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Job outlook for forensic scientists in the United States
Are forensic scientist jobs in demand?
Forensic scientist job and salary trends over time
Forensic scientist jobs over time
Forensic scientist job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,928 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 1,885 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 1,871 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 1,809 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 1,707 | 0.00% |
Average forensic scientist salary over time
Forensic scientist salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $71,351 | $34.30 | +2.4% |
| 2024 | $69,655 | $33.49 | +1.6% |
| 2023 | $68,572 | $32.97 | +0.7% |
| 2022 | $68,124 | $32.75 | +1.9% |
| 2021 | $66,829 | $32.13 | +0.8% |
Forensic scientist jobs by state
Most common states for forensic scientists
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 861 | 14% |
| 2 | Delaware | 961,939 | 127 | 13% |
| 3 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 1,004 | 12% |
| 4 | South Dakota | 869,666 | 102 | 12% |
| 5 | New Jersey | 9,005,644 | 892 | 10% |
| 6 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 130 | 10% |
| 7 | North Dakota | 755,393 | 76 | 10% |
| 8 | Vermont | 623,657 | 65 | 10% |
| 9 | Wyoming | 579,315 | 57 | 10% |
| 10 | North Carolina | 10,273,419 | 812 | 8% |
| 11 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 89 | 8% |
| 12 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 88 | 8% |
| 13 | Alaska | 739,795 | 61 | 8% |
| 14 | Pennsylvania | 12,805,537 | 900 | 7% |
| 15 | Connecticut | 3,588,184 | 256 | 7% |
| 16 | Utah | 3,101,833 | 209 | 7% |
| 17 | New Mexico | 2,088,070 | 153 | 7% |
| 18 | Maine | 1,335,907 | 90 | 7% |
| 19 | Illinois | 12,802,023 | 817 | 6% |
| 20 | Missouri | 6,113,532 | 365 | 6% |
Most common cities for forensic scientists
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meridian | 2 | 2% | $61,991 |
| 2 | Little Rock | 1 | 1% | $52,485 |
| 3 | Indianapolis | 1 | 0% | $64,444 |
| 4 | Richmond | 1 | 0% | $68,134 |
| 5 | Saint Paul | 1 | 0% | $73,308 |
Forensic Scientist job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of forensic scientist experts
Loyola University New Orleans
Quinnipiac University
Drexel University
Arizona State University
The College of New Jersey
University of Wisconsin - Platteville
Doverspike Consulting/HR LItehouse
Robert Morris University
Tiffin University
What general advice would you give to a Forensic Scientist?
Ronal Serpas Ph.D.: As law enforcement, for example, continues its decade's long search for the best candidates, many agencies (local, state or federal) offer salary incentives for persons with Undergraduate and Graduate degrees. Likewise, many agencies offer promotional incentives for those holding degrees and advanced degrees.
What Forensic Scientist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Ronal Serpas Ph.D.: The rapidly advancing world of Forensic Science (e.g., Crime Scenes, DNA, Video, Digital Forensics, Crime Analysis, etc.), is advancing the potential to provide both significant evidence to assist in investigations, and to simultaneously help reduce bias. It is crucial that the intelligent collection, testing, and preserving the chain of evidence in this exploding fields is maintained.
What will help Forensic Scientists increase their earning potential?
Ronal Serpas Ph.D.: In my view and experience, the multiple career opportunities in the Criminal Justice field is akin to the other foundational career paths of our nation such as teaching and nursing. The prospects for fulfilling employment in an era where greater demands are met best with advanced educational achievement are clear and present.
Lisa Cuchara Ph.D.
Professor of Biomedical SciencesQuinnipiac University
Microbiological Sciences And Immunology
What Forensic Scientist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Lisa Cuchara Ph.D.: The first and foremost would be Critical Thinking. We live in a world where facts can be easily acquired, sometimes even by asking Siri/Alexa/ChatGPT/Google/etc. But critical thinking is timeless and priceless. I can ask anyone on the street what xyz is and they can look it up, but can they provide advice or interpret.
Also being a good steward towards science and being willing and able to communicate not just with peers as we are trained, but also with the public, the politicians, the board members. John Holdren*, stated that Scientists should be tithing at least 10 percent of their time to public service ... including activism. In the ever growing science denialism that is happening in our country being able to communicate science with the public is important. As Peter Hotaz states, "Anti-science propaganda is "killing Americans in unprecedented numbers,""
*Holdren is an American scientist who served as the senior advisor to President Barack Obama on science and technology issues through his roles as assistant to the president for science and technology, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and co-chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and a Research Professor in Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government
What certifications/licenses/courses can have the biggest impact for Forensic Scientists?
Dr. Richard Knight Ph.D.: MSE majors, at least at Drexel, typically do not complete the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam while in college. In the last 5 or 6 years only one student has done this. Few graduating students enter into careers in the Product Liability or Expert Witness areas for which PE licensure would be necessary. A small number of students have taken classes relating to lean manufacturing/Six-Sigma techniques, which are increasingly important in industry.
