Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
Associate scientist, research and development job growth summary. After extensive research, interviews, and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
The projected associate scientist, research and development job growth rate is 17% from 2018-2028.
About 20,800 new jobs for associate scientists, research and development are projected over the next decade.
Associate scientist, research and development salaries have increased 14% for associate scientists, research and development in the last 5 years.
There are over 13,521 associate scientists, research and development currently employed in the United States.
There are 128,474 active associate scientist, research and development job openings in the US.
The average associate scientist, research and development salary is $82,581.
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 13,521 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 15,465 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 15,569 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 14,723 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 13,674 | 0.00% |
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $82,581 | $39.70 | +3.1% |
| 2024 | $80,127 | $38.52 | +4.7% |
| 2023 | $76,535 | $36.80 | +3.3% |
| 2022 | $74,080 | $35.62 | +1.9% |
| 2021 | $72,673 | $34.94 | --2.1% |
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 2,384 | 35% |
| 2 | South Dakota | 869,666 | 308 | 35% |
| 3 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 1,821 | 33% |
| 4 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 341 | 32% |
| 5 | North Dakota | 755,393 | 240 | 32% |
| 6 | Wyoming | 579,315 | 188 | 32% |
| 7 | Pennsylvania | 12,805,537 | 3,482 | 27% |
| 8 | Nebraska | 1,920,076 | 515 | 27% |
| 9 | Vermont | 623,657 | 161 | 26% |
| 10 | New Mexico | 2,088,070 | 524 | 25% |
| 11 | Delaware | 961,939 | 241 | 25% |
| 12 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 319 | 24% |
| 13 | Alaska | 739,795 | 180 | 24% |
| 14 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 244 | 23% |
| 15 | Georgia | 10,429,379 | 2,279 | 22% |
| 16 | New Jersey | 9,005,644 | 1,994 | 22% |
| 17 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 1,846 | 22% |
| 18 | Missouri | 6,113,532 | 1,356 | 22% |
| 19 | Wisconsin | 5,795,483 | 1,189 | 21% |
| 20 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 884 | 21% |
Northeastern State University
Washburn University of Topeka
Pepperdine University
University of San Diego
Northwestern University
Georgetown University
Santa Fe College
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Jackson State University
San Jose State University
Washington State University
University of Kentucky
Christopher Vitek Ph.D.: My research focuses on disease vectors, mostly mosquitoes, so I explore factors that influence how quickly they develop, where they spread, what time of year they are found, etc. I also do research in effective control methods, and even a little bit in disease transmission. Depending on your research area, you may be involved in looking at mathematical models, life history tables, species interactions, and more.
Christopher Vitek Ph.D.: I love being a population biologist because it allows me to work with a lot of other people and help public health offices learn how to control vector-borne diseases. The work is interesting and has an end result that can provide some use to the public. One thing that people may not like is that population biology often uses a lot of math and mathematical modeling to help predict growth and distribution patterns. You don’t need to be an expert, but you should be comfortable with math.
Dr. Taufika Williams PhD: Finding a job at with an undergraduate degree may be quite doable but upward mobility in your career often requires a terminal degree (i.e. PhD). Stay in school for as long as you can! Some students will work in biotechnology for a few years after their undergraduate studies are over and then return to school for graduate education. The work experience can tremendously benefit graduate research.
Dr. Taufika Williams PhD: Get as many graduate degrees as you are able to as it will really bump up your starting salary. An MS is great but stick around for the PhD if you can. Terminal degrees can open doors for career growth and upward mobility.
Frank David MD, PhD: In many biopharma industry positions, the annual cash bonus can be a sizable chunk of the compensation. So if you start out in a job like this, make sure you understand how you’ll be evaluated at the end of the year so you can make sure you knock it out of the park and get the highest possible ratings. If you go into a biopharma R&D; position straight out of undergrad, you should try to figure out relatively soon if you’ll want to go back to school for a PhD. Most science-based jobs will require a PhD to advance, but in many 'science-adjacent' jobs you’ll be able to move up without an advanced degree. Either is fine, but it would be great to figure out which direction you want to go within 2-4 years of entering the industry so you can plan accordingly.
