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Job outlook for principal biostatisticians in the United States
Are principal biostatistician jobs in demand?
Principal biostatistician job and salary trends over time
Principal biostatistician jobs over time
Principal biostatistician job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,995 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 2,472 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 2,486 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 2,539 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 2,324 | 0.00% |
Average principal biostatistician salary over time
Principal biostatistician salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $120,026 | $57.70 | +1.2% |
| 2024 | $118,582 | $57.01 | +3.9% |
| 2023 | $114,185 | $54.90 | +4.4% |
| 2022 | $109,346 | $52.57 | +4.4% |
| 2021 | $104,715 | $50.34 | +0.5% |
Principal biostatistician jobs by state
Most common states for principal biostatisticians
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 252 | 36% |
| 2 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 173 | 13% |
| 3 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 134 | 13% |
| 4 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 1,036 | 12% |
| 5 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 501 | 12% |
| 6 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 588 | 11% |
| 7 | Colorado | 5,607,154 | 518 | 9% |
| 8 | Idaho | 1,716,943 | 147 | 9% |
| 9 | Illinois | 12,802,023 | 1,021 | 8% |
| 10 | Pennsylvania | 12,805,537 | 1,008 | 8% |
| 11 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 498 | 8% |
| 12 | Nebraska | 1,920,076 | 162 | 8% |
| 13 | North Carolina | 10,273,419 | 764 | 7% |
| 14 | Arizona | 7,016,270 | 524 | 7% |
| 15 | Connecticut | 3,588,184 | 249 | 7% |
| 16 | New Mexico | 2,088,070 | 149 | 7% |
| 17 | Kansas | 2,913,123 | 173 | 6% |
| 18 | Delaware | 961,939 | 60 | 6% |
| 19 | Wyoming | 579,315 | 37 | 6% |
| 20 | New York | 19,849,399 | 1,055 | 5% |
Most common cities for principal biostatisticians
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cambridge | 5 | 5% | $125,117 |
| 2 | Chapel Hill | 3 | 5% | $110,746 |
| 3 | Hartford | 5 | 4% | $107,058 |
| 4 | Trenton | 3 | 4% | $113,744 |
| 5 | Boston | 12 | 2% | $125,131 |
| 6 | Durham | 5 | 2% | $110,861 |
| 7 | Atlanta | 7 | 1% | $102,833 |
| 8 | Miami | 6 | 1% | $93,509 |
| 9 | Arlington | 3 | 1% | $113,514 |
| 10 | Orlando | 3 | 1% | $95,102 |
| 11 | Tampa | 3 | 1% | $94,948 |
| 12 | Chicago | 7 | 0% | $126,190 |
| 13 | San Diego | 6 | 0% | $130,550 |
| 14 | Jacksonville | 4 | 0% | $96,083 |
| 15 | Austin | 3 | 0% | $102,606 |
| 16 | Baltimore | 3 | 0% | $121,372 |
| 17 | Dallas | 3 | 0% | $103,690 |
| 18 | Houston | 3 | 0% | $101,908 |
| 19 | New York | 3 | 0% | $121,112 |
| 20 | Washington | 3 | 0% | $121,706 |
Principal Biostatistician job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of principal biostatistician experts
San Francisco State University
University of North Carolina at Asheville
Bowling Green State University
Georgetown University
Butler University
University of Florida
What general advice would you give to a Principal Biostatistician?
Warren Johnson: Statistics/data science and computer science are great professions to enter now. Mathematics is involved in these fields. It allows working with talented students and gaining new insights.
What Principal Biostatistician skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Warren Johnson: Some of us prove theorems on the frontiers of mathematics, but most of us really don't. A good mathematical training allows one to work on many different things in many contexts. Teaching is rewarding if you have good students.
What will help Principal Biostatisticians increase their earning potential?
Warren Johnson: Many of the greatest ideas that men and women have had are mathematical ideas. The thrill of understanding something difficult and explaining it to talented young people is rewarding. Dislike the grading aspect of the job.
What Principal Biostatistician skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Luella Fu: I think Statisticians enjoy the quantitative reasoning aspect of their jobs, whether it’s designing the data collection, visualizing data, or creating insights from it. It’s also a pretty stable job with good pay. What Statisticians probably don’t like is the amount of time they spend in front of a computer to do their data analyses. It can create eye strain. Also, data cleaning can be full of unexpected challenges that take much longer to solve than one expects.
What general advice would you give to a Principal Biostatistician?
