How To Become A Forensic Toxicologist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a forensic toxicologist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a forensic toxicologist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $33.74 an hour? That's $70,179 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 11% and produce 2,000 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreForensic ToxicologistUS Average

Salary

5.5

Avg. Salary $70,179

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.9

Growth rate 11%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.07%

Asian 10.15%

Black or African American 9.93%

Hispanic or Latino 15.76%

Unknown 6.24%

White 56.87%

Gender

female 46.88%

male 53.13%

Age - 35

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 - 35

Stress level

7.9

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.0

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.7

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a forensic toxicologist

Explore forensic toxicologist education requirements

Most common forensic toxicologist degrees

Bachelor's

80.9 %

Master's

8.5 %

Associate

6.4 %

Start to develop specific forensic toxicologist skills

Skills	Percentages
Ms	22.63%
Laboratory Equipment	12.79%
GC	10.11%
LC	8.88%
Sops	7.09%

Complete relevant forensic toxicologist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New forensic toxicologists 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 forensic toxicologist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real forensic toxicologist resumes.

Research forensic toxicologist duties and responsibilities

Perform Headspace GC analysis for presence and concentration determination of alcohols and other volatile substances in biological samples.
Used laboratory information management system (LIMS) to track casework and release results.
SOP's have to be constantly update and follow to detail to prepare the samples accurately before extraction.
Prepare samples for analysis through extraction of control substances from biological matrices.

Get forensic toxicologist experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a forensic toxicologist. The most common roles before becoming a forensic toxicologist include internship, medical technologist team lead and research assistant.

Prepare your forensic toxicologist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your forensic toxicologist 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 forensic toxicologist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable forensic toxicologist resume templates

Build a professional forensic toxicologist 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 forensic toxicologist resume.