Frank David MD, PhD: My main piece of advice is to network. Do tons of informational interviews with folks and then follow up to see if there are possible opportunities or other connections that folks can help you make. Many biotech and pharma positions go to folks with 'inside tracks' because they are recommended by current employees or already know the hiring manager. Also: be flexible about the type of role whenever possible. For example, if you’re looking at an entry-level lab-based job, don’t get hung up on the specific disease area. Or if you’re interested in regulatory science, cast a broad net and also explore roles in program management and medical writing, which involve similar activities and required skills. Finally: it’s great to look for opportunities at biotech and pharma firms, but don’t forget about contract research organizations, consultancies, and other vendors that serve drug companies. Those types of organizations are often more willing to train folks who are coming straight out of school, and those positions are great stepping stones to eventually move 'to the client side' (into drug companies) as experienced hires.
Frank David MD, PhD: In basic research jobs, the key lab-related skills will continue to be the ones that are commonly used for discovering and developing new therapies: mammalian cell culture, in vitro assays, transfection, immunoprecipitation, Western blots, etc. It’s typically not necessary to 'check all the boxes' in terms of bench skills for a job, but having a few of these key techniques under your belt will give a company confidence that you can learn others. In general across the industry, effective written communication and project management are key skills that cut across almost all jobs and divisions within biotech and pharma. Anything you can do to build and highlight those capabilities will serve you in good stead.
Camellia Okpodu: My advise would be to continue to network by joining affiliated associations in botany and Keep learning, stay updated on research, and explore new areas.
Dulanjani Wijayasekara Ph.D.: Having experience and a well highlighted skill set to match the job description. This can be obtained by pursuing advanced education and training, such as obtaining a master's or doctoral degree in the field you are interested in.
Washburn University of Topeka
Biological And Physical Sciences
Susan Bjerke: For a science graduate just beginning their career, I recommend applying to several different jobs. Some of those jobs may be in locations you aren’t crazy about or may involve tasks outside your comfort zone. This is your chance to spread your wings and take a chance! There are a lot of jobs out there for graduates with an undergraduate degree in the sciences, but you may not start in your dream job. That’s okay! There are many things that can be learned from a not-perfect job, and the skills you learn can provide a launch pad to the job you do want.
Susan Bjerke: Some of the skills that will be important in the next 3-5 years will be general critical thinking skills and the ability to adapt to changing technology. Almost all science fields are increasingly dependent on technology, so being able to learn new skills and change the way you do things in your job will be important. Being an effective communicator, both in writing and orally, is an overlooked skill in the sciences and is always an important asset.
Rachel Tan Ph.D.: I do not have an answer for this. My response would be to be proactive during undergraduate studies, to discern where you find joy and curiosity. Pursue that topic. I do not think that the salary should be the priority when considering careers.
Rachel Tan Ph.D.: Listen and be curious: ask questions (the why and how?), ask for opportunities, do extra readings outside of work. Aim for excellence: treat each assigned task as priority–go above and beyond. Connect: talk to colleagues, your boss, staff–be excited to learn from others. Be grateful: constantly reflect on the small details that led you to this point, for gratitude gives you foundation for joy during your career.
Nicole Danos PhD: In addition to many sought after hard skills that our Biology program graduate have been trained in (cell and microbial culture, DNA sequencing and bioinformatics, antibody staining, data analysis and biostatistics), graduates should remember to leverage the other scientific skills they learned. This includes things like researching and summarizing the state of knowledge in a field, distilling relevant information for peers and supervisors, presenting experimental designs and results and all around thinking about problems from start to finish. All of our graduates should be able to leverage these soft science skills, since they all had to do an independent research project.
Nathaniel Stern: To answer this question we need to be clear what field the graduate intends to continue in. If they want to continue in Physics as a “field”, then they will most likely need to go to graduate school in Physics, Astronomy, or a related field. There are many opportunities for graduates with majors in Physics, but many of these are in different fields. Physics majors excel in these other opportunities, but in order to do “physics”, meaning studying the science of matter and energy, one generally goes to graduate school. If this is the graduate’s plan, then the advice is to be passionate about the research topic that you choose. One does not need to know ahead of time that a particular direction of research is the best possible direction for them, but they should have interest in it. Research often involves small academic questions, and if one doesn’t find these interesting then it can be a bit of a slog. More generally, advice matches other career paths, however: do something that you love, and also choose impactful problems. Even if your own work is a small part of the whole, if you can see the impact of the field it can be exciting all the time. If the graduate is not going to graduate school in Physics or a related subject, then they are likely entering a technical career such as engineering, finance, education, data science, or consulting. Physics is a great basic training for whatever direction someone takes since it trains you to think and problem solve, especially in reducing a problem to its core questions (as opposed to building encyclopedic knowledge of relevant facts). But, whatever specific career path a graduate takes will likely bring more specialized methods, knowledge, and applications. Physics is a great starting point, but future endeavors will broaden thinking to new challenges outside of the rigid rules of physical laws. So, graduates should be willing to, and excited to, adapt to new cultures.
