What is a Quality Laboratory Technician?

A lot goes into making sure the materials and products used in a laboratory are just as they should be. Quality laboratory technicians or quality assurance (QA) lab techs play a key role in ensuring that this gets done. The QA lab tech uses various instruments and laboratory equipment to evaluate materials and products to ensure they are at the proper level of quality.

In addition, they develop quality plans and procedures and verify that company and customer compliance standards are being met. Since accurate testing is so important, QA lab techs must also frequently perform regular inspection tests on equipment to ensure that it is functioning properly and that there are no safety hazards.

To succeed in this field, an understanding of basic mathematical and statistical formulas is extremely important. If you'd like to become a quality assurance lab technician, you'll most likely need a Bachelor's degree or related work experience in the industry.

What Does a Quality Laboratory Technician Do

There are certain skills that many quality laboratory technicians have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed detail oriented, math skills and observational skills.

Learn more about what a Quality Laboratory Technician does

How To Become a Quality Laboratory Technician

If you're interested in becoming a quality laboratory technician, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 57.8% of quality laboratory technicians have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 3.7% of quality laboratory technicians have master's degrees. Even though most quality laboratory technicians have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Quality Laboratory Technician

Top Quality Laboratory Technician Jobs Near You

Career Path For a Quality Laboratory Technician

In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of quality technician you might progress to a role such as quality engineer eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title quality manager.

Quality Laboratory Technician

Average Salary for a Quality Laboratory Technician

Quality Laboratory Technicians in America make an average salary of $38,902 per year or $19 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $48,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $31,000 per year.

Average Quality Laboratory Technician Salary

$38,902 Yearly

$18.70 hourly

$31,00010%

$38,000Median

$48,00090%

See More Salary Information

What Am I Worth?

Roles and Types of Quality Laboratory Technician

The role of a quality laboratory technician includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general quality laboratory technician responsibilities:

Examine contents and compare with records, such as manifests, invoices or orders in order to verify the accuracy of incoming
Primary performs analyses including micro testing
Responsibilitiesinclude the following. Other duties may be assigned. Perform assigned daily analyses on leco, xrf or other equipment, ensuring the accuracy of analytical results under the direction of senior staff or management. Prepare quality control samples such as round robin samples, analytical standards, duplicates

There are several types of quality laboratory technician, including:

Technician

Role:

To be a technician, you have to know your stuff. Some may refer to you as an expert in your field or maybe people will know you as skilled in an art or craft. Then again, you may just be needed to look after technical equipment.

Your workload as a technician will vary, depending on what you're trained in. You may be needed to set up a new computer system or maybe you'll need to fix an electricity problem. Either way, you'll probably only need to work 40 hours a week.

The degree of education required for this job depends on what you're specific skillset is. Some technicians only need a high school diploma, others may want to complete an associate's program or earn a certificate to help their employment opportunities. There's definitely something for everyone in the field of technicians.

Average Salary: $38,045
Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Overview How To Become Job Description Jobs

Laboratory Technician

Role:

As a laboratory technician, you get to do all the nitty gritty work, like collecting samples. But you also get to study and take part in conducting tests. So it's not all nitty gritty, at least.

The majority of your day as a laboratory technician will be spent in a lab, surrounded by bodily fluids, chemicals, and organic matter. If any of that makes you squirmish just thinking about it, then it's not too late to turn back.

Employers prefer that you have a bachelor's degree before pursuing a position as a laboratory tech, but associate degrees are also welcome. Before you start, you'll need to rack up a few years of experience in lab work. It probably wouldn't be a good thing if you blew up the lab on your first day.

Average Salary: $40,038
Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Overview How To Become Job Description Jobs

Engineering Technician

Role:

Equipment, construction and design all have one thing in common. They all need to be inspected and tested by engineering technicians. Once you've done that, then it's time to type up a report of what you analyzed.

Occassionally, you'll be able to help draw up blueprints and plans for products and equipment. If you like coloring inside the lines, this job may be perfect for you. While you won't be coloring inside any lines (probably), you will get to draw very straight lines which can be aesthetically pleasing.

Engineering technicians can usually get by with just a bachelor's degree. That's enough to appease the average employer.

Average Salary: $60,273
Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Overview How To Become Job Description Jobs

States With The Most Quality Laboratory Technician Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active quality laboratory technician jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where quality laboratory technicians earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Quality Laboratory Technician Jobs By State

