Anthropologist Salary

The salary of an anthropologist is not the sole criteria why people are interested to work in this stream. Diverse challenges and a deep driving desire to learn about the various facets of humankind with respect to their culture, behavior, and demography is what drives people to go for higher studies in anthropology.

The fascinating science of humankind, anthropology, is a field that offers great career opportunities and job satisfaction to anyone who has a deep interest in knowing about the social and cultural aspect of human society. Regarded as social scientists, anthropologists work in analyzing the developments of civilizations throughout world history. If you have watched the Discovery channel, you might have come across scientists who study and analyze archeology sites to decipher more about a particular culture or discipline. By understanding the evolution, and rise and fall of past civilizations, anthropologists try to understand modern civilizations.

A Background

• If you’re someone who loves to enjoy challenges, then studying the origin, characteristics, behavior development, etc., of the human society can present before you a host of interesting tasks.
• Exploring and traveling the world is an exciting opportunity that awaits anybody willing to choose this career.
• Depending on the area of interest, anthropologists can choose to take a bachelor’s and post-graduate degree in their fields. Some of them move on to take a PhD level degree that helps them gain better employment opportunities.
• Some of the main job duties include laboratory research, field work, and spreading awareness about social patterns.

Salary of an Anthropologist

• The salary depends on various factors, like work experience, educational qualification, employer type, and job location.
• Since this field demands extensive knowledge backed by sound work experience, employers look out for employees who have worked in challenging projects and are aware about the intricacies of this job.
• A fresher needs to assist his seniors and work under them to learn about various facets of this stream.
• In initial years, working on skills is more important than expecting decent pay.

• If you work for some elite institution that has good research money, you might probably be paid more as compared to your peers working in less elite institutions. Besides, the important factor to consider is the location of the job.
• According to the BLS, the median salary of anthropologists is more than USD 60,000.
• The BLS predicts a job growth rate of 19% over the next decade.

Salary Range by State

• States like Hawaii, Alaska, and Idaho pay between USD 50,000 to USD 60,000.
• Delaware, Wisconsin, West Virginia, New Mexico, Nevada, etc., have a range of USD 60,000 to USD 80,000.
• New York, California, Arkansas, Iowa, Washington, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, etc., pay more than USD 80,000.

Salary Range by Experience

• Freshers normally earn more than USD 50,000.
• People with 1 to 4 years of work experience earn between USD 60,000 to 70,000 annually.
• A work experience of 5 to 9 years can fetch you a salary range between USD 75,000 to USD 95,000.
• An established professional with a work experience of about 10 to 20 years earns more than USD 100,000.

Salary Range by Employer

• Anthropologists working under federal governments earn fairly decent pay packages along with the job security of working in a government job.
• They also have fair chances of enjoying work in various fields. For example, with increase in the demand of research in management, scientific, and technical consulting services, the salary is bound to increase in the coming years.

Salary Range by Specialization

• Cultural anthropologists earn a median salary more than USD 60,000.
• Biological anthropologists earn between USD 45,000 to USD 90,000.
• Linguistic anthropologists earn more than USD 75,000, and may go on up to USD 110,000.

The career development path for anthropologists is bright and they can move on to become authors, consultants, professors, and experts in many fields offering their valuable knowledge. The salary should be a governing factor while you decide to enter in this field, however, it should not be the only one. Many employers give perks for traveling and health insurance claims. So, on a whole, if you have passion for this field, then you will surely scale great heights.