CCollegeMatcher

Foresters

US occupation · SOC 19-1032

Job titles people report: Area Forester, District Forester, Environmental Protection Forester, Fire Prevention Forester, Forest Silviculturist, Procurement Forester, Resource Forester, Service Forester, Silviculturist, Urban Forester

Pay and outlook

Median annual wage, May 2025
$76,400
Half earn more, half earn less
Middle half earn
$62,710 – $91,640
25th to 75th percentile
People employed, May 2025
10,430
Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)
Projected change, 2025–35
+2.2%
Growing slower than all jobs (0% to under 3.5%)
Openings a year (projected)
900
New jobs plus replacing people who leave
Typical education to enter
Bachelor's degree
BLS
  • All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
  • Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
  • Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.

What the work involves

Manage public and private forested lands for economic, recreational, and conservation purposes. May inventory the type, amount, and location of standing timber, appraise the timber's worth, negotiate the purchase, and draw up contracts for procurement. May determine how to conserve wildlife habitats, creek beds, water quality, and soil stability, and how best to comply with environmental regulations. May devise plans for planting and growing new trees, monitor trees for healthy growth, and determine optimal harvesting schedules.

Main tasks

  • Establish short- and long-term plans for management of forest lands and forest resources.
  • Plan cutting programs and manage timber sales from harvested areas, assisting companies to achieve production goals.
  • Determine methods of cutting and removing timber with minimum waste and environmental damage.
  • Negotiate terms and conditions of agreements and contracts for forest harvesting, forest management and leasing of forest lands.
  • Perform inspections of forests or forest nurseries.
  • Monitor contract compliance and results of forestry activities to assure adherence to government regulations.
  • Supervise activities of other forestry workers.
  • Provide advice and recommendations, as a consultant on forestry issues, to private woodlot owners, firefighters, government agencies or to companies.

Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.

Getting in

Typical education to enter (BLS)
Bachelor's degree
O*NET Job Zone 4
Considerable preparation
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

Interests it suits

The strongest of the six O*NET interest types for this occupation, highest first. The short glosses are ours.

  • Realistic: hands-on work with tools, machines, plants or animals
  • Investigative: research, analysis and solving problems with ideas
  • Conventional: organising information, records and procedures

Fields of study that lead here

From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 9 programmes to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.

Environmental Studies

  • Natural Resources/Conservation, General
  • Environmental/Natural Resources Management and Policy, General
  • Forestry, General
  • Forest Sciences and Biology
  • Forest Management/Forest Resources Management
  • Urban Forestry
  • Wood Science and Wood Products/Pulp and Paper Technology/Technician
  • Forest Resources Production and Management
1 more programmes
  • Forestry, Other

Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Environmental Studies at the Major step.

Where many students take environmental studies

Ordered by the field's share of degrees awarded times undergraduate enrolment (College Scorecard), among colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online universities are included. It's a rough measure of how big the programme is. It says nothing about quality. The share counts every programme in the field, not only the ones linked to this career.

Related careers

Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.

← All careers

Sources

This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. CollegeMatcher has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET 31.0 Database · CC BY 4.0

Changes: we show the core tasks in the O*NET database with the highest importance ratings (up to eight, in that order), the top three O*NET interest types by score, and shortened Job Zone names. Titles, descriptions and task text are unchanged.

Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Projections, typical entry education and training: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–35. Fields of study: NCES and BLS CIP 2020–SOC 2018 Crosswalk. All public domain. OEWS · Employment Projections · CIP–SOC crosswalk