In its 2023–2024 salary survey, the American Association of University Professors reported the following average salaries for full-time faculty by rank: full professors, $155,056; associate professors, $106,216; and assistant professors, $92,094.
Social sciences professors (including those who teach linguistics) earned salaries that ranged from less than $43,890 to $170,180 or more in May 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, with median earnings of $77,750.
The new field of computational linguistics offers an attractive alternative to academia. In 2025, computational linguists earned salaries that ranged from $57,000 to $126,000, with an average of $101,047, according to PayScale.com. Computational linguists often receive stock options as well.
Benefits for full-time workers include vacation and sick time, health, and sometimes dental, insurance, and pension or 401(k) plans. Self-employed linguists must provide their own benefits.
- Anthropologists
- Archaeologists
- College Professors
- Conservators and Conservation Technicians
- Cultural Advisers
- Demographers
- Economists
- Education Directors and Museum Teachers
- English as a Second Language (ESL) Teachers
- Ethnoscientists
- Foreign Service Officers
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- Genealogical Researchers
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- Geographers
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- Historic Preservationists
- Interpreters
- Lexicographers
- Medical Ethicists
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- Secondary School Teachers
- Sign Language and Oral Interpreters
- Sociologists
- Statisticians
- Translators