Best degree programs for Fish and Game Wardens, ranked by enrollment
1 college programs and 21 schools train Fish and Game Wardens. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $74,060 median wage, 5,770 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
1 college programs at 21 schools train fish and game wardens, graduating 222 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Environmental/Natural Resources Law Enforcement and Protective Services. The job pays a median of $74,060 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About fish and game wardens
Patrol assigned area to prevent fish and game law violations. Investigate reports of damage to crops or property by wildlife. Compile biological data.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
1 degree programs that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 03.0208 | 222 | 100.0% | 21 | $37,946 | $24,125 |
Top 21 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
What fish and game wardens earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mainemoderate | $73,260 | 190 | 7.89× | 4 | 28 |
| Ohiolimited | $75,880 | 160 | 0.78× | 1 | 25 |
| Wisconsinlimited | $89,110 | 150 | 1.42× | 1 | 25 |
| Oklahomalimited | $69,120 | 170 | 2.61× | 1 | 20 |
| South Dakotalimited | $68,810 | 100 | 5.67× | 1 | 16 |
| Texaslimited | $85,980 | 490 | 0.94× | 1 | 8 |
| New Yorklimited | $80,060 | 390 | 1.08× | 1 | 2 |
| Iowalimited | $98,260 | 120 | 2.12× | 1 | 1 |
| Missourilimited | $70,030 | 150 | 1.41× | 1 | 1 |
| Pennsylvanialimited | $50,250 | 80 | 0.34× | 1 | 1 |
| Wyominglimited | $74,060 | 70 | 6.91× | 1 | 1 |
Skills and tools
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Patrol assigned areas by car, boat, airplane, horse, or on foot to enforce game, fish, or boating laws or to manage wildlife programs, lakes, or land.
- Compile and present evidence for court actions.
- Investigate hunting accidents or reports of fish or game law violations.
- Protect and preserve native wildlife, plants, or ecosystems.
- Issue warnings or citations and file reports as necessary.
- Serve warrants and make arrests.
- Provide assistance to other local law enforcement agencies as required.
- Promote or provide hunter or trapper safety training.
Skills
- Active Listening3.9
- Critical Thinking3.9
- Speaking3.8
- Reading Comprehension3.6
- Monitoring3.4
- Writing3.1
- Active Learning3.0
- Learning Strategies2.9
Knowledge areas
- Law and Government4.6
- Public Safety and Security4.5
- Biology4.1
- English Language4.1
- Customer and Personal Service4.1
- Psychology3.8
Abilities
- Oral Expression4.1
- Inductive Reasoning4.1
- Oral Comprehension4.1
- Problem Sensitivity4.0
- Speech Clarity3.9
- Speech Recognition3.9
Core activities
- Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment4.7
- Communicating with People Outside the Organization4.6
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates4.5
- Making Decisions and Solving Problems4.5
- Getting Information4.4
- Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events4.4
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Fish
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 1 majors mapped to Fish and Game Wardens1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 03.0208Environmental/Natural Resources Law Enforcement and Protective Services
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become a Fish?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Environmental/Natural Resources Law Enforcement and Protective Services, which awarded 222 degrees in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Fish?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Environmental/Natural Resources Management and Policy. Together they graduate about 222 people a year.
How much do fish and game wardens earn?+
The median is $74,060 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $50,990 at the 10th percentile to $100,980 at the 90th. 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 fish and game wardens growing?+
BLS projects a -6.0% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 500 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
21 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 1 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 fish and game wardens work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Game Warden, Wildlife Officer, State Game Warden, Natural Resource Officer among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 33-3031.
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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