Protective Service
Wildlife Officers
SOC 33-3031
Enforce hunting, fishing, and wildlife protection laws in the field.
The job
Median pay
$74k
$61k to $89k typical range
Outlook, 2025 to 2035
Declining
-5.7% projected
Openings a year
500
BLS projection
Typical education
Bachelor's
Our model
AI displacement risk
Moderate
How much of this job AI may do instead of the person
Works with AI
6/100
AI alongside the person rather than instead of them
AI exposure
20th pct
More exposed than 20% of occupations · modeled estimate · 43rd pct in Microsoft's data
Future-proof
47/100
Key skills
- Active Listening
- Critical Thinking
- Speaking
- Reading Comprehension
- Monitoring
- Writing
Pay and jobs by state
BLS OEWS May 2025, 51 states. Sorted by jobs; per 1,000 is jobs per thousand workers in the state; vs national compares that rate with the country's. A tilde marks a figure estimated from the parent occupation group where BLS publishes none.
| State | Jobs | Per 1,000 | vs national | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 490 | 0.0 | 0.9× | $86k |
| New York | 390 | 0.0 | 1.1× | $80k |
| California | 330 | 0.0 | 0.5× | $100k |
| Florida | 290 | 0.0 | 0.8× | $31k |
| Illinois | 234 | 0.0 | 1.0× | $84k~ |
| Tennessee | 220 | 0.1 | 1.8× | $76k |
| Michigan | 210 | 0.0 | 1.3× | $87k |
| Georgia | 200 | 0.0 | 1.1× | $79k |
| Maine | 190 | 0.3 | 8.0× | $73k |
| North Carolina | 190 | 0.0 | 1.0× | $61k |
All 51 states
| State | Jobs | Per 1,000 | vs national | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia | 180 | 0.0 | 1.2× | $67k |
| Indiana | 170 | 0.1 | 1.4× | $94k |
| Oklahoma | 170 | 0.1 | 2.7× | $69k |
| Alabama | 160 | 0.1 | 2.0× | $74k |
| Ohio | 160 | 0.0 | 0.8× | $76k |
| Missouri | 150 | 0.1 | 1.4× | $70k |
| Wisconsin | 150 | 0.1 | 1.4× | $89k |
| Arizona | 136 | 0.0 | 1.1× | $75k~ |
| Massachusetts | 127 | 0.0 | 0.9× | $97k~ |
| Iowa | 120 | 0.1 | 2.1× | $98k |
| Washington | 119 | 0.0 | 0.9× | $92k~ |
| Hawaii | 110 | 0.2 | 4.7× | $69k |
| Idaho | 110 | 0.1 | 3.5× | $73k |
| Louisiana | 110 | 0.1 | 1.5× | $60k |
| West Virginia | 110 | 0.2 | 4.2× | $63k |
| Colorado | 101 | 0.0 | 0.9× | $84k~ |
| Kansas | 100 | 0.1 | 1.9× | $62k |
| South Dakota | 100 | 0.2 | 5.9× | $69k |
| Connecticut | 90 | 0.1 | 1.4× | $65k |
| New Jersey | 90 | 0.0 | 0.6× | $73k |
| South Carolina | 83 | 0.0 | 1.0× | $67k~ |
| Arkansas | 80 | 0.1 | 1.6× | $72k |
| Pennsylvania | 80 | 0.0 | 0.4× | $50k |
| Minnesota | 75 | 0.0 | 0.7× | $87k~ |
| Kentucky | 70 | 0.0 | 0.9× | $55k |
| Montana | 70 | 0.1 | 3.7× | $59k |
| Nebraska | 70 | 0.1 | 1.8× | $63k |
| Wyoming | 70 | 0.2 | 6.7× | $74k |
| Delaware | 60 | 0.1 | 3.3× | $76k~ |
| Maryland | 60 | 0.0 | 0.6× | $89k |
| Oregon | 59 | 0.0 | 0.8× | $88k~ |
| Mississippi | 51 | 0.0 | 1.2× | $55k~ |
| Nevada | 50 | 0.0 | 0.9× | $92k |
| Washington DC | 45 | 0.1 | 1.7× | $109k~ |
| Utah | 44 | 0.0 | 0.7× | $74k~ |
| New Mexico | 41 | 0.0 | 1.3× | $74k~ |
| Vermont | 40 | 0.1 | 3.5× | $75k |
| North Dakota | 30 | 0.1 | 1.9× | $80k |
| Rhode Island | 20 | 0.0 | 1.1× | $88k~ |
| New Hampshire | 18 | 0.0 | 0.7× | $89k~ |
| Alaska | 13 | 0.0 | 1.1× | $102k~ |
Top metro areas
- New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ90 jobs · $73k median
- Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC80 jobs · $63k median
- Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL60 jobs · $31k median
- Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA50 jobs · $79k median
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA50 jobs · $87k median
- Syracuse, NY50 jobs · $57k median
- Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX40 jobs · $86k median
- Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD40 jobs · $76k median
Explore the rankings
Explore Wildlife Officers interactively →Pay and outlook from BLS (OEWS 2025, Employment Projections 2025-2035). Skills and work activities from O*NET 30.3. AI exposure and future-proof scores are modeled estimates. How these numbers are made.