Meghan McGee-Lawrence Ph.D.: Take full advantage of the education and training opportunities offered to you either while you are completing your degree or when you start your first post-degree position. Academic institutions and employers are invested in the success of their recruits and regularly provide professional development opportunities to help folks build up skillsets – so make time to seek out and capitalize on those opportunities when they are offered, and document them on your CV (curriculum vitae) / resumes.
Luz Garcini PhD, MPH: Interdisciplinary, commitment to diversity, flexibility in thinking and approach, fast learning of technological advances, advanced statistical knowledge and skills in mixed methodologies.
Luz Garcini PhD, MPH: Build a unique niche and new skills (another language), disseminate your work via high impact networks/avenues, get mentoring in negotiation.
Ivica Labuda PhD: The 21st century is the century of biotechnology, which means that opportunities for a successful, impactful career in the field are there for those who go after them. Your blossoming career path may take you from the private sector, to government agencies, to academia and beyond, so taking advantage of every opportunity to gain exposure to the different sides of biotech will set you up to grasp varied and exciting opportunities.
Ivica Labuda PhD: Certainly everyone in the biotech field would benefit from having knowledge of biotechnology techniques and skills in concert with understanding the regulatory framework. That provides a good foundation so that one can interact confidently in every aspect of the biotech world. With AI progress, the next step is to add the basic understanding of the speed at which we can evolve new techniques and materials. Not everybody needs to code, but everyone needs to think about how to maximize its benefits for biotechnology.
Ivica Labuda PhD: Everyone's career is a unique path, but a strong education gets your foot in the door and graduate programs such as Georgetown's MS in Biotechnology are accelerators for your potential. An advanced degree and the exposure to real-world internships they often provide bring you to a much higher starting point in negotiations and can help you gain confidence to start at higher positions. Salary, however, is just one measure of success -- also important to consider are satisfaction from the working environment, a great team, and potential for professional and personal growth.
Kristopher Koudelka Ph.D.: There are two skillsets, and one field I see become more important. The first skillset is application of material. You must know the language of your field; however, most content can be quickly found through simple research. People who can apply this knowledge, and formulate the new questions are more valuable employees. The second skill set is troubleshooting. Very often experiments fail or give strange results, how one can glean as much information as possible from the experiment and then plan the next course of action is a huge asset. The field I see becoming more important is computer programming. Very often these fields deal with large datasets that are so big, complex, or repetitive that computer assistance isn’t just helpful… but mandatory.
Kristopher Koudelka Ph.D.: Always keep learning. These fields change fast! The leading edge is always unveiling new information that can be applied to the area you are working on, and there will be new techniques developed that allow you to answer questions in more efficient ways. You must learn to regularly update yourself through conversations, reading, conferences, and trainings. This change is fun and exciting, embrace it. It will keep your job feeling new.
Jason Ferrell: By showing up, working hard, and being helpful. Companies invest in people, more than skills, and if you demonstrate your value to an organization, the financial rewards will follow.
Jason Ferrell: College has given you the tools to be a life-long learner. Very rarely will you enter a career and have all the skills necessary to succeed. You will need to use the critical thinking, networking, and scientific background you have been taught to grow yourself into this new role. I can be intimidating, but trust me, you have all the skills and now you just need to put them into motion.
Jason Ferrell: While technology is changing at a rapid pace and artificial intelligence will no doubt play an ever increasing role in life and science, I believe the foundations of success will not change. These include, 1. Being responsive and timely. 2. Possessing excellent written and oral communication skills. 3. Being a helpful team member. Regardless of skill set or expertise, these are three pillars of success.
Jeff Heslep: Find a starting job that gives you a wide range of work to perform. The more experience you can gain during the first few years will help you to hone your skills, decide what areas interest you the most, and give you the opportunity to choose. Learn as much as you can about the various equipment, analytical techniques, processes, and how to troubleshoot minor problems. Take the initiative and ask to learn how to use instruments you aren't familiar with. It is unlikely someone will deny you the opportunity to broaden your knowledge. Take every chance you have to network and get to know the people within your local biotechnology industry. Networking plays a major role in employment opportunities. Work on your written and verbal communication skills. Communicating well will help you stand out. Being able to effectively convey complex scientific concepts in such a way that anyone can understand it can be a powerful skill.
