There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a food science technician. For example, did you know that they make an average of $17.69 an hour? That's $36,799 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 1,800 job opportunities across the U.S.
Agricultural and food science technicians assist agricultural and food scientists by performing duties such as measuring and analyzing the quality of food and agricultural products. Duties range from typical agricultural labor with added recordkeeping duties to laboratory testing with significant amounts of office work, depending on the particular field the technician works in.
Agricultural and food science technicians typically need an associate’s degree in biology, chemistry, crop or animal science, or a related field. Many positions require a bachelor’s degree. For those positions requiring only a high school diploma, technicians typically need to have previous work experience. Technicians often receive on-the-job training that may cover topics such as production techniques, personal hygiene, and sanitation procedures.
What Am I Worth?
There are several types of food science technician, including:
Role:
Role:
Mouse over a state to see the number of active food science technician jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where food science technicians earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Rank | State | Number of Jobs | Average Salary |
---|---|---|---|
1 | California | 2,833 | $44,555 |
2 | Florida | 2,362 | $29,591 |
3 | Texas | 2,282 | $35,415 |
4 | Illinois | 1,704 | $32,884 |
5 | New York | 1,577 | $40,616 |
6 | Georgia | 1,462 | $29,249 |
7 | North Carolina | 1,425 | $29,630 |
8 | Massachusetts | 1,393 | $48,764 |
9 | Pennsylvania | 1,379 | $33,430 |
10 | Virginia | 1,246 | $30,815 |
11 | Michigan | 1,180 | $31,938 |
12 | New Jersey | 1,054 | $41,160 |
13 | Ohio | 1,012 | $36,110 |
14 | Indiana | 958 | $30,101 |
15 | Minnesota | 889 | $31,313 |
16 | Washington | 846 | $31,086 |
17 | Arizona | 834 | $31,554 |
18 | Colorado | 820 | $33,873 |
19 | Wisconsin | 792 | $31,253 |
20 | Maryland | 779 | $43,023 |
21 | Tennessee | 771 | $29,195 |
22 | Missouri | 770 | $34,001 |
23 | South Carolina | 704 | $34,201 |
24 | Kentucky | 578 | $34,489 |
25 | Iowa | 562 | $32,241 |
26 | Alabama | 539 | $29,347 |
27 | Connecticut | 524 | $47,705 |
28 | Kansas | 439 | $31,255 |
29 | Oregon | 434 | $31,850 |
30 | Louisiana | 428 | $34,942 |
31 | Utah | 393 | $39,491 |
32 | Mississippi | 375 | $34,388 |
33 | Oklahoma | 353 | $29,191 |
34 | Arkansas | 334 | $29,134 |
35 | Maine | 302 | $35,585 |
36 | Nevada | 279 | $43,463 |
37 | Nebraska | 264 | $34,176 |
38 | West Virginia | 249 | $35,609 |
39 | New Hampshire | 222 | $48,568 |
40 | New Mexico | 220 | $30,526 |
41 | Delaware | 206 | $44,196 |
42 | Alaska | 199 | $50,338 |
43 | Idaho | 193 | $29,771 |
44 | Montana | 177 | $34,092 |
45 | South Dakota | 163 | $34,904 |
46 | Rhode Island | 137 | $48,678 |
47 | Vermont | 136 | $47,813 |
48 | Hawaii | 107 | $37,902 |
49 | North Dakota | 106 | $42,259 |
50 | Wyoming | 92 | $28,863 |
Madison, WI • Private
Raleigh, NC • Private
Seattle, WA • Private
Davis, CA • Private
Champaign, IL • Private
Athens, GA • Private
West Lafayette, IN • Private
Los Angeles, CA • Private
Newark, DE • Private
New Brunswick, NJ • Private
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, 25.6% of food science technicians listed food safety on their resume, but soft skills such as physical stamina and analytical skills are important as well.
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Food Science Technician templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Food Science Technician resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
Learn about the impact of infectious disease on sustainable animal-based food production by understanding the science of growth, immunity, and infection and by learning the problem-solving skills needed to advance animal health and food production through optimal management practices. There is a growing global need in agricultural production for a workforce that is capable of integrating knowledge of animal health and production with an understanding of consumer preferences in the context of...
Managing a company in the food and beverage industry is a fascinating task. Food and beverage products are so deeply rooted in the culture of most countries that making and selling them is not only a matter of making and selling good and tasty products, but products that nurture people's body, soul, and heart. Given this, it's not difficult to see that the task quickly becomes complex. The objective of this course is twofold: first, we will focus on contemporary challenges that managers and...
The food safety course will help prepare you for safely working in a kitchen and food handler tests like Servesafe...
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a food science technician. The best states for people in this position are Alaska, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. Food science technicians make the most in Alaska with an average salary of $50,338. Whereas in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, they would average $48,764 and $48,678, respectively. While food science technicians would only make an average of $48,568 in New Hampshire, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Alaska
$50,338
Avg. Salary
2. Vermont
$47,813
Avg. Salary
3. Massachusetts
$48,764
Avg. Salary
Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Echo Lake Foods | $45,379 | $21.82 | 4 |
2 | Cornell University | $44,116 | $21.21 | 1 |
3 | DuPont | $42,702 | $20.53 | 2 |
4 | Mariani Packing Co. | $42,087 | $20.23 | 1 |
5 | Clemens Food Group | $40,873 | $19.65 | 1 |
6 | General Mills | $40,855 | $19.64 | 2 |
7 | SOPAKCO | $40,837 | $19.63 | 1 |
8 | Virginia State University | $40,690 | $19.56 | 1 |
9 | Lyons Magnus | $39,511 | $19.00 | 1 |
10 | Frito-Lay | $38,600 | $18.56 | 1 |