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Exploration Geologist V Salary in the United States

How much does an Exploration Geologist V make in the United States?

As of September 01, 2026, the average salary for an Exploration Geologist V in the United States is $253,290 per year, which breaks down to an hourly rate of $122.

However, an Exploration Geologist V's salary can vary significantly. Here’s a look at the typical salary range:

  • Top Earners (90th percentile): $276,215
  • Majority Range (25th-75th percentile): $249,690 to $265,290
  • Entry-Level (10th percentile): $246,412
Salary Factors Salary-Boosting Skills Salary by Experience Related Job Salaries Top Paying Cities Explore Related Jobs

Key Factors That Influence Exploration Geologist V Salaries

An Exploration Geologist V's salary isn't a fixed number. It's shaped by several important factors. Below, we'll explore how your years of experience, geographic location and company size can directly affect your earning potential.

How Experience Level Affects Exploration Geologist Salaries?

Experience is a primary driver of an Exploration Geologist V's salary. As you build your skills and take on more complex tasks, your compensation generally increases. Here's how the average salary grows at different career stages:

  • Certified Petroleum Geologist II (2-4 years): $145,189
  • Certified Petroleum Geologist III (4-7 years): $165,816
  • Certified Petroleum Geologist IV (7+ years): $211,436
  • Exploration Geologist V (7-10 years): $253,202
  • Exploration Geologist Manager (10+ years): $202,141
Job Role Years of Experience Average Salary
Certified Petroleum Geologist II2-4 years$145,189
Certified Petroleum Geologist III4-7 years$165,816
Certified Petroleum Geologist IV7+ years$211,436
Exploration Geologist V7-10 years$253,202
Exploration Geologist Manager10+ years$202,141
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How Do Exploration Geologist V Salaries Vary from State to State?

Your salary can change significantly depending on where you work. States with a higher cost of living and strong industrial sectors often pay more to attract Exploration Geologist Vs. For example, consider the average annual salaries in these key locations:
  • District of Columbia: $280,390.
  • California: $279,290.
  • Massachusetts: $275,590.

Top Paying Cities for Exploration Geologist Vs

Salaries can also vary between different cities. Major metropolitan areas or cities with a high demand for technicians often offer more competitive pay. Here are a few examples of average annual salaries in different U.S. cities:

  • San Jose: $319,390
  • San Francisco: $315,890
  • Oakland: $309,290

What Skills Can Increase an Exploration Geologist V's Salary?

Demanded Skills for the Role:

  • Analysis (Mentioned in 20% Job Postings): Analysis is the process of considering something carefully or using statistical methods in order to understand it or explain it.
  • Data Analysis (Mentioned in 5.71% Job Postings): Data analysis is a process of inspecting, cleansing, transforming, and modeling data with the goal of discovering useful information, informing conclusions, and supporting decision-making. Data analysis has multiple facets and approaches, encompassing diverse techniques under a variety of names, and is used in different business, science, and social science domains. In today's business world, data analysis plays a role in making decisions more scientific and helping businesses operate more effectively. Data mining is a particular data analysis technique that focuses on modeling and knowledge discovery for predictive rather than purely descriptive purposes, while business intelligence covers data analysis that relies heavily on aggregation, focusing mainly on business information. In statistical applications, data analysis can be divided into descriptive statistics, exploratory data analysis (EDA), and confirmatory data analysis (CDA). EDA focuses on discovering new features in the data while CDA focuses on confirming or falsifying existing hypotheses. Predictive analytics focuses on application of statistical models for predictive forecasting or classification, while text analytics applies statistical, linguistic, and structural techniques to extract and classify information from textual sources, a species of unstructured data. All of the above are varieties of data analysis.
  • Oil and Gas Exploration (Mentioned in 5.71% Job Postings): Hydrocarbon exploration (or oil and gas exploration) is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for deposits of hydrocarbons, particularly petroleum and natural gas, in the Earth using petroleum geology.
Skills Demand Percentage
Analysis 20%
Data Analysis 5.71%
Oil and Gas Exploration 5.71%
See More Skills

What skills can make your compensation higher?

Mastering certain specialized skills can lead to a significant increase in pay. Here are examples of skills and the potential impact they can have on an Exploration Geologist V's salary.

  • Geology: Can increase your salary by up to 0%.
Skill Salary Salary % Increase
Geology $253,290
0%
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Exploration Geologist V Salary by Company Size: Startups vs. Enterprise

Exploration Geologist V salary potential scales significantly with company size. Data shows that Enterprise companies (5,000+ employees) pay the highest average salary at around $294,287. While startup companies pay approximate $249,259.

Exploration Geologist V Salary by Company Size

Company Size Employees Average Salary
Startup 1~50 $249,259
Growth Stage 51~500 $263,513
Established 501~5000 $284,298
Enterprise 5000+ $294,287

Exploration Geologist V Salary: Hourly Rate, Weekly Pay, and Monthly Pay

Understanding how an Exploration Geologist V's annual salary breaks down can help with budgeting. Below, you can see the average hourly rate, weekly pay, and monthly pay for this role. Use the buttons to switch between different pay periods.

Last Updated on September 01, 2026
$249,690
Average $253,290/year
$265,290
$20,808
Average $21,108/month
$22,108
$4,802
Average $4,871/week
$5,102
$120
Average $122/hour
$128
Annual Salary Monthly Pay Weekly Pay Hourly Wage
75th Percentile $265,290 $22,108 $5,102 $128
Average $253,290 $21,108 $4,871 $122
25th Percentile $249,690 $20,808 $4,802 $120

Exploration Geologist V Salary Growth & Career Path

Exploration Geologist V

Next Role

For an Exploration Geologist V, the most direct path to higher earnings is advancing to the Exploration Geologist Manager role. This promotion typically comes with a significant pay increase, bringing the average annual salary to $202,200 - a projected growth of -20% over your current level.

Most common benefits for Exploration Geologist V

  • Social Security
  • 401 (k)
  • Disability
  • Healthcare
  • Pension
  • Time Off (days)

Common company salaries for Exploration Geologist V

Here are companies hiring for Exploration Geologist V and their salaries, click below for more details.

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Where Does Our Salary Data Come From?

Salary.com provides salary estimates, histograms, trends, and comparisons using data from employer job postings and third-party sources.

We offer detailed salary information across multiple percentiles for your reference. (Click here to learn Why the Salary Midpoint Formula Is Crucial for Achieving Pay Equity.)

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