Geographers Salary

It’s a stretch — at the median salary of $76K, rent takes 35.9% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,852/month. The 30% guideline puts the comfortable ceiling at roughly $1,500/month in rent — so roommates or a 1-bedroom would ease the math significantly.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new geographers typically earn — is $63K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $3,770/month. At HUD’s $1,852/month FMR, rent would take 49% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Local pay runs 26% below the national median — $76K here vs. $102K nationally.

Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos pays $76K median vs. the U.S. average of $102K — that’s -26%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 98.07), the purchasing-power equivalent is $77K — below the national median.

The median is $76,000 a year, that works out to about $37 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $62,840, and experienced geographers can clear $98,750. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $5,154/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,852/month, which eats 35.9% of your paycheck. That's above the 30% rule of thumb, housing will be a stretch at the median salary, though you can manage with roommates or a smaller place.

Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos has a Regional Price Parity of 98.07 (100 is the national average). That's below average, your money stretches further here than the raw salary number suggests. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median geographers salary is worth about $77,496 in national-average purchasing power.

The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.