Best degree programs for Hydrologists, ranked by enrollment
5 college programs and 451 schools train Hydrologists. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $96,600 median wage, 5,850 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
5 college programs at 451 schools train hydrologists, graduating 6,507 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Geology/Earth Science, General. The job pays a median of $96,600 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About hydrologists
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 ocean and atmosphere.
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.
5 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 40.0601 | 5,615 | 86.3% | 433 | $39,678 | $24,864 |
| 2 | CIP 40.0607 | 534 | 8.2% | 35 | $39,678 | $24,864 |
| 3 | CIP 40.0605 | 206 | 3.2% | 38 | $39,678 | $24,864 |
| 4 | CIP 30.4101 | 90 | 1.4% | 11 | — | — |
| 5 | CIP 30.3801 | 62 | 1.0% | 7 | — | — |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
What hydrologists 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | $122,110 | 540 | 0.79× | 72 | 836 |
| Texas | $81,080 | 220 | 0.42× | 32 | 598 |
| New York | $88,100 | 160 | 0.44× | 33 | 360 |
| Washington | $105,600 | 350 | 2.62× | 8 | 299 |
| Pennsylvania | $91,730 | 160 | 0.70× | 21 | 293 |
| Ohio | $98,200 | 390 | 1.89× | 21 | 268 |
| North Carolina | $81,770 | 150 | 0.80× | 9 | 237 |
| Florida | $76,850 | 280 | 0.74× | 7 | 191 |
| Michigan | $101,060 | 40 | 0.21× | 15 | 183 |
| Colorado | $100,840 | 360 | 3.37× | 13 | 172 |
| Massachusetts | $119,350 | 50 | 0.38× | 14 | 162 |
| Tennessee | — | 150 | 1.18× | 10 | 159 |
| Minnesota | $94,580 | 300 | 2.70× | 12 | 138 |
| Illinois | $83,720 | 100 | 0.45× | 10 | 130 |
| Virginia | $132,080 | 40 | 0.25× | 7 | 129 |
| Utah | $94,190 | 80 | 1.27× | 10 | 128 |
| Indiana | $80,700 | 50 | 0.42× | 11 | 124 |
| New Jersey | $126,680 | — | — | 11 | 120 |
| Arizona | $86,700 | 400 | 3.28× | 8 | 118 |
| Louisiana | $104,520 | — | — | 5 | 117 |
| Wisconsin | $78,770 | 150 | 1.37× | 10 | 107 |
| Oregon | $93,690 | 300 | 4.06× | 5 | 97 |
| Georgia | $121,830 | 30 | 0.18× | 6 | 87 |
| Montanamoderate | $84,500 | 190 | 9.79× | 4 | 67 |
| Maryland | $143,010 | 90 | 0.83× | 5 | 64 |
| Oklahomamoderate | $97,470 | 40 | 0.55× | 4 | 62 |
| Missouri | $116,100 | 50 | 0.43× | 7 | 61 |
| Nevadalimited | $107,930 | 170 | 2.94× | 2 | 61 |
| South Carolina | $65,770 | 100 | 1.17× | 5 | 61 |
| New Mexico | $97,470 | 100 | 2.96× | 5 | 60 |
| Idaho | $78,850 | 160 | 4.88× | 8 | 57 |
| Iowamoderate | $81,150 | 50 | 0.91× | 4 | 34 |
| Wyominglimited | $94,520 | 40 | 4.10× | 2 | 25 |
| Vermontmoderate | $86,140 | 50 | 4.10× | 3 | 24 |
| Alaskalimited | $108,660 | 60 | 4.55× | 2 | 21 |
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
- Prepare written and oral reports describing research results, using illustrations, maps, appendices, and other information.
- Design and conduct scientific hydrogeological investigations to ensure that accurate and appropriate information is available for use in water resource management decisions.
- Measure and graph phenomena such as lake levels, stream flows, and changes in water volumes.
- Conduct research and communicate information to promote the conservation and preservation of water resources.
- Coordinate and supervise the work of professional and technical staff, including research assistants, technologists, and technicians.
- Study public water supply issues, including flood and drought risks, water quality, wastewater, and impacts on wetland habitats.
- Apply research findings to help minimize the environmental impacts of pollution, waterborne diseases, erosion, and sedimentation.
- Study and document quantities, distribution, disposition, and development of underground and surface waters.
Skills
- Critical Thinking4.0
- Reading Comprehension3.9
- Active Listening3.9
- Science3.9
- Speaking3.8
- Mathematics3.8
- Active Learning3.6
- Writing3.6
Knowledge areas
- Mathematics4.3
- Physics4.1
- Engineering and Technology4.0
- English Language3.9
- Geography3.9
- Computers and Electronics3.5
Abilities
- Oral Comprehension4.0
- Oral Expression4.0
- Written Comprehension4.0
- Written Expression4.0
- Deductive Reasoning3.9
- Inductive Reasoning3.9
Core activities
- Analyzing Data or Information4.8
- Getting Information4.6
- Working with Computers4.6
- Making Decisions and Solving Problems4.5
- Documenting/Recording Information4.3
- Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events4.2
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
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.
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
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 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 5,615 degrees in 2024-25, 86.3% 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 5 programs to this occupation. The largest are Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences, Environmental Geosciences, Earth Systems Science. Together they graduate about 6,507 people a year.
How much do hydrologists earn?+
The median is $96,600 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $64,020 at the 10th percentile to $153,130 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 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?+
451 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 5 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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