How much do air quality specialists make in 2026?
Air quality specialists are counted inside the BLS environmental scientists and specialists, including health series: OEWS May 2025 gives SOC 19-2041 a national median of $82,220 a year ($39.53 an hour), with the bottom 10% near $52,520 and the top 10% at $140,010. That code covers 89,250 workers across every environmental medium — air, water, soil, waste — so it is not an air-quality-only figure and this page does not present it as one. What separates air work from the rest of the code is regulatory complexity: Clean Air Act permitting, Title V renewals, NSR and PSD applicability determinations, emissions inventories and dispersion modelling with AERMOD are technical skills that a limited number of people hold, and consulting firms bill for them at rates that support upper-band salaries. Specialists who only run ambient monitoring equipment sit closer to the lower quartile. The reliable route upward is modelling plus permit-writing experience on the agency side, then moving into consulting where that knowledge is scarce. Employment across the pooled series is projected to grow 4.4% through 2034 with roughly 8,500 openings a year. → Full air quality specialist career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $82,220 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Air Quality Specialists earn a national median $82,220/yr ($39.53/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 19-2041); the P10 to P90 range is $52,520 to $140,010.
- The figure is the pooled environmental scientists series covering every environmental medium, so treat $82,220 as a starting point rather than an air-quality-specific median.
- Permit-writing and dispersion modelling capability — Title V, NSR/PSD applicability, AERMOD — is what moves an air specialist from the lower quartile toward the $107,970 upper quartile.
- Agency experience is the cheapest way to acquire that capability, and consulting is where it is priced highest; the move between the two is the standard pay step in this specialism.
US Air Quality Specialist Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do air quality specialists earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute the published percentile range across the credential tiers this role actually hires at.
Level medians are aligned to the BLS OEWS May 2025 percentile distribution for SOC 19-2041; GlobalCybers does not yet publish a verified placement sample for this role, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
How the numbers on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 19-2041, United States national estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them.
Level and certification medians: distributed across the published BLS percentile range for this SOC code (P10 through P90) according to the credential tiers this occupation actually hires at. They are modeled reference points, not separately surveyed wages.
State and metro figures: modeled — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers state wage index, and for metros by the published metro index for that state. They are estimates of local pay, not BLS state or metropolitan-area observations, and are labelled as modeled in the tables below.
No verified placement sample:GlobalCybers does not yet publish a placement median for this role, so no "verified" figure appears anywhere on this page.
Pay by Career Level
How much does an air quality specialist earn at each career stage?
Air quality pay follows how much of the regulatory analysis you can own without supervision. Each median is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 19-2041.
By State
Which states pay air quality specialists the most in 2026?
These are modeled state estimates — the pooled national environmental scientist median scaled by the GlobalCybers state wage index — not BLS state observations. For air work the more useful signal is regulatory intensity: states running their own SIP-heavy permitting programmes generate far more billable air work than the wage index alone suggests.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($94,550), the highest-paying state shown. See all role salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay air quality specialists the most?
Modeled metro estimates: the national median scaled by the state wage index and then by that state's published metro index. They estimate local wage levels and are not BLS metropolitan-area observations. Metros in non-attainment areas concentrate air permitting demand well beyond what their general wage level implies.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise an air quality specialist’s pay the most?
Median annual pay before and after each credential, based on GlobalCybers placement data cross-referenced with BLS. License upgrades move the needle most; stackable certs add on top.
Impacts are not additive, the licensing rows share the same career ladder. Browse all 167 certifications →
Trade Comparison
How does air quality specialist pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Air Quality Specialists sit mid-pack on median but carry one of the widest P10–P90 spreads, licensing and specialization drive the upside.
BLS OEWS May 2025. Verify air quality specialist wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does an air quality specialist actually take home after taxes?
The medians above are gross base wage.
Estimates use 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction, and 7.65% FICA. Actual take-home varies with filing status, deductions, and local tax.
FAQ
Air Quality Specialist Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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