A significant number of MSE majors do, however, pursue a broad range of minors in addition to their MSE major. Popular minors include Chemistry, Business, Nuclear Engineering, and other Engineering disciplines.
How have salaries changed over time for Forensic Scientists?
Patricia Rankin: Salaries have been trending up - but there is a wide range and it depends on the level you look at e.g Bachelor's degrees or PhD's . If you have a PhD you earn more on average but the range is also larger (the AIP has some good statistics here e.g. https://www.aip.org/taxonomy/term/152 ). Physicists are generally at the higher end of pay scales and competitive with most engineering fields (not computer science). Physics graduates are problem solvers with excellent quantitative skills that puts them in high demand which helps protect salaries.
Janet Gray Ph.D.
Professor and Department ChairThe College of New Jersey
Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Forensic Scientists in the next 3-5 years?
Janet Gray Ph.D.: WGSS graduates enter every employment sector, so technological trends for our graduates will follow various sectors' directions. Among the most common careers for WGSS graduates are law, social work, and education. The capacity to work remotely and do so effectively--may depend more on having access to sound technology and good training, and devising more effective ways to use the tools available, than on any new technology becoming available.
Will there be an increase or decrease in demand for Forensic Scientists in the next 5 years?
Janet Gray Ph.D.: I think an increase, though not dramatic. WGSS majors graduate with a capacity to analyze and strategize about a wide range of social justice issues, including racial justice, LGBTQ rights, immigration rights, and disability rights, in addition to gender equity. Very few employers require a degree specifically in WGSS. Still, many employers value the skills students gain through their major, and I would expect social justice skills to be increasingly in demand across employment sectors in the coming years. Most WGSS majors take second majors as well, and their combined majors give them an edge in a broad range of fields--including mental health, public health, law, education, politics, business, and government.
Afzal Upal
Professor & Department ChairUniversity of Wisconsin - Platteville
Computer Science & Software Engineering Department
What are the biggest trends we'll see in the Forensic Scientist job market given the pandemic?
Afzal Upal: I believe that this will accelerate the trend towards automation of various aspects of life. This will lead to automation technologies' rapid growth, particularly Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (incredibly deep learning). I do not believe that work from home (WFH) will continue at the high levels at which it is currently happening in the middle of the current pandemic. Although post-pandemic, WFH will continue at a higher level than it was happening in February 2020. Differences in employee productivity, however small, will force most employers to ask many employees to return to their offices. The trend toward automation yet will continue and will lead to an even more massive expansion of jobs in computer science.
What type of skills will young Forensic Scientists need?
Dennis Doverspike Ph.D.: Seemingly a paradox, there will continue to be a need for very general, but highly fungible, skills and demand for too specialized skills, requiring advanced education. Coding, statistics, and data analysis related skills will remain a hot growth area. The aging of the baby boomers will create demand for medical and healthcare-related regions, especially nursing, nursing aides, and emergency services. Despite the automation of many people facing jobs, there will continue to be a demand for interpersonal and people skills, including various types of sales. The switch to remote work, due to COVID, will create a substantial future market to fill the leadership and managerial skills gap. In many areas of Technology and engineering, it is already challenging to find a combination of technical knowledge and people skills, and this demand will intensify.
Are there any particularly good places in the United States for Forensic Scientists to find work opportunities?
Paul Badger Ph.D.: Any area of the U.S. that has current or projected population growth, like the southern Atlantic states and the Rocky Mountain regions, will have an increased demand for biology graduates in a variety of occupations.
Sami Mejri Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Science, Assistant Dean, Graduate ProgramsTiffin University
School of Arts & Sciences
Are there any particularly good places in the United States for Forensic Scientists to find work opportunities?
Sami Mejri Ph.D.: With the rising cost of living, a college graduate's ideal first job may not be in their home state or favorite vacation town. According to Business Insider, MidWestern cities like Columbus-Ohio, Cincinnati-Ohio, Madison-Wisconsin, Milwaukee-Wisconsin, and Indianapolis-Indiana were some of the best geographical areas to live for college graduates. The cost of living in these Midwestern states remains relatively lower than coastal areas, making these locations ideal for college graduates entering the workforce. However, college graduates with degrees in healthcare, computer science, and data analytics may not be limited to these geographical areas, given employers' incentives to these in-demand jobs.
How do you envision technology impacting Forensic Scientists in the next 5 years?
Sami Mejri Ph.D.: Technology and artificial intelligence will continue to change the workplace, so learning does not end with earning a college degree. According to a recently-published book by Joanne Soliday and Mark Lombardi, 30-to-40 million workers around the country require continuous education (CE) to remain gainfully employed. Though (CE) is not new, particularly in healthcare and education, the emphasis is on incorporating virtual spaces for collaboration and efficiency, both of which are critical to reducing operational costs and maximizing productivity. In the next five to ten years, employers will continue to infuse technology into their operations and expect employees (including recent graduates) to buy into and adapt to these changes.