Best Hydrologist programs in Idaho, ranked by enrollment
Research the distribution, circulation, and physical properties of underground and surface waters; and study the form and intensity of precipitation and its rate of infiltration into the soil, movement through the earth, and return to the.
8 schools in Idaho run programs that feed this job, graduating 57 people a year. The job pays a median of $78,850 in Idaho across about 160 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Idaho that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
2 programs in Idaho that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Idaho (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Idaho page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 40.0601In Idaho → | 53 | 93.0% | 8 | $39,678 | $24,864 |
| 2 | CIP 40.0605In Idaho → | 4 | 7.0% | 1 | $39,678 | $24,864 |
Top 8 schools in Idaho
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 1 of the 8 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boise State University Boise, ID Public · 2 feeder programs | 23 | Geology/Earth Science, General | $31,701 | 60% | — | 87% |
| 2 | University of Idaho Moscow, ID Public · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Geology/Earth Science, General | — | 57% | — | 76% |
| 3 | Brigham Young University - Idaho Rexburg, ID Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Geology/Earth Science, General | — | 55% | $6,760 | 96% |
| 4 | Idaho State University Pocatello, ID Public · 1 feeder programs | 6 | Geology/Earth Science, General | — | 39% | — | — |
| 5 | College of Southern Idaho Twin Falls, ID Public · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Geology/Earth Science, General | — | 33% | — | — |
| 6 | Lewis - Clark State College Lewiston, ID Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Geology/Earth Science, General | — | 40% | — | 88% |
| 7 | College of Western Idaho Nampa, ID Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Geology/Earth Science, General | — | 31% | — | — |
| 8 | North Idaho College Coeur d'Alene, ID Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Geology/Earth Science, General | — | 38% | — | — |
All 8 schools in Idaho
Every school in Idaho with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boise State University | Boise | Public | 23 | 2 |
| University of Idaho | Moscow | Public | 14 | 1 |
| Brigham Young University - Idaho | Rexburg | Private not-for-profit | 7 | 1 |
| Idaho State University | Pocatello | Public | 6 | 1 |
| College of Southern Idaho | Twin Falls | Public | 3 | 1 |
| Lewis - Clark State College | Lewiston | Public | 2 | 1 |
| College of Western Idaho | Nampa | Public | 1 | 1 |
| North Idaho College | Coeur d'Alene | Public | 1 | 1 |
What hydrologists earn in Idaho
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $96,600. Idaho pays below the national figure.
Concentrated here: Idaho employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in Idaho
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Hydrologists page.
How to become a Hydrologist
Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Idaho
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 5 majors mapped to Hydrologists5 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 30.3801Earth Systems Science
- 30.4101Environmental Geosciences
- 40.0601Geology/Earth Science, General
- 40.0605Hydrology and Water Resources Science
- 40.0607Oceanography, Chemical and Physical
Common questions
Answers for people weighing hydrologists programs in Idaho.
What degree do you need to become a Hydrologist?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Geology/Earth Science, General, which awarded 53 degrees in Idaho in 2024-25, 93.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Hydrologist?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences. Together they graduate about 57 people a year in Idaho.
How much do hydrologists earn in Idaho?+
The median is $78,850 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 18.4% below the U.S. median of $96,600. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for hydrologists growing?+
BLS projects a -0.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 500 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Idaho?+
8 institutions in Idaho reported graduates from at least one of the 2 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do hydrologists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Hydrologist, Hydrogeologist, Research Hydrologist, Groundwater Consultant among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 19-2043.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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