Jeff Heslep: A good entry-level starting salary is great, but it may not maximize your salary potential if the job doesn't help you grow. You might want to take learning opportunities and experience over money early on in your career. Focus on experience, learning, and growth early so your salary potential in the long run will be much higher. Be wary of companies offering a sign-on bonus for certain positions. The reason companies need to offer a sign-on bonus for specific positions is often because the job is very demanding and unpleasant, or they are positions that stagnate and offer little growth opportunities. You'll have plenty of time to advance and make a higher salary after you have a good system of self-improvement in place and ways to master your skills.
Jeff Heslep: Know how to interpret data. Don't simply know what expected results are necessary for successful projects, know why and be able to explain the data. Technology in the form of automation, machine learning, and robotics is going to become more prevalent in the near future. Knowing how to program automated systems and how to prompt AI is going to be very beneficial. Lab skills will continue to be necessary, but continuing to grow with the advancement of technology is ideal.
Jacob Nordman: Salary potential in my field of neuroscience almost always involves publications, awards, and technical acumen. Therefore, as I mentioned, it is important to start early looking for opportunities that can strengthen these areas. Another important aspect of getting high-profile, and thus high-paying, positions, is being able to tell a story with your research and career. Employers want to see that you have thought deeply and strategically about your career and where it’s going. This will allow them to believe you are a safe bet and worthy of their investment.
Jacob Nordman: The very first thing to do, probably before you even apply for a PhD program, is ask yourself, “What do I want to do with my PhD?” In my field of neuroscience, that usually means one of 3 things: academia, industry, or policy. All three have different requirements and so involve different priorities. If the answer is academia, the most important requirement is publications, awards, and grants. These are what will make you appealing to labs and departments. If the answer is industry, having hands on experience with state-of-the-art techniques relevant to your field, along with the requisite high-profile papers, will make you appealing to employers. Either way, knowing what you will want to do will help you craft a graduate school experience that best equips you to compete in an extraordinarily competitive job marker.
Hung-Chung Huang: Master key concepts in genetics, molecular biology and biochemistry; also learn at least one programming language like R or Python.
San Jose State University
Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences
Dr. Harit Agroia: The day-to-day of a Health Science Researcher may vary depending on the organization, industry and setting in which the role is based. Generally, the Health Science Researcher may be responsible for the following: working in close collaboration with a research team to identify research gaps, conducting population-level data analyses to understand the distribution and burden of and social determinants of disease within a specified geographic region, designing research plans including aims, objectives, theoretical or conceptual frameworks, data collection tools, analyses, results visualization and interpretation, and dissemination of findings. Health Science Researchers may spend their day collecting data which may involve manual extraction and data entry or conducting interviews or focus groups. Conducting interviews and focus groups may require travel related to the job as being in the field and area where the research is focused provides additional observational data that may be integrated into the analysis or provide context for the results. The data analysis portion of the job may require basic to advanced statistical analysis skills; many researchers work in close collaboration with biostatisticians to complete more complex analyses. For qualitative analyses, data analysis may require transcribing notes, coding and identifying themes to organize the results. These day-to-day tasks are completed in the setting of larger team environment and in consultation with senior management and principal investigators.
Dr. Harit Agroia: The Health Science Researcher provides an exciting opportunity for individuals to explore areas of health that they are curious about; this role will be very well-enjoyed by someone who is curious, analytical and detail-oriented. One challenge about the role is that there may be times when research data may have to be re-collected or analyzed with evolving changes to research design and methodologies; being able to manage this effectively requires flexibility and adaptation in order to be thorough and successful in achieving set research goals.
Lindsey du Toit: Take every opportunity you can to learn, network, and build an effective team of people that bring a greater breadth and depth of skills and expertise to the work on which you will be focusing. Cultivate a life-long sense of intellectual curiosity and learning. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Treat ignorance as an opportunity to learn. Questions demonstrate you want to understand the situation/problem effectively and that you are paying attention. Always demonstrate integrity in your work. It is one of the most valuable traits you can bring to your career. Be kind and supportive of your colleagues.
University of Kentucky
Animal Sciences
Dr. David Harmon: Reading and writing skills are never more important. If you want to do research you have to compete for funds.
Dr. David Harmon: Opportunities abound. The job opportunities outnumber current graduates. Decide what you want to be good at and then be good at it.
Dr. David Harmon: Be productive as a graduate student. Publishing is still the road to success.