Natural Resource Economics

Types of Degrees Natural Resource Economics Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many environmental/natural resource economics graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	75
Graduate Certificate	25
Basic Certificate	10
Master’s Degree	6
Doctor’s Degree	2

What Natural Resource Economics Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to natural resource economics were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Natural Resource Economics Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

• Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
• Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Skills for Natural Resource Economics Majors

When studying natural resource economics, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

Abilities for Natural Resource Economics Majors

Natural Resource Economics majors often go into careers where the following abilities are vital:

• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Natural Resource Economics?

This major tends to be male dominated. About 63% of recent graduates are men.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of natural resource economics majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	3
Black or African American	1
Hispanic or Latino	3
White	64
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	4

How Much Do Natural Resource Economics Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Natural Resource Economics majors often go into careers with median salaries of $59,260. This median refers to all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Natural Resource Economics

Some degrees associated with natural resource economics may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

Find out what the typical degree level is for natural resource economics careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	13.9%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	0.6%
Some College Courses	2.0%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	4.4%
Bachelor’s Degree	79.9%

Online Natural Resource Economics Programs

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 19 schools offered some type of environmental/natural resource economics program. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	0	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	0	0
Bachelor’s Degree	4	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	5	0
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	2	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Natural Resource Economics Worth It?

The median salary for a natural resource economics grad is $59,260 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 49% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $387,200 after 20 years!

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Brian M. Powell under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.