Fast‑Facts Dashboard
| Metric (U.S.) |
May 2024 Snapshot* |
| Total Employment |
Bureau of Labor Statistics |
| Median Pay |
**$79,690 yr |
| Mean Pay |
Bureau of Labor Statistics |
| Projected Growth 2023‑33 |
O*NET OnLine |
| Tenure‑Track Start (avg.) |
myplan.com |
| Top‑Paying States |
NY (mean $109k), CA, WA, ND (energy‑boom endowments) |
| Common Highest Degree |
PhD (Cultural, Biological, Linguistic Anthro or Archeology); ABD sometimes for lecturer roles |
A Day in the Academic Dig & Department Hall
| Time |
Reality |
Why It Matters |
| 6 a.m. |
Check Slack from Peru field crew; LiDAR developer noted vegetation noise in drone transect. |
Remote data feeds let you adjust survey protocols before losing expensive flight hours. |
| 8 a.m. |
Teach 200‑level “Human Origins” to 120 majors/non‑majors; live‑stream VR tour of Olduvai Gorge using 360° footage. |
Immersive demos spike retention & diversify gen‑ed enrollments (funding!). |
| 9:30 a.m. |
Office hours: undergrad asks about NSF REU sites; grad student anxiously revises NSF‑DDRIG budget; reporter seeks soundbite on repatriation law. |
Professors juggle mentorship, grant pipelines, and public‑scholarship duties. |
| 11 a.m. |
Faculty meeting: decolonizing syllabi, departmental DEI plan, hire committee shortlist for bioarch hire. |
Shared governance shapes curriculum and hiring diversity. |
| 12 p.m. |
Quick lunch, annotate peer‑review proofs on isotopic analysis of Viking diet; upload ORCID update. |
Publications & alt‑metrics fuel tenure files. |
| 1 p.m. |
Lab session: walk students through statistical morphometrics with R & geomorph; troubleshoot package conflicts on campus cluster. |
Data‑science fluency is now core fieldwork equipment. |
| 3 p.m. |
Zoom check‑in with tribal historic preservation officer on NAGPRA compliance for skeletal collection. |
Ethical collaboration is mandatory—and trust‑building. |
| 4 p.m. |
Write Section B of NEH Collaborative Research proposal; craft broader‑impact plan with local museum K‑12 outreach. |
External funding = summer salary, field gear, grad stipends. |
| 6 p.m. |
Community lecture at city library: “What Archeology Tells Us About Climate Resilience.” |
Extension/outreach scores tenure & public‑humanities points. |
| 8 p.m. |
Grade ethnographic portfolios on LMS during train ride; answer Discord questions from online MA cohort in Oman. |
Hyflex enrollments expand reach and departmental FTEs. |
Field seasons overhaul this schedule: a month in Belize scanning Maya cenotes or six weeks in Mongolia excavating Bronze Age burials under yurts.
Tool‑Kit & Tech Stack
| Category |
2025 Must‑Haves |
| Field Tech |
RTK GPS, LiDAR drones, photogrammetry rigs, ground‑penetrating radar, mobile GIS mapping (ArcGIS Collector). |
| Lab Gear |
14C AMS sample prep, isotopic mass‑spectrometers, aDNA clean room, 3‑D surface scanners, residue‑analysis GC‑MS. |
| Data & Analysis |
Python (Pandas, scikit‑learn) for artifact classification, R tidyverse for spatial stats, QGIS/ArcPro, GitHub OA repos. |
| Teaching Tech |
HyFlex lecture capture, VR caves, H5P interactive OER modules, open‑access e‑journals. |
| Compliance & Ethics |
NAGPRA inventories, IRB for human subjects, drone FAA Part 107 flights, CITES permits for faunal export. |
| Public Outreach |
TikTok artifact‑microhistory clips, podcast guesting, museum Instagram takeovers. |
Emerging: AI‑assisted ceramic‑sherd classification and blockchain artifact provenance pilots, professors skilled here are in grant‑panel demand.
Skillset & Personality DNA
| Competency |
Field & Classroom Translation |
| Interdisciplinary Curiosity |
Bridging paleo‑climatology with ethnobotany to model ancient irrigation. |
| Grant‑Writing Resilience |
Turning 10 % NSF success odds into multi‑year funding by bulletproof methods & broader impacts. |
| Data Science & Visualization |
Teaching R Shiny dashboards that let students explore mortuary datasets interactively. |
| Cross‑Cultural Empathy |
Negotiating excavation permits with local communities, respecting indigenous knowledge. |
| Pedagogical Innovation |
Flipped lectures, CURE labs, culturally sustaining syllabi. |
| Public Communication |
Simplifying Bayesian chronology or GIS hotspot kernels for newspaper audiences. |
If your MAPP Assessment mixes Investigative (research), Artistic (storytelling), and Social (mentorship) drives, this role fits like an obsidian scraper in a haft.