Kedai Cheng Ph.D.: For academic jobs, as a professor, we start off our day with a coffee. Thanks to the luxury of academic jobs, I spend most of my day reading and studying, and doing research. Research is totally different from learning. Learning is comparatively easy because everything is written in the book. If I do not under, I can always go over it again and again. It is a matter of time investment. Unlike learning, we do not have a certain answer for research. It is possible that we spend 1 year reviewing all existing literature and do our own experiment, and it turns out nothing worked out. It is a very strongly self-motivated job. And we need to be able to enjoy the loneliness. To other people, it may seem like our jobs are boring and lonely. However, to me, it is different. I rarely get bored, because I want to know what is going on. We can always dig a little deeper on what we have.
John Chen
Professor of StatisticsBowling Green State University
Biomathematics, Bioinformatics, And Computational Biology
What general advice would you give to a Principal Biostatistician?
John Chen: It depends on different companies, biostatisticians work on multiple comparisons such as dose-response analysis in pharmaceutical companies; protocol analyses in government agencies such as NIH or FDA, etc.
What Principal Biostatistician skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
John Chen: Because it is grounded on solid theoretical methods in statistics, such as hypothesis testing, estimation, and prediction.
What will help Principal Biostatisticians increase their earning potential?
John Chen: People enjoy working as a biostatistician because it ties statistical knowledge and medical applications that directly benefit human beings, also because it is usually a relatively high paid profession. I am not aware of anyone who dislikes being a biostatistician.
Ao Yuan
ProfessorGeorgetown University
Biomathematics, Bioinformatics, And Computational Biology
What general advice would you give to a Principal Biostatistician?
Ao Yuan: For a career in Biostatistics, getting a position in a pharmaceutical company/industry will have a higher salary than working in an academic institution. If you can get a higher management position, your salary can be maximized.
What Principal Biostatistician skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Ao Yuan: New methods in theory and computation for innovative projects in big data, real world data, and machine learning will be important in the next 3-5 years and more.
What will help Principal Biostatisticians increase their earning potential?
Ao Yuan: Before their thesis starts, I'll give the student(s) some papers in the field to read, to make them familiar with the topics and methods in the field. Then ask them to think about and discuss with me a possible proposal to work with.
Dr. Lee Farquhar
Associate ProfessorButler University
Radio, Television, And Digital Communication
What Principal Biostatistician skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dr. Lee Farquhar: Storytelling is still at the heart of the industry. Start with good reporting and writing. From there, broaden your technical skills so that your stories can connect with audiences in a variety of platforms. A certain fluidity is necessary for the modern and future reporter, crossing from one medium to another seamlessly. The reporter must be resolute in their reporting and nimble in their delivery to the audience.
Rhonda Bacher PhD
Assistant ProfessorUniversity of Florida
Biomathematics, Bioinformatics, And Computational Biology
What general advice would you give to a Principal Biostatistician?
Rhonda Bacher PhD: When starting your career as a Biostatistician, there are a several ways to maximize your salary potential. Having a Master's level degree or higher boosts your base pay, though the time and cost of those degrees is a major consideration. There are some remote Master's degree programs designed with flexibility for working professionals, we offer one in Biostatistics at the University of Florida that is equivalent to our campus program.
Additional computational skills and data analysis experience should not be overlooked as ways to increase your value to potential employers. Highlight your interdisciplinary collaborative projects or work experience to demonstrate your communication and interpersonal skills, which are both highly valued professionally for biostatisticians.
What Principal Biostatistician skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Rhonda Bacher PhD: In terms of biostatistical skills, techniques for analyzing longitudinal biomedical data are increasingly relevant. Artificial intelligence models are likely to be helpful for programming across languages and tools (e.g. R, Python, TensorFlow), and the next generation of biostatisticians will be in a great position to leverage AI tools to their full potential. On the other side of that, understanding and contributing to AI tool development is an area that biostatisticians can play important roles, especially in the fields of bioinformatics and genomics.
What will help Principal Biostatisticians increase their earning potential?
Rhonda Bacher PhD: Often biostatisticians are in roles where they work more independently and, especially when starting out, not having colleagues nearby to consult with on statistical matters can be challenging. Getting involved or staying connected through professional associations like the American Statistical Association through its professional sections or state chapters is a great way to maintain and even grow your network of colleagues.
Also, biostatistics is an evolving and expanding field, so foundational skills are essential, but be flexible to learning and adapting to new technologies or methods. The real value of a biostatistician's skills is critical thinking and being able to identify, implement, and interpret appropriate analytical solutions.