Hiring an environmental engineering technologist in Irvine, CA

Employers in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA area pay environmental engineering technologists and technicians a median of $58,830, with the middle half of the market between $49,850 and $79,230. Irvine residents working in architecture and engineering occupations report a median of $130,275, which is 121% above what the metro pays for this role.

Get Instant Pricing

What does an environmental engineering technologist earn here?

Place of work

What employers pay

Annual wages paid by employers in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA area. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
25th percentile	$49,850
Median	$58,830
75th percentile	$79,230

Half of environmental engineering technologists and technicians in this area earn between $49,850 and $79,230. A band set below $49,850 competes for the bottom quarter of the market.

Place of residence

What Irvine residents earn

$130,275

Median earnings of Irvine residents working in architecture and engineering occupations, 9,403 people. Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011. Where people live, not where they work, so it is not the same measurement as the wages beside it.

The 121% figure is not a pay gap. ACS counts the civilian employed population 16 and over, part-time and part-year work included; OEWS counts wage-and-salary jobs only. The two populations differ, so read this number against other cities rather than as a shortfall: the same definitional difference applies to every city equally, which is what makes a city-to-city reading sound.

Residents here already earn more than this role pays, so your offer is competing with whatever they currently commute to.

What does the role actually involve?

Core tasks

Maintain project logbook records or computer program files.
Record laboratory or field data, including numerical data, test results, photographs, or summaries of visual observations.
Perform environmental quality work in field or office settings.
Produce environmental assessment reports, tabulating data and preparing charts, graphs, or sketches.
Collect and analyze pollution samples, such as air or ground water.

O*NET 29.1, task statements for SOC 17-3025.

Tools and technologies in demand

Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook, Autodesk AutoCAD, Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D, Bentley MicroStation, C++, ESRI ArcGIS software.

O*NET 29.1, flagged in demand or hot for this occupation. Useful as a screen, not as a checklist.

Is the talent actually in Irvine?

This is a job zone four: considerable preparation needed occupation. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

That matters here, because 70.6% of Irvine adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher. That is a deep local pool for a degree-requiring role. Census ACS 5-year 2023, table S1501.

The average Irvine commute runs 24.3 minutes, which is roughly how far your catchment reaches before candidates start saying no. 25.9% already work from home, so a fully onsite requirement here is competing against that.

How often do these jobs turn over?

In Orange County, architectural, engineering and related services employs 27,191 and turns over 5.8% a quarter, with 1,990 hires against 2,061 separations. Average earnings in that industry run $9,591 a month. Census LEHD Quarterly Workforce Indicators, 2024 Q1, NAICS 5413.

That figure covers every occupation in the industry, not this role alone, so read it as the local churn rate rather than as a number about environmental engineering technologists and technicians. It still tells you what you are hiring into: a low-churn market, where people do not move often and passive candidates are the whole game.

What does the search cost?

The fee is set by the seniority of the role, never by salary and never by location. Across all six tiers it runs $6,240 to $54,340 per search. A contingency firm hiring at this role's median would bill roughly $11,766 to $17,649 on the first year salary alone.

One owner runs the search from market map to signed offer. Searches typically fill in 23 to 35 days, which is a typical window rather than a promise, and the replacement guarantee runs 45 days at 50% off.

Price this search

Eight questions about the role. Your tier range appears on screen.