## Education & Credential Roadmap
| Stage |
Typical Timeline |
Key Milestones |
| Bachelor’s (Anthropology/Archeology) |
4 yrs |
Field school, stats course, basic GIS. |
| Master’s (MA/MS) |
2 yrs |
Thesis‑quality dig or ethnography; learn R, qualitative software (NVivo). |
| Doctorate (PhD) |
4–6 yrs |
Multi‑season fieldwork, ≥ 3 peer‑reviewed pubs, TA/solo‑teach semesters. |
| Postdoc (optional) |
1–2 yrs |
Specialized lab (aDNA, LiDAR) or museum collection research; pad publication list. |
| Assistant Professor (Tenure Track) |
6‑yr clock |
Grants, department service, positive student evals, public scholarship. |
| Promotion to Associate & Tenure |
Year 6–7 |
National reputation, sustained funding, teaching excellence. |
| Full Professor / Endowed Chair |
Year 12+ |
Lead international consortia, edit journals, shape policy. |
Community‑college gigs often hire MAs + field expertise; museum educators may blend PhD with public‑history creds.
Career Ladder & Pay Evolution
| Role |
9‑Month Base + Extras* |
Focus |
| Visiting Lecturer (Non‑TT) |
$50k–$65k |
Heavy teaching load; limited research. |
| Assistant Professor |
$70k–$84k + summer salary |
40 % research, 40 % teaching, 20 % service. |
| Associate Professor (Tenured) |
$85k–$110k + summer |
Stabilized voice, bigger grants, PhD advising. |
| Full Professor / Dept. Chair |
$110k–$140k + admin stipend |
Strategic hiring, budgets, global partnerships. |
| Museum Curator‑Professor Joint |
$75k–$115k + grant % |
Oversee collections + teach. |
| Endowed Chair / Distinguished Prof. |
$140k–$180k + discretionary fund |
Influence national policy & large collaborations. |
| Consulting / CRM Side Work |
+$10k–$35k/yr |
Impact assessments, expert witness gigs. |
*Summer salary (up to 3/9ths of base), textbook royalties, NSF REU directorship stipends, and broadcast media consulting can add hefty extras.
### Wage Table (OEWS May 2024)
| Percentile |
Annual Pay |
| 10 % |
$49,240 |
| Median (50 %) |
Bureau of Labor Statistics |
| 90 % |
$147,400 |
Job‑Market & Research Trends
- Repatriation & Decolonization – NAGPRA amendments turbo‑charge demand for professors fluent in indigenous partnerships & community‑based participatory research.
- Climate‑Change Archeology – NSF & EU funding for drowned‑site rescue, glacier‑melt artifact triage, and paleoclimate modelling.
- Digital Skeletal Collections – High‑res CT & photogrammetry repositories democratize access, spark new comparative lines—data‑science skills leapfrog dig seats.
- Heritage & Infrastructure Boom – CHIPS Act fabs, offshore wind farms, and high‑speed rail expansions need Cultural Resource Management (CRM) assessments—academics with CRM networks place grads fast.
- Public‑Facing Scholarship – TikTok #Archeology hit 1 B views in 2024; faculty with savvy storytelling secure NEH & museum outreach grants.
- AI‑Driven Classification – Machine‑learning pottery sherd ID and network‑analysis of trade goods, professors bridging anthropology & data science land cluster hires.
- Global South Partnerships – Funding agencies favor equitable dig MOU’s & capacity‑building; bilingual (esp. Spanish, Arabic, Swahili) faculty edge out competitors.
Pros & Cons: Straight from the Trench
| Why Professors Stay |
Why Some Leave |
| Research freedom, chase any question from Neolithic cuisine to TikTok kinship memes. |
Six‑figure student loans + six‑year tenure clock = stress. |
| Blend fieldwork travel with classroom storytelling. |
Field seasons far from family; childcare on digs is tricky. |
| Intellectual community, conferences, lab collaborations. |
Grant‑writing treadmill; <20 % NSF success rates. |
| Opportunity to mentor first‑gen & global‑majority scholars. |
Adjunctification risk if tenure lines freeze. |
| Public‑impact voice on repatriation, climate heritage, AI ethics. |
Salary lags STEM by 25 – 40 %; cost‑of‑living squeezes in coastal R1s. |
Are You Ready to Unearth Knowledge & Inspire Minds?
- Does sifting 10,000 pottery sherds for a single diagnostic rim excite you?
- Can you pivot from R code to rope‑ladder descent into a cave the same week?
- Are you driven to write grants and mold new researchers with equal passion?
- Will you champion ethical stewardship and decolonized practices?
If “absolutely” rings out, and your MAPP Career Assessment highlights Investigative, Artistic, and Social motivators, the anthropology/archeology professoriate could be your lodestone.
Is this career path right for you?
Find out Free.
- Take the MAPP Career Assessment (100% free).
- See your top career matches, including five free custom matches showing whether academic anthropology aligns with your drives.
- Receive a personalized compatibility score and step‑by‑step roadmap toward grad school, field schools, and tenure‑track opportunities.
Start the FREE MAPP Career Assessment
