Foresters Career, Salary and Skills
Foresters have a BLS-reported national median annual wage of $76,400 based on the 2025 OEWS dataset, with reported national employment of 10,430. Wage data is published for 96 locations.
Occupation description
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.
O*NET code
19-1032.00
Job zone
4
Typical education
Not recorded
Experience
Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years
National salary and employment
Median annual
$76,400
Hourly median
$36.73
Employment
10,430
Data year
2025
National salary distribution
Top skills
| Skill | Importance | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Critical Thinking | 4.00 | 4.12 |
| Monitoring | 4.00 | 4.12 |
| Speaking | 4.00 | 4.12 |
| Reading Comprehension | 4.00 | 4.25 |
| Active Listening | 3.88 | 4.00 |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 3.88 | 4.25 |
| Complex Problem Solving | 3.88 | 4.25 |
| Writing | 3.75 | 4.12 |
| Coordination | 3.62 | 3.75 |
| Systems Analysis | 3.62 | 3.88 |
Typical tasks
- 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.
- Establish short- and long-term plans for management of forest lands and forest resources.
Technology
- ESRI ArcGIS software
- ESRI ArcView
- Forest Metrix
- Forest vegetation simulators
- Forest yield software
- Fountains Forestry TwoDog
- Geographic information system GIS software
- Geographic information system GIS systems
- Global positioning system GPS software
- IBM Notes
- Mapping software
- Microsoft Access
- Microsoft Active Server Pages ASP
- Microsoft Excel
Foresters salary by location
Areas with the highest reported employment for this occupation.
- Foresters Salary in WAMedian $78,460 · Employment 950
- Foresters Salary in CAMedian $107,120 · Employment 820
- Foresters Salary in ORMedian $81,450 · Employment 670
- Foresters Salary in WIMedian $66,010 · Employment 570
- Foresters Salary in MNMedian $76,490 · Employment 390
- Foresters Salary in FLMedian $64,130 · Employment 380
- Foresters Salary in GAMedian $76,970 · Employment 370
- Foresters Salary in VAMedian $71,990 · Employment 340
- Foresters Salary in MIMedian $75,920 · Employment 340
- Foresters Salary in PAMedian $78,280 · Employment 310
- Foresters Salary in Washington, DCMedian $74,710 · Employment 280
- Foresters Salary in NYMedian $73,710 · Employment 280
Related careers
- HydrologistsNational median $96,600
- Environmental EngineersNational median $107,110
- Zoologists and Wildlife BiologistsNational median $76,780
- Water Resource SpecialistsNational median $167,220
- Precision Agriculture TechniciansNational median $49,630
- Agricultural EngineersNational median $98,590
- Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including HealthNational median $55,090
- Chief Sustainability OfficersNational median $213,990
Career and skills data: O*NET 31.0 (onetcenter.org). Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, 2025 (bls.gov/oes). Figures are published survey estimates, not real-time market data.