Behavioral scientists are professionals who research human behavior and decision making as it relates to the society. They use their knowledge and expertise to conduct informed research, focusing on studying how people's actions affect their relationships with others. They also research animal behavior and work in their natural environments to study their habits and behaviors.
Behavioral scientists work closely with communities and individuals to examine their behavior and decision making. They mostly work in schools, universities, research institutions, non-governmental organizations, government institutions, and rehabilitation centers. A successful behavioral scientist should have research skills, analytical skills, attention to detail, communication skills, and good judgement.
Behavioral scientists work 40 hours per week from Monday to Friday between 9 and 5. They may work additional hours in instances where they travel to meet with patients or to work off-site.
Behavioral Scientist Overview
Behavioral Scientist Careers
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a behavioral scientist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $35.84 an hour? That's $74,553 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 8% and produce 10,600 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Behavioral Scientist Do
There are certain skills that many behavioral scientists have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed observation skills, communication skills and analytical skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a behavioral scientist, we found that a lot of resumes listed 46.8% of behavioral scientists included data analysis, while 29.9% of resumes included research projects, and 7.9% of resumes included focus groups. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the behavioral scientist job title. But what industry to start with? Most behavioral scientists actually find jobs in the health care and non profits industries.
How To Become a Behavioral Scientist
If you're interested in becoming a behavioral scientist, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 18.8% of behavioral scientists have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 46.9% of behavioral scientists have master's degrees. Even though most behavioral scientists have a college degree, it's impossible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a behavioral scientist. When we researched the most common majors for a behavioral scientist, we found that they most commonly earn master's degree degrees or doctoral degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on behavioral scientist resumes include bachelor's degree degrees or associate degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a behavioral scientist. In fact, many behavioral scientist jobs require experience in a role such as research assistant. Meanwhile, many behavioral scientists also have previous career experience in roles such as consultant or social worker.
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Behavioral Scientist Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of adjunct instructor you might progress to a role such as adjunct professor eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title principal.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Behavioral Scientist
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Betterup, Inc. Applied Behavioral Scientist Applied Behavioral Scientist | Betterup, Inc. Betterup, Inc. | 09/11/2019 09/11/2019 | $140,00009/11/2019 $140,000 |
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Behavioral Scientist Behavioral Scientist | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | 06/18/2019 06/18/2019 | $110,23106/18/2019 $110,231 |
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Behavioral Scientist Behavioral Scientist | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | 06/05/2019 06/05/2019 | $129,66206/05/2019 $129,662 |
Wal-Mart Associates, Inc. Behavioral Scientist Behavioral Scientist | Wal-Mart Associates, Inc. Wal-Mart Associates, Inc. | 04/26/2019 04/26/2019 | $145,00004/26/2019 $145,000 |
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/DHHS Behavioral Scientist Behavioral Scientist | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/DHHS Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/DHHS | 01/08/2019 01/08/2019 | $79,62601/08/2019 $79,626 |
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Top Colleges for Behavioral Scientists
1. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
2. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
3. Duke University
Durham, NC • Private
4. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
5. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
6. University of Washington
Seattle, WA • Public
7. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
8. University of Maryland - College Park
College Park, MD • Public
9. Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA • Public
10. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
Top Skills For a Behavioral Scientist
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 46.8% of behavioral scientists listed data analysis on their resume, but soft skills such as observation skills and communication skills are important as well.
- Data Analysis, 46.8%
- Research Projects, 29.9%
- Focus Groups, 7.9%
- Quantitative Data, 5.7%
- Research Design, 4.3%
- Other Skills, 5.4% See All Behavioral Scientist Skills