How To Become A Biology Laboratory Assistant: What It Is and Career Path

What is a biology laboratory assistant and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted Expert

Rachael French

Biology laboratory assistants work within laboratories and assist scientists with experiments, equipment maintenance, and research. They may also work with college professors, assisting with lectures, assignments, or evaluation of student projects.

Some of the functions that they perform in this capacity include setting up laboratory equipment, logging experiment details and results, assisting scientists or professors, cleaning up the lab and equipment, and writing laboratory reports. Essential skills required to excel in this position include analytical, logical thinking, organizational, and attention to detail. A high level of education is necessary before gaining employment. The minimum requirement to be successful at this profession is a bachelor's degree in a science-related discipline, but employers usually prefer candidates with a master's degree. Biology laboratory assistants receive comprehensive on-the-job training that includes learning how to use specific equipment and getting up to speed about ongoing or future experiments.

The average hourly pay for the position is $25.53, which amounts to $53,099 annually. The career is expected to grow in the following years and create new opportunities across the United States.

What general advice would you give to a Biology Laboratory Assistant?

Rachael French

Professor and Chair, San Jose State University

The Biology Department does not generally provide content for for-profit websites.

ScoreBiology Laboratory AssistantUS Average

Salary

2.7

Avg. Salary $34,240

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

4.9

Growth Rate 9%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 2.47%

Asian 14.89%

Black or African American 12.44%

Hispanic or Latino 13.71%

Unknown 6.17%

White 50.33%

Gender

female 63.33%

male 36.67%

Age - 37

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 37

Stress Level

4.9

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

7.8

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

8.1

Work Life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a biology laboratory assistant

Explore biology laboratory assistant education requirements

Most common biology laboratory assistant degrees

Bachelor's

70.7 %

Associate

14.7 %

High School Diploma

6.5 %

Start to develop specific biology laboratory assistant skills

Skills	Percentages
Lab Equipment	37.75%
Biology Laboratory	5.73%
Chemistry	3.97%
Anatomy	3.85%
Physiology	3.33%

Complete relevant biology laboratory assistant training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New biology laboratory assistants learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a biology laboratory assistant based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real biology laboratory assistant resumes.

Research biology laboratory assistant duties and responsibilities

Comfort frighten patients and maintain an exceptionally bright professional demeanor to accomplish a procedure that makes most people very uncomfortable.
Set up gel electrophoresis, clean slides, run experiments.
Prepare culture media and ELISA samples following standard procedures.
Prepare stock solutions, media for growing bacteria and yeast, electrophoresis gels and pouring agar plates.

Prepare your biology laboratory assistant resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your biology laboratory assistant resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a biology laboratory assistant resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Biology Laboratory Assistant Resume templates

Build a professional Biology Laboratory Assistant resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Biology Laboratory Assistant resume.

Apply for biology laboratory assistant jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a biology laboratory assistant job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

Average biology laboratory assistant salary

The average Biology Laboratory Assistant salary in the United States is $34,240 per year or $16 per hour. Biology laboratory assistant salaries range between $22,000 and $52,000 per year.

Average Biology Laboratory Assistant Salary

$34,240 Yearly

$16.46 hourly

How do biology laboratory assistants rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

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1 Star

Biology Laboratory Assistant reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Nov 2019

Cons

None