Postdoctoral Associate Salary

Q: How much does a Postdoctoral Associate make?

Postdoctoral associates make $51,787 per year on average, or $24.9 per hour, in the United States. Postdoctoral associates on the lower end of that spectrum, the bottom 10% to be exact, make roughly $38,000 a year, while the top 10% makes $69,000. Location impacts how much a postdoctoral associate can expect to make. Postdoctoral associates make the most in Maine, Tennessee, Rhode Island, Hawaii, and California.

Updated July 11, 2022

Average Postdoctoral Associate Salary

$51,787 yearly
To create our salary estimates, Zippia starts with data published in publicly available sources such as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Foreign Labor Certification Data Center (FLC) Show More

$24.90 hourly

Entry level Salary

$38,000 yearly

$38,000

10 %

$51,787

Median

$69,000

90 %

How much does a Postdoctoral Associate make?

Postdoctoral associates make $51,787 per year on average, or $24.9 per hour, in the United States. Postdoctoral associates on the lower end of that spectrum, the bottom 10% to be exact, make roughly $38,000 a year, while the top 10% makes $69,000.

Location impacts how much a postdoctoral associate can expect to make. Postdoctoral associates make the most in Maine, Tennessee, Rhode Island, Hawaii, and California.

Highest Paying States For Postdoctoral Associates

The darker areas on the map show where postdoctoral associates earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

State View
County View

Average Salary:

Postdoctoral Associate average salary by State

Rank	State	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Count
1	Connecticut	$65,700	$31.59	162
2	Massachusetts	$61,598	$29.61	1,858
3	Tennessee	$71,756	$34.50	217
4	New Jersey	$63,187	$30.38	705
5	Maine	$81,731	$39.29	43
6	California	$66,365	$31.91	2,785
7	Rhode Island	$66,894	$32.16	42
8	Maryland	$58,666	$28.20	489
9	Delaware	$57,854	$27.81	65
10	Montana	$57,453	$27.62	34
11	New York	$55,574	$26.72	1,233
12	Arizona	$59,562	$28.64	127
13	Vermont	$56,455	$27.14	26
14	Pennsylvania	$52,891	$25.43	509
15	Wisconsin	$53,496	$25.72	188
16	New Hampshire	$55,927	$26.89	46
17	Colorado	$52,708	$25.34	325
18	Indiana	$54,618	$26.26	164
19	Minnesota	$53,091	$25.52	258
20	Hawaii	$66,724	$32.08	15
21	Washington	$51,531	$24.77	709
22	Illinois	$52,653	$25.31	474
23	Oklahoma	$54,304	$26.11	51
24	Oregon	$50,705	$24.38	263
25	Wyoming	$52,152	$25.07	15
26	District of Columbia	$53,301	$25.63	130
27	Nevada	$54,165	$26.04	27
28	North Carolina	$46,542	$22.38	385
29	Michigan	$49,120	$23.62	172
30	Ohio	$48,004	$23.08	259
31	Iowa	$45,316	$21.79	121
32	New Mexico	$44,392	$21.34	95
33	Nebraska	$45,820	$22.03	74
34	Virginia	$46,405	$22.31	355
35	Alaska	$45,112	$21.69	28
36	Arkansas	$47,227	$22.71	26
37	Idaho	$45,563	$21.91	43
38	Utah	$45,036	$21.65	77
39	Kentucky	$44,785	$21.53	77
40	Texas	$43,359	$20.85	618
41	Missouri	$41,411	$19.91	273
42	Kansas	$45,062	$21.66	46
43	Florida	$44,940	$21.61	343
44	West Virginia	$37,652	$18.10	60
45	South Dakota	$40,190	$19.32	20
46	North Dakota	$37,982	$18.26	25
47	Georgia	$37,533	$18.04	339
48	Alabama	$41,154	$19.79	58
49	Mississippi	$39,772	$19.12	38
50	Louisiana	$33,636	$16.17	77
51	South Carolina	$32,633	$15.69	62

Top Postdoctoral Associate Jobs Near You

Highest Paying Cities For Postdoctoral Associates

Rank	City	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate
1	Oak Ridge, TN	$70,967	$34.12
2	Berkeley, CA	$69,973	$33.64
3	Farmington, CT	$66,496	$31.97
4	Piscataway, NJ	$63,151	$30.36
5	Medford, MA	$61,879	$29.75
6	Albany, NY	$58,815	$28.28
7	Gaithersburg, MD	$58,279	$28.02
8	Burlington, VT	$56,445	$27.14
9	Saint Paul, MN	$53,149	$25.55
10	Philadelphia, PA	$53,111	$25.53
11	Chicago, IL	$52,739	$25.36
12	Boulder, CO	$52,621	$25.30
13	Laramie, WY	$52,323	$25.16
14	Fayetteville, AR	$47,440	$22.81
15	Durham, NC	$46,752	$22.48

Postdoctoral Associate Salary Details

What is a Postdoctoral Associate's Salary?

