC 25-1043 Contact with others 4.5 · Time pressure 3.9 · Sitting 3.5 · Outdoors, all weather 3.2 of 5 | Doctoral or professional degree Above bachelor's | $101,420 2025 median | +2.8% 2025-35 · 0.1 openings/yr |
Bioinformatics Scientists SOC 19-1029 Contact with others 3.7 · Time pressure 3.4 · Sitting 4.8 · Outdoors, all weather 1.3 of 5 | Bachelor's degree At or below bachelor's | $98,920 2025 median | +4.7% 2025-35 · 4.3 openings/yr |
Environmental Science Teachers, Postsecondary SOC 25-1053 Contact with others 4.3 · Time pressure 3.6 · Sitting 3.6 · Outdoors, all weather 2.1 of 5 | Doctoral or professional degree Above bachelor's | $94,980 2025 median | +2.7% 2025-35 · 0.6 openings/yr |
Epidemiologists SOC 19-1041 Contact with others 4.2 · Time pressure 3.6 · Sitting 4.2 · Outdoors, all weather 1.6 of 5 | Master's degree Above bachelor's | $87,220 2025 median | +18.7% 2025-35 · 0.8 openings/yr |
Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary SOC 25-1042 Contact with others 4.4 · Time pressure 4.0 · Sitting 3.0 · Outdoors, all weather 1.9 of 5 | Doctoral or professional degree Above bachelor's | $84,620 2025 median | +7.3% 2025-35 · 4.7 openings/yr |
Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists SOC 19-1023 Contact with others 4.4 · Time pressure 3.3 · Sitting 3.6 · Outdoors, all weather 3.4 of 5 | Bachelor's degree At or below bachelor's | $76,780 2025 median | +3.6% 2025-35 · 1.4 openings/yr |
Conservation Scientists SOC 19-1031 Contact with others 3.9 · Time pressure 3.3 · Sitting 3.2 · Outdoors, all weather 3.9 of 5 | Bachelor's degree At or below bachelor's | $73,010 2025 median | +5.3% 2025-35 · 2.1 openings/yr |
Biological Technicians SOC 19-4021 Contact with others 4.2 · Time pressure 3.3 · Sitting 3.2 · Outdoors, all weather 1.5 of 5 | Bachelor's degree At or below bachelor's | $57,510 2025 median | +7.4% 2025-35 · 9.4 openings/yr |
The crosswalk relates 1 further occupation to this field (19-1099) for which BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2 publishes no line item on this site. They are counted here rather than listed, because there would be nothing to show beside the name.
BLS typical entry-level education for these occupations
5 of the 12 have a BLS typical entry-level education at or below a bachelor's degree; 7 are above it. "Typical" is BLS's word: it describes the workers already in the occupation.
- Bachelor's degree
- 5
- Master's degree
- 2
- Doctoral or professional degree
- 5
This is BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2's description of the education most workers in each occupation typically hold when they enter it. It is not a list of requirements, and it says nothing about licences, certifications or experience, which BLS records separately and this page does not show.
Which programs this covers
“Ecology” groups 12 CIP 2020 instructional programs. The occupation list above is the union of everything the crosswalk relates to them.
- 26.1301 Ecology
- 26.1302 Marine Biology and Biological Oceanography
- 26.1303 Evolutionary Biology
- 26.1304 Aquatic Biology/Limnology
- 26.1305 Environmental Biology
- 26.1306 Population Biology
- 26.1307 Conservation Biology
- 26.1308 Systematic Biology/Biological Systematics
- 26.1309 Epidemiology
- 26.1310 Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
- 26.1311 Epidemiology and Biostatistics
- 26.1399 Ecology, Evolution, Systematics and Population Biology, Other
Grouping is RoleSprint's, and it is printed here so it can be checked. CIP's own grain is finer than the phrase anyone searches; the alternative is one page per code, which would put near-identical lists in front of the same question. How this map is built.
Working out which of these is realistic
A related occupation is a starting point, not a verdict. Three different questions decide whether one is worth pursuing, and each has its own page.
Program-to-occupation relationships from the 2020 CIP / 2018 SOC Crosswalk, National Center for Education Statistics and Bureau of Labor Statistics. Wage, typical entry education and outlook from BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2. Working-condition figures from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license; O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA and RoleSprint has modified some of this information.
What to do next
A crosswalk relates a field of study to lines of work. Whether one specific opening is worth your time depends on what you can actually show, which is a different question and the one RoleSprint answers.