Outdoor Careers

There are many outdoor careers that will earn you a good salary and some are seeing better-than-average growth.

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Great Outdoor Careers

If you love the outdoors, there's absolutely no reason you should be stuck behind a desk for 40-50 hours per week. There are many ways to earn a good living working outside the office.

By and large, outdoor jobs offer some of the most amazing benefits of any category; beautiful settings, physical activity, fresh air - and you get to work in a field that is often your passion on top of your occupation. Of course, the salaries, educational requirements and places where you'll work will depend on the type of career you choose.

Here are CareerExplorer's Outdoor Career Picks ~

This article will be covering the following careers:

Career Avg Salary Satisfaction Your Match
Surveyor $49k 2.9/5
Landscaper $5k 3.0/5
Archaeologist $42k 3.7/5
Geographer $110k 3.4/5
Forester $32k 3.5/5
Volcanologist ?? ??
Photojournalist $51k 4.0/5
Marine Biologist $47k 4.1/5
Tour Guide $26k 3.6/5
68% Match?

Are these careers suited to you? Our comprehensive career test measures your personality traits and interests and matches you to over 800 careers.

1. Surveyor

Land surveyors enjoy working outside and don't mind working in all types of weather. They sometimes climb terrain with heavy packs of instruments and are on their feet for extended periods of time.

Surveyor Surveyor

Surveyor

Your Match?

A surveyor measures and maps the Earth's surface, providing essential data for various industries such as construction, real estate, and land development.

2. Landscaper

Landscapers love to work outside completing projects ranging from building retaining walls to starting flower gardens from scratch. They specialize in creating unique outdoor living spaces for their customers.

Landscaper Landscaper

Landscaper

Your Match?

A landscaper specializes in the design, installation, and maintenance of outdoor spaces, such as gardens, lawns, parks, and other landscaped areas.

3. Archaeologist

An archaeologist's work is based in a variety of locations, including indoors in laboratories, museums and offices, and outdoors at excavations or site inspections, which can be conducted in all kinds of weather.

Archaeologist Archaeologist

Archaeologist

Your Match?

Archaeologists specialize in studying human history and prehistory through the analysis and interpretation of material remains left behind by past societies.

4. Geographer

Geographers often travel to the region they are studying, which sometimes includes foreign countries and remote locations, to gather information and data on climate and weather, water, soils, and landforms.

Geographer Geographer

Geographer

Your Match?

A geographer studies the Earth's physical and human characteristics and the relationships between them.

5. Forester

Foresters spend most of their time in remote outdoor places. This leads them to challenging locations and sometimes having to deal with working conditions that include just about anything mother nature can dole out.

Forester Forester

Forester

Your Match?

A forester possesses a deep understanding of forests and their ecosystems.

6. Volcanologist

Work can take volcanologists hiking through mountains in all kinds of weather, going to the mouth of volcanoes and watching them erupt, and collecting samples of debris and rocks to examine in the lab.

Volcanologist Volcanologist

Volcanologist

Your Match?

A volcanologist is a geologist who specializes in the study of volcanoes and volcanic activity.

7. Photojournalist

Some photojournalists travel extensively, and yet others stay closer to home, working for local newspapers. Conditions may not always be optimal, as weather could be a factor, and some situations may be dangerous.

Photojournalist Photojournalist

Photojournalist

Your Match?

A photojournalist is a visual storyteller who uses photography to document and report on news events, current affairs, and human interest stories.

8. Marine Biologist

It would not be unusual to find a marine biologist working in a tide pool, a swamp, a mangrove forest, a coral reef, or any place on earth that supports marine life. Travel to interesting places is one of the perks for this career.

Marine Biologist Marine Biologist

Marine Biologist

Your Match?

A marine biologist specializes in the study of marine organisms, ecosystems, and environments.

9. Tour Guide

Tour guides take people on sightseeing trips and tours of particular countries, cities, historical sites, and tourist attractions. Nature tour guides work outside and are subject to the effects of climate and weather conditions.

Tour Guide Tour Guide

Tour Guide

Your Match?

A tour guide provides assistance, information, and guidance to individuals or groups of tourists during their travels.