Percentile	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate
90th Percentile	$69,000	$5,750	$33
75th Percentile	$60,000	$5,000	$29
Average	$51,787	$4,316	$25
25th Percentile	$44,000	$3,667	$21
10th Percentile	$38,000	$3,167	$18

Average Salary By Related Titles

Job Title	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
Research Fellow	$52,724	$4,394	$25.35	59,746
Research Scientist	$84,125	$7,010	$40.44	93,013
Research Chemist	$78,999	$6,583	$37.98	53,769
Research And Development Scientist	$87,961	$7,330	$42.29	129,803
Staff Scientist	$84,998	$7,083	$40.86	121,054
Scientist	$94,940	$7,912	$45.64	62,467

Here are the five companies hiring the most now:

Which Companies Pay Postdoctoral Associates The Most?

According to our most recent salary estimates, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Sandia National Labs are the highest paying companies for postdoctoral associates.

Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
1	Oak Ridge National Laboratory	$85,215	$40.97
2	Sandia National Labs	$84,482	$40.62	76
3	Argonne National Laboratory	$81,550	$39.21	58
4	Battelle	$74,617	$35.87	20
5	Stanford University	$73,390	$35.28	46
6	Alnylam Pharmaceuticals	$70,889	$34.08	20
7	Tennessee Technological University	$68,501	$32.93	1
8	Applied Materials	$65,006	$31.25	6
9	Cytec Industries	$63,228	$30.40
10	Schrödinger Inc	$62,509	$30.05	3
11	Carnegie Mellon University	$61,832	$29.73	31
12	East Tennessee State University	$61,021	$29.34
13	Univ Of Colorado-Colorado Spgs	$59,214	$28.47	139
14	Arizona State University	$58,279	$28.02	1
15	P&G	$58,086	$27.93	30
16	New York University	$57,816	$27.80	63
17	University of California, Berkeley	$57,616	$27.70	145
18	Johns Hopkins University	$57,490	$27.64	71
19	Cornell University	$57,367	$27.58
20	Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium	$56,876	$27.34

Postdoctoral Associate Salary Trends

The salary for a postdoctoral associate can vary depending on the years of experience that a person has, from entry level to senior level. Data on how experience level affects total compensation is provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) as part of their National Compensation Survey, which is based on factors such as knowledge, complexity, contacts, and environment.

Average Postdoctoral Associate Salary Over Time

Compare salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.

Postdoctoral Associate Salary By Year

Year	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	% Change
2022	$51,800	$24.90	+3.0%
2021	$50,200	$24.16	+4.5%
2020	$48,000	$23.07	+3.2%
2019	$46,500	$22.33	+1.9%
2018	$45,600	$21.91	-2.1%

Recently Added Postdoctoral Associate Salaries

Company	Job	Location	Date Added	Salary
Rutgers University	Post-Doctoral Associate	New Brunswick, NJ	05/27/2022	$55,000
The Research Foundation Suny Downstate	Postdoctoral Associate	New York, NY	05/23/2022	$53,760
Rice University	Postdoctoral Associate-Chemistry	Houston, TX	05/22/2022	$48,000
University of Colorado Boulder	Postdoctoral Associate	Boulder, CO	05/20/2022	$69,000
University of Colorado	Postdoctoral Associate	Boulder, CO	05/18/2022	$69,000
University of Florida	Postdoctoral Associate-Studies In Retinal Degeneration	Gainesville, FL	05/12/2022	$47,476
University of Minnesota	Post-Doctoral Associate (Agronomy & Plant Genetics)--Continuous Opening	Minneapolis, MN	05/08/2022	$48,426
University of Colorado Boulder	Postdoctoral Associate	Boulder, CO	05/07/2022	$53,760
Cornell University	Lynch Postdoctoral Associate In Curricular Engagement	Ithaca, NY	04/30/2022	$57,000
State University of New York at Buffalo	Postdoctoral Associate, Engineering Education	New York, NY	04/29/2022	$50,000

Postdoctoral Associate Salaries FAQs

What state pays Postdoctoral Associates the most?

Maine pays Postdoctoral Associates the most in the United States, with an average salary of $81,731 per year, or $39.29 per hour.

How do I know if I'm being paid fairly as a Postdoctoral Associate?

You know if you are being paid fairly as a Postdoctoral Associate if your pay is close to the average pay for the state you live in. For example, if you live in Tennessee you should be paid close to $71,756 per year.

What type of Postdoctoral Associate gets paid the most?

Medical Science Liaison gets paid the most. Medical Science Liaison made a median salary of $113,905. The best-paid 10 percent make $174,000, while the lowest-paid 10 percent make $74,000.

Have more questions? See all answers to common life, physical, and social science questions.

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