Also called: Vapor Intrusion Consultant, Soil Gas Specialist
Tests whether toxic fumes from polluted soil or groundwater are seeping up into homes, schools and offices, and designs systems to vent them away.
An old dry cleaner left solvents in the ground, so you drill small holes through a nearby house's basement floor to sample soil gas. You also set air canisters in the living room overnight. If levels are high, you design a fan and pipe system that pulls the vapors out from under the slab.
Estimated from environmental consulting postings.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in environmental science, geology or engineering.
Ways in: 4-year college. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Environmental Science, Geology, Environmental Engineering, Chemistry.
Growing about average. Steady work at old industrial and dry cleaner sites; new PFAS rules add more.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. AI speeds up data review, but sampling homes and designing fixes stays human.
Classes: Chemistry, Earth science, Environmental science.
Official data: O*NET occupation 19-2041.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.