The physics of sound and vibration: how it moves through rooms, water, machines, animals, and the human ear.
Top pay: highest pay, longest training
Acoustical Physicist: Studies how sound and vibration travel through air, water, solids, and the human body. Typical pay $120k.
Underwater Acoustician: Studies how sound travels through the ocean, for submarine sonar, whale research, and seafloor mapping. Typical pay $130k.
Audio DSP Engineer: Writes the math and code behind noise-canceling headphones, voice assistants, and spatial audio. Typical pay $145k.
Psychoacoustician: Studies how the brain turns vibrations into the sounds, voices, and music we perceive. Typical pay $112k.
Ultrasound Research Scientist: Develops new ways to use sound waves above human hearing to image and even treat the body. Typical pay $135k.
Mid pay: solid pay, degree or apprenticeship
Architectural Acoustician: Designs how buildings sound, from concert halls and recording studios to quiet hospitals and classrooms. Typical pay $98k.
Noise & Vibration Control Engineer: Finds and reduces unwanted noise and vibration in cars, planes, machines and buildings for manufacturers and consulting firms. Typical pay $100k.
Loudspeaker & Transducer Engineer: Designs the speakers and microphones in phones, earbuds, cars, and concert sound systems. Typical pay $105k.
Bioacoustician: Records and decodes the sounds of animals, from whale songs to bat calls, to study and protect them. Typical pay $75k.
Forensic Audio Analyst: Cleans up and analyzes audio recordings used as evidence in court. Typical pay $80k.
Vibration Analyst: Listens to the vibrations of factory machines to predict breakdowns before they happen. Typical pay $70k.
Acoustic Test Technician: Runs sound and vibration tests on products from headphones to jet engines. Typical pay $64k.
Hearing Instrument Specialist: Tests people's hearing and fits, programs and adjusts hearing aids at hearing aid clinics and stores, helping customers hear better. Typical pay $60k.
Electric Vehicle Sound Designer: Creates the hum that quiet electric cars must make at low speed so blind pedestrians can hear them, plus the chimes and sounds inside. Typical pay $105k.
Navy Sonar Technician: Listens to the ocean for ships, submarines, and sea life using a submarine's or ship's sonar. Typical pay $50k.
Piano Technician: Tunes and repairs pianos using ears trained to hear tiny differences in pitch. Typical pay $45k.
Gunshot Detection Acoustic Analyst: Listens to sounds picked up by city sensor networks and decides within seconds whether they were gunshots or fireworks before police are sent. Typical pay $50k.
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.