Best Soil programs in Ohio, ranked by enrollment
Conduct research in breeding, physiology, production, yield, and management of crops and agricultural plants or trees, shrubs, and nursery stock, their growth in soils, and control of pests; or study the chemical, physical, biological, and.
15 schools in Ohio run programs that feed this job, graduating 194 people a year. The job pays a median of $56,820 in Ohio across about 320 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Ohio that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
10 programs in Ohio that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Ohio (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 Ohio page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Horticultural Sciencemain feeder CIP 01.1103In Ohio → | 42 | 21.6% | 3 | $42,861 | $20,500 |
| 2 | Plant Sciences, Generalmain feeder CIP 01.1101In Ohio → | 36 | 18.6% | 2 | $42,861 | $20,500 |
| 3 | Botany/Plant Biologymain feeder CIP 26.0301In Ohio → | 36 | 18.6% | 3 | $33,009 | $21,975 |
| 4 | CIP 01.0308In Ohio → | 22 | 11.3% | 4 | $36,083 | $17,395 |
| 5 | Plant Pathology/Phytopathologymain feeder CIP 26.0305In Ohio → | 18 | 9.3% | 1 | $33,009 | $21,975 |
| 6 | CIP 01.1105In Ohio → | 13 | 6.7% | 2 | $42,861 | $20,500 |
| 7 | CIP 01.0000In Ohio → | 13 | 6.7% | 1 | $39,350 | $20,340 |
| 8 | CIP 01.1004In Ohio → | 7 | 3.6% | 2 | $51,883 | $21,000 |
| 9 | Soil Science and Agronomy, Generalmain feeder CIP 01.1201In Ohio → | 4 | 2.1% | 1 | $50,408 | $22,424 |
| 10 | Agronomy and Crop Sciencemain feeder CIP 01.1102In Ohio → | 3 | 1.5% | 1 | $42,861 | $20,500 |
Top 15 schools in Ohio
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 1 of the 15 schools in this state.
All 15 schools in Ohio
Every school in Ohio 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio State University - Main Campus | Columbus | Public | 77 | 5 |
| University of Cincinnati - Main Campus | Cincinnati | Public | 24 | 1 |
| Ohio University - Main Campus | Athens | Public | 20 | 1 |
| Miami University - Oxford | Oxford | Public | 15 | 1 |
| Sinclair Community College | Dayton | Public | 13 | 1 |
| Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute | Wooster | Public | 8 | 2 |
| Central State University | Wilberforce | Public | 6 | 1 |
| Cincinnati State Technical and Community College | Cincinnati | Public | 6 | 1 |
| Kent State University at Ashtabula | Ashtabula | Public | 6 | 1 |
| Cuyahoga Community College District | Cleveland | Public | 5 | 1 |
| Clark State College | Springfield | Public | 4 | 1 |
| Lorain County Community College | Elyria | Public | 4 | 1 |
| Northwest State Community College | Archbold | Public | 4 | 1 |
| Hocking College | Nelsonville | Public | 1 | 1 |
| Kent State University at Kent | Kent | Public | 1 | 1 |
What soil and plant scientists earn in Ohio
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $78,850. Ohio pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Ohio
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 Soil and Plant Scientists page.
How to become a Soil
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 Ohio
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 19 majors mapped to Soil and Plant Scientists18 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 01.0000Agriculture, General
- 01.0308Agroecology and Sustainable Agriculture
- 01.1004Viticulture and Enology
- 01.1101Plant Sciences, General
- 01.1102Agronomy and Crop Science
- 01.1103Horticultural Science
- 01.1104Agricultural and Horticultural Plant Breeding
- 01.1105Plant Protection and Integrated Pest Management
- 01.1106Range Science and Management
- 01.1199Plant Sciences, Other
- 01.1201Soil Science and Agronomy, General
- 01.1202Soil Chemistry and Physics
- 01.1203Soil Microbiology(no graduates reported)
- 01.1299Soil Sciences, Other
- 26.0301Botany/Plant Biology
- 26.0305Plant Pathology/Phytopathology
- 26.0307Plant Physiology
- 26.0308Plant Molecular Biology
- 26.0399Botany/Plant Biology, Other
Common questions
Answers for people weighing soil and plant scientists programs in Ohio.
What degree do you need to become a Soil?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Horticultural Science, which awarded 42 degrees in Ohio in 2024-25, 21.6% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Soil?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 10 programs to this occupation. The largest are Plant Sciences, Botany/Plant Biology, Agricultural Production Operations, Agriculture, plus 2 more. Together they graduate about 194 people a year in Ohio.
How much do soil and plant scientists earn in Ohio?+
The median is $56,820 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 27.9% below the U.S. median of $78,850. 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 soil and plant scientists growing?+
BLS projects a +5.4% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 1,700 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Ohio?+
15 institutions in Ohio reported graduates from at least one of the 10 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 soil and plant scientists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Scientist, Agronomist, Research Scientist, Research Soil Scientist among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 19-1013.
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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