Management Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages Wide pay band SOC 11-9121

Natural Sciences Managers

The published band from $79,710 to $316,850 is the distinctive signal for this role, not a twin of Chief Executives.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Natural Sciences Managers: Chief Executives ($214K) , Fundraising Managers ($125K) , Financial Managers ($167K) , Marketing Managers ($167K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Natural Sciences Managers publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 11-9121 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Hire, supervise, or evaluate engineers, technicians, researchers, or other staff
  2. 2. Design or coordinate successive phases of problem analysis, solution proposals, or testing
  3. 3. Plan or direct research, development, or production activities
  4. 4. Provide for stewardship of plant or animal resources or habitats, studying land use, monitoring animal populations, or providing shelter…
  5. 5. Review project activities and prepare and review research, testing, or operational reports
  6. 6. Confer with scientists, engineers, regulators, or others to plan or review projects or to provide technical assistance
  7. 7. Develop client relationships and communicate with clients to explain proposals, present research findings, establish specifications, or d…
  8. 8. Determine scientific or technical goals within broad outlines provided by top management and make detailed plans to accomplish these goals
  9. 9. Prepare project proposals
  10. 10. Develop or implement policies, standards, or procedures for the architectural, scientific, or technical work performed to ensure regulato…
  11. 11. Recruit personnel or oversee the development or maintenance of staff competence
  12. 12. Prepare and administer budgets, approve and review expenditures, and prepare financial reports

Natural Sciences Managers: O*NET ranks Science first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 11-9121 - lead skill Science at 4.1 ; lead knowledge Biology. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Science 4.1
  2. 2. Reading Comprehension 4.0
  3. 3. Active Listening 4.0
  4. 4. Critical Thinking 4.0
  5. 5. Monitoring 4.0
  6. 6. Writing 3.9
  7. 7. Speaking 3.9
  8. 8. Complex Problem Solving 3.9

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Biology 4.0
  2. 2. English Language 4.0
  3. 3. Administration and Management 3.8
  4. 4. Computers and Electronics 3.7
  5. 5. Administrative 3.6
  6. 6. Chemistry 3.5
Published pay band (10th to 90th)
$79,710 to $316,850
median $167,220 · ~4.0× spread
$167K
National median
↑ +4%
Growth 2024-2034
8,500
Annual openings
108,690
Estimated US jobs
Chief Executives
Highest-pay peer · $214K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education Bachelor's degree
Related experience 5 years or more

Top Paying States for Natural Sciences Managers

1. Kansas $153,820
2. District of Columbia $156,730
3. Illinois $159,670
4. Maryland $168,620
5. Massachusetts $267,290
6. Washington $182,480
7. North Carolina $173,870
8. Connecticut $210,670
9. California $210,230
10. New Jersey $207,030

Other Management Occupations titles

  1. 1. Fundraising Managers $125,470
  2. 2. Financial Managers $166,570
  3. 3. Marketing Managers $166,790
  4. 4. Chief Executives $213,990
  5. 5. Computer and Information Systems Managers $175,140
  6. 6. Compensation and Benefits Managers $149,230

The OEWS band for Natural Sciences Managers runs from $79,710 (10th) to $316,850 (90th), about 4.0× wide, with median $167,220. That spread, not the midpoint alone, is the distinctive published fact.

Employment Projections expect +4% change between 2024 and 2034 (about as fast as average vs baseline 3.1%). About 8,500 annual openings are projected. BLS assigns Bachelor's degree as typical education needed for entry and 5 years or more as the typical related-work-experience category. These are occupation-level assignments, not universal requirements. BLS does not publish a separate occupation-specific safety rate for this role; its broad SOC-group rate is excluded from this career card's grade.

Highest published state median in this ranking: Kansas at $153,820. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Chief Executives at $213,990. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Natural Sciences Managers pay-rank #4 in Management Occupations

Among 37 detailed Management Occupations with a published OEWS median, Natural Sciences Managers is pay-rank #4, the upper third of that major group. The order is ROW_NUMBER on national median (title as tiebreak), not a worker-level percentile.

Other upper-third titles · closest medians

Full Salary Details Compare this role

Data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Projections from BLS Employment Projections program, 2024-2034.

The 10th-to-90th percentile spread for Natural Sciences Managers is unusually wide, so the state map and peer comparison carry more signal than the median alone.

Natural Sciences Managers salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 11-9121

Kansas · top state for Natural Sciences Managers

$154K published median

District of Columbia · #2 state pay

$157K · behind Kansas

Chief Executives

Highest-pay peer vs Natural Sciences Managers · $214K

Fundraising Managers

Lower-pay peer beside Natural Sciences Managers · $125K

Compare Natural Sciences Managers

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Natural Sciences Managers with another occupation →

Pay-band next reads

Entry-Level vs Experienced Pay

What percentile bands reveal

Using Salary Data for Negotiation

Leverage BLS percentiles

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Management Occupations titles sit near Natural Sciences Managers at the top of the pay table? ▼
Natural Sciences Managers is pay-rank #4 of 37 detailed Management Occupations with an OEWS median, upper third. Nearest upper-third titles: Marketing Managers ($167K), Financial Managers ($167K), Architectural and Engineering Managers ($171K), Computer and Information Systems Managers ($175K). Rank is ROW_NUMBER on national median.
What do natural sciences managers do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Natural Sciences Managers. Leading ones include: 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; Provide for stewardship of plant or animal resources or habitats, studying land use, monitoring animal populations, or providing shelter…. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for natural sciences managers? ▼
For SOC 11-9121, O*NET importance scores lead with Science (4.1), Reading Comprehension (4.0), Active Listening (4.0), Critical Thinking (4.0). Knowledge areas emphasize Biology, English Language, Administration and Management. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
How wide is the published pay band for Natural Sciences Managers? ▼
OEWS places the 10th percentile at $79,710 and the 90th at $316,850 for Natural Sciences Managers (4.0× spread). The national median is $167,220. OEWS does not isolate experience, employer, or geography as the cause of that spread.
What employment change does BLS publish for Natural Sciences Managers? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Natural Sciences Managers is +4%. Projected annual openings: about 8,500. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: about as fast as average.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Natural Sciences Managers? ▼
BLS assigns Bachelor's degree as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Natural Sciences Managers. Related-work-experience category: 5 years or more. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Natural Sciences Managers? ▼
Kansas ($153,820), District of Columbia ($156,730), Illinois ($159,670) lead this ranking. The table does not identify why those state estimates differ.

Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Wage and state figures use BLS OEWS May 2025; growth and education use BLS Employment Projections for 2024-2034; safety fields cite BLS CFOI/SOII; task statements cite O*NET where shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

Disclaimer: Wage and outlook figures on this page are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute career, financial, or salary-negotiation advice. Actual pay varies by employer, experience, and local conditions; consult a career counselor or the hiring employer for guidance specific to your situation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OES Occupational wage estimates by area and industry · 2025

Federal sources on this Natural Sciences Managers card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 11-9121. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Natural Sciences Managers. onetcenter.org
  • BLS Employment Projections - 2024-2034 change and openings for this occupation. bls.gov/emp
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - demographic and labor-force context for state and metro geography. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) - payroll-tax aggregate context for wage comparisons. irs.gov/statistics