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Role hub · Fish and Game Wardens

Game Warden: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.

The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.

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Updated Nov 2, 2026 · Data: BLS OEWS May 2025 · O*NET 31.0
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Median percentile pay

Half of game wardens earn more than this and half earn less.

Annual
$74,060
Hourly
$35.60
Source
BLS May 2025
Quick answer

Game Wardens patrol assigned area to prevent fish and game law violations. The median pay is $74,060 a year ($35.60 an hour) (BLS, May 2025).

Median pay
$74,060
BLS May 2025
Employed in the U.S.
5,770
BLS May 2025
Preparation
Job Zone 3 of 5
medium preparation

Data Government data groups this job as Fish and Game Wardens (O*NET-SOC 33-3031.00). Figures on this page are for that occupation.

Key facts

Game Wardens at a glance

  • Fish and game wardens in the United States earned a median annual wage of $74,060 in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

  • In its 2025–35 employment projections, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education for fish and game wardens in the United States.

    Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35

  • BLS projects employment of fish and game wardens in the United States to decline 5.7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 500 openings a year on average, including replacement openings.

    Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35

  • BLS estimated that 5,770 people were employed as fish and game wardens in the United States in May 2025, not counting the self-employed.

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

Explore the role

Every page for Game Wardens

SalaryGame Warden salary

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The work

What game wardens do day to day

Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).

  1. Participate in search-and-rescue operations.
  2. Compile and present evidence for court actions.
  3. Protect and preserve native wildlife, plants, or ecosystems.
  4. Patrol assigned areas by car, boat, airplane, horse, or on foot to enforce game, fish, or boating laws or to manage wildlife programs, lakes, or land.
  5. Investigate hunting accidents or reports of fish or game law violations.
  6. Provide assistance to other local law enforcement agencies as required.
  7. Issue warnings or citations and file reports as necessary.
  8. Provide advice or information to park or reserve visitors.
Skills that matter

Ranked by importance to the job

Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.

SpeakingcoreReading ComprehensioncoreActive ListeningcoreCritical ThinkingJudgment and Decision MakingSocial PerceptivenessPersuasionSystems AnalysisWriting

Knowledge areas: Public Safety and Security, Law and Government, Customer and Personal Service, English Language, Telecommunications, Psychology.

Tools and technology

Software game wardens use

Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.

  • PuppetConfiguration management softwareHot technology
  • Global positioning system GPS softwareMobile location based services software
  • Mapping softwareMap creation software
  • Microsoft ExcelSpreadsheet softwareHot technology
  • Microsoft Office softwareOffice suite softwareHot technology
  • Microsoft PowerPointPresentation softwareHot technology
  • Microsoft WordWord processing softwareHot technology
  • SwiftObject or component oriented development softwareHot technology
  • Database softwareData base user interface and query software
  • Web browser softwareInternet browser software

Also called: Fish And Game Warden, Conservation Enforcement Officer, Conservation Officer, Conservation Warden, Fish and Game Constable, Refuge Officer.

Method

How this page is built

Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the cosine similarity of the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level and subtract the average across all occupations, then compare the direction of the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 means unrelated or opposite (negative values are shown as 0). Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.

What this page can't tell you
  • How a specific employer defines the job.
  • Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
  • Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
Sources
  1. O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
  2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).

How TryHired builds this data: sources, methods and downloads. Spotted an error? Report a correction.