Maine·Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations·SOC 19-4099

Best Life programs in Maine, ranked by enrollment

All life, physical, and social science technicians not listed.

11 schools in Maine run programs that feed this job, graduating 154 people a year. The job pays a median of $66,730 in Maine across about 390 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledResearch AssociateGeospatial ExtractorMeteorologist LiaisonLab Technician (Lab Tech)Digital Cartographic TechnicianQuality Control Technician (QC Tech)QA Auditor (Quality Assurance Auditor)QA Tech (Quality Assurance Technician)
Graduates / yr
154
in Maine
Median pay · Maine
$66,730
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
390
people employed
Schools
11
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
45%
across those schools
Median net price
$31,045
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Maine that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

3 programs in Maine that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Maine (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 Maine page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 43.0104In Maine
99
64.3%
7$37,408$24,069
2
CIP 45.0401In Maine
30
19.5%
4$37,366$25,000
3
CIP 43.0406In Maine
25
16.2%
4$40,889$25,000

Top 11 schools in Maine

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 4 of the 11 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Central Maine Community College
Auburn, ME Public · 3 feeder programs
41Criminal Justice/Safety Studies$43,11230%
2University of Southern Maine
Portland, ME Public · 1 feeder programs
25Criminology$47,72640%79%
3Southern Maine Community College
South Portland, ME Public · 1 feeder programs
20Criminal Justice/Safety Studies$44,86928%
4Husson University
Bangor, ME Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
17Forensic Science and Technology59%$18,83981%
5University of Maine at Augusta
Augusta, ME Public · 2 feeder programs
11Criminal Justice/Safety Studies$38,58827%
6Eastern Maine Community College
Bangor, ME Public · 1 feeder programs
10Criminal Justice/Safety Studies32%
7Saint Joseph's College of Maine
Standish, ME Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
10Criminal Justice/Safety Studies66%$31,04584%
8Washington County Community College
Calais, ME Public · 1 feeder programs
7Criminal Justice/Safety Studies55%
9York County Community College
Wells, ME Public · 1 feeder programs
7Criminal Justice/Safety Studies34%
10Thomas College
Waterville, ME Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
5Forensic Science and Technology54%$18,19296%
11University of New England
Biddeford, ME Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
1Criminology68%$34,67392%

All 11 schools in Maine

Every school in Maine 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.

All schools in Maine that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Central Maine Community CollegeAuburnPublic413
University of Southern MainePortlandPublic251
Southern Maine Community CollegeSouth PortlandPublic201
Husson UniversityBangorPrivate not-for-profit171
University of Maine at AugustaAugustaPublic112
Eastern Maine Community CollegeBangorPublic101
Saint Joseph's College of MaineStandishPrivate not-for-profit101
Washington County Community CollegeCalaisPublic71
York County Community CollegeWellsPublic71
Thomas CollegeWatervillePrivate not-for-profit52
University of New EnglandBiddefordPrivate not-for-profit11

What life, physical, and social science technicians, all other earn in Maine

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Maine
$66,730
Mean annual
$74,260
Jobs in state
390
What the range looks like
10th pct$45,950Median$66,73090th pct$110,410
Versus the national median
+7.1%

U.S. median $62,280. Maine pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
1.27×

Concentrated here: Maine employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.

Metro areas in Maine

Portland-South Portland, ME
$77,770median
240 jobs
Bangor, ME
$57,040median
40 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+3.5%
About as fast as average
Openings per year
10,600
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
2,900
83,200 → 86,200
Typical entry education
Associate's degree

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 Life, Physical, and Social Science Technicians, All Other page.

How to become a Life

Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0
Typical entry education
Associate's degree

Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Top skills

Reading ComprehensionMonitoringCritical ThinkingActive ListeningSpeakingWriting

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Maine

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 12 majors mapped to Life, Physical, and Social Science Technicians, All Other12 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 40.0401Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, General
  • 40.1001Materials Science
  • 40.1002Materials Chemistry
  • 41.0000Science Technologies/Technicians, General
  • 41.0303Chemical Process Technology
  • 41.0399Physical Science Technologies/Technicians, Other
  • 41.9999Science Technologies/Technicians, Other
  • 43.0100Criminal Justice and Corrections, General
  • 43.0104Criminal Justice/Safety Studies
  • 43.0402Criminalistics and Criminal Science
  • 43.0406Forensic Science and Technology
  • 45.0401Criminology

Common questions

Answers for people weighing life, physical, and social science technicians, all other programs in Maine.

What degree do you need to become a Life?+

Associate's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Criminal Justice/Safety Studies, which awarded 99 degrees in Maine in 2024-25, 64.3% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Life?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Criminal Justice and Corrections, Criminology, Security Science and Technology. Together they graduate about 154 people a year in Maine.

How much do life, physical, and social science technicians, all other earn in Maine?+

The median is $66,730 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 7.1% above the U.S. median of $62,280. 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 life, physical, and social science technicians, all other growing?+

BLS projects a +3.5% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 10,600 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Maine?+

11 institutions in Maine reported graduates from at least one of the 3 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 life, physical, and social science technicians, all other work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Research Associate, Geospatial Extractor, Meteorologist Liaison, Lab Technician (Lab Tech), Digital Cartographic Technician, Quality Control Technician (QC Tech) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 19-4099.

Life, Physical, and Social Science Technicians, All Other in other statesTexasCaliforniaFloridaGeorgiaVirginiaNorth CarolinaArizonaIndiana

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 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected 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 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, 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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