Natural Sciences Managers Career, Salary and Skills
Natural Sciences Managers have a BLS-reported national median annual wage of $167,220 based on the 2025 OEWS dataset, with reported national employment of 108,690. Wage data is published for 259 locations.
Occupation description
Plan, direct, or coordinate activities in such fields as life sciences, physical sciences, mathematics, statistics, and research and development in these fields.
O*NET code
11-9121.00
Job zone
5
Typical education
Bachelor's Degree
Experience
Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years
National salary and employment
Median annual
$167,220
Hourly median
$80.39
Employment
108,690
Data year
2025
National salary distribution
Top skills
| Skill | Importance | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Science | 4.12 | 4.88 |
| Reading Comprehension | 4.00 | 5.00 |
| Monitoring | 4.00 | 4.12 |
| Active Listening | 4.00 | 4.75 |
| Critical Thinking | 4.00 | 4.38 |
| Speaking | 3.88 | 4.25 |
| Writing | 3.88 | 5.00 |
| Complex Problem Solving | 3.88 | 4.25 |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 3.75 | 4.12 |
| Management of Personnel Resources | 3.62 | 4.62 |
Typical tasks
- Hire, supervise, or evaluate engineers, technicians, researchers, or other staff.
- Design or coordinate successive phases of problem analysis, solution proposals, or testing.
- Plan or direct research, development, or production activities.
- Review project activities and prepare and review research, testing, or operational reports.
- Confer with scientists, engineers, regulators, or others to plan or review projects or to provide technical assistance.
- Develop client relationships and communicate with clients to explain proposals, present research findings, establish specifications, or discuss project status.
- Determine scientific or technical goals within broad outlines provided by top management and make detailed plans to accomplish these goals.
- Prepare project proposals.
Technology
- Adobe Acrobat
- Adobe Photoshop
- Clinical trial management software
- ESRI ArcGIS software
- Graphics software
- IBM Lotus 1-2-3
- IBM SPSS Statistics
- Integrated development environment IDE software
- Laboratory information management system LIMS
- Microsoft Access
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office software
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft PowerPoint
Natural Sciences Managers salary by location
Areas with the highest reported employment for this occupation.
- Natural Sciences Managers Salary in CAMedian $210,230 · Employment 14,950
- Natural Sciences Managers Salary in MAMedian $267,290 · Employment 10,590
- Natural Sciences Managers Salary in New York, NYMedian $180,460 · Employment 10,100
- Natural Sciences Managers Salary in NJMedian $207,030 · Employment 10,040
- Natural Sciences Managers Salary in Boston, MAMedian $291,000 · Employment 9,570
- Natural Sciences Managers Salary in PAMedian $137,900 · Employment 7,980
- Natural Sciences Managers Salary in TXMedian $129,960 · Employment 7,470
- Natural Sciences Managers Salary in NCMedian $173,870 · Employment 6,010
- Natural Sciences Managers Salary in Washington, DCMedian $169,060 · Employment 5,890
- Natural Sciences Managers Salary in NYMedian $134,680 · Employment 5,690
- Natural Sciences Managers Salary in San Francisco, CAMedian $225,230 · Employment 5,530
- Natural Sciences Managers Salary in Philadelphia, PAMedian $172,900 · Employment 5,510
Related careers
- Industrial EngineersNational median $102,440
- Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including HealthNational median $82,220
- Bioinformatics TechniciansNational median $81,490
- Management AnalystsNational median $101,860
- Clinical Data ManagersNational median $120,230
- Computer and Information Research ScientistsNational median $140,300
- Chemical TechniciansNational median $60,390
- ChemistsNational median $91,240
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.