Salary
Average Salary: $98,130
Expected Lifetime Earnings: $4,097,000
If you're a starving seismologist, you probably did something wrong. The average salary of a seismologist is around $90,000 (source), which is nothing to sniff at. Don't go thinking this is a done deal, though. Seismologists' salaries can vary greatly depending on a ton of different factors. You have to take into consideration how long you've been at the job, how many degrees you have on your wall, and, most importantly, who you work for.
Let's break it down a bit.
State government seismologists jobs typically pay around $60,000, while jobs with the federal government come in the neighborhood of $90,000 (source). (Our advice: Work for the feds.)
There are also, of course, plenty of seismologists who are university professors. These salaries can vary wildly depending on the university and their level of experience. Non-tenured instructors make somewhere around $51,000, while experienced tenured faculty can rake in around $100,000 or more (source). (This makes us wonder why our seismology professor always wore such shabby clothes.)
Keep in mind that it takes a long time to make this much in the academic world, though. You’ll have to get a master's, a PhD, and then make it through the political mine field that is the process of getting tenure. You won't get near this amount of money till the end of your career.
If you want to make those greenbacks right off the bat, you might want to dive into the oil and gas industry. Starting salaries kick off at $90,000 and only go up from there. On average, seismologists who work for the petroleum industry make around $125,000 a year (source). After twenty-five years of experience, you can be rocking it out at about $200,000 a year—just don't expect Mark Ruffalo to be your friend.