Rank	State	Number of Jobs	Average Salary
1	California	6,922	$45,486
2	Texas	3,768	$39,754
3	Florida	2,976	$34,284
4	New York	2,844	$38,190
5	Pennsylvania	2,430	$39,761
6	North Carolina	2,117	$33,762
7	Illinois	2,054	$39,400
8	Ohio	1,983	$32,506
9	New Jersey	1,779	$41,071
10	Georgia	1,733	$41,797
11	Michigan	1,601	$38,903
12	Virginia	1,600	$33,142
13	Minnesota	1,539	$34,915
14	Washington	1,456	$46,218
15	Indiana	1,404	$34,675
16	Maryland	1,362	$41,180
17	Massachusetts	1,257	$43,402
18	Wisconsin	1,226	$37,581
19	Arizona	1,173	$38,835
20	Tennessee	1,168	$32,634
21	Colorado	1,062	$37,544
22	Missouri	976	$36,411
23	South Carolina	922	$39,195
24	Iowa	817	$32,526
25	Oregon	808	$46,062
26	Utah	780	$36,715
27	Alabama	749	$33,189
28	Kentucky	696	$35,612
29	Connecticut	628	$41,646
30	Kansas	571	$40,220
31	New Hampshire	466	$40,942
32	Louisiana	442	$35,399
33	Arkansas	440	$30,960
34	Oklahoma	430	$35,443
35	Nebraska	403	$41,203
36	Nevada	402	$34,531
37	Mississippi	368	$34,555
38	New Mexico	354	$42,667
39	Idaho	307	$49,416
40	Maine	285	$44,764
41	West Virginia	237	$36,021
42	South Dakota	232	$37,061
43	North Dakota	225	$44,207
44	Montana	217	$38,395
45	Rhode Island	211	$46,957
46	Alaska	208	$44,750
47	Delaware	188	$35,704
48	Vermont	170	$35,848
49	Hawaii	151	$46,526
50	Wyoming	109	$39,168

Quality Laboratory Technician Education

Quality Laboratory Technician Majors

Biology

26.3 %

Chemistry

16.2 %

Business

14.6 %

Quality Laboratory Technician Degrees

Bachelors

57.8 %

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, 9.5% of quality laboratory technicians listed lab equipment on their resume, but soft skills such as detail oriented and math skills are important as well.

Lab Equipment, 9.5%

Quality Lab, 7.8%

Test Results, 4.7%

Food Safety, 4.5%

GMP, 3.7%

Other Skills, 69.8%

Choose From 10+ Customizable Quality Laboratory Technician Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Quality Laboratory Technician templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Quality Laboratory Technician resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

Quality Laboratory Technician diversity

Quality Laboratory Technician Gender Distribution

Male

54%

Female

46%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

Among quality laboratory technicians, 45.9% of them are women, while 54.1% are men.

The most common race/ethnicity among quality laboratory technicians is White, which makes up 61.1% of all quality laboratory technicians.

The most common foreign language among quality laboratory technicians is Spanish at 58.3%.

Online Courses For Quality Laboratory Technician That You May Like

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Best States For a Quality Laboratory Technician

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a quality laboratory technician. The best states for people in this position are Idaho, Rhode Island, Hawaii, and Washington. Quality laboratory technicians make the most in Idaho with an average salary of $49,416. Whereas in Rhode Island and Hawaii, they would average $46,957 and $46,526, respectively. While quality laboratory technicians would only make an average of $46,218 in Washington, 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. North Dakota

Total Quality Laboratory Technician Jobs: 225

Highest 10% Earn:

$54,000

Location Quotient:

1.22

$44,207

Avg. Salary

View 225 Quality Laboratory Technician Jobs In ND

2. Alaska

Total Quality Laboratory Technician Jobs: 208

Highest 10% Earn:

$52,000

Location Quotient:

1.26

$44,750

Avg. Salary

View 208 Quality Laboratory Technician Jobs In AK

3. Maine

Total Quality Laboratory Technician Jobs: 285

Highest 10% Earn:

$53,000

Location Quotient:

1.09

$44,764

Avg. Salary

View 285 Quality Laboratory Technician Jobs In ME

Full List Of Best States For Quality Laboratory Technicians

How Do Quality Laboratory Technicians Rate Their Jobs?

Top Quality Laboratory Technician Employers

Most Common Employers For Quality Laboratory Technician

Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
1	BD	$47,641	$22.90	7
2	Merck	$47,357	$22.77	6
3	The Kraft Group	$46,853	$22.53	8
4	Abbott	$44,129	$21.22	7
5	BASF	$42,469	$20.42	8
6	PPG	$42,006	$20.20	6
7	PepsiCo	$41,984	$20.18	7
8	ADM	$41,454	$19.93	7
9	General Mills	$41,093	$19.76	8
10	Land O'Lakes	$40,386	$19.42	6

Quality Laboratory Technician Videos

Career Profile: Quality Assurance Laboratory Technician

Medical Laboratory Technician, Career Video from drkit.org

CAREERS IN MEDICAL LAB TECHNOLOGY BMLT,Certification Courses,Job Openings,Research,Salary Package

Updated April 6, 2023

What is a Quality Laboratory Technician?

What Does a Quality Laboratory Technician Do

How To Become a Quality Laboratory Technician

Career Path For a Quality Laboratory Technician

Average Salary for a Quality Laboratory Technician

Roles and Types of Quality Laboratory Technician

Technician

Role:

Laboratory Technician

Role:

Engineering Technician

Role:

States With The Most Quality Laboratory Technician Jobs

Number Of Quality Laboratory Technician Jobs By State

Quality Laboratory Technician Education

Quality Laboratory Technician Majors

Quality Laboratory Technician Degrees

Top Colleges for Quality Laboratory Technicians

1. Stanford University

2. University of Pennsylvania

3. Northwestern University

4. Harvard University

5. Carnegie Mellon University

6. Purdue University

7. California State University - Long Beach

8. Cornell University

9. San Jose State University

10. Georgetown University

Top Skills For a Quality Laboratory Technician

Choose From 10+ Customizable Quality Laboratory Technician Resume templates

Quality Laboratory Technician diversity

Quality Laboratory Technician Gender Distribution

Online Courses For Quality Laboratory Technician That You May Like

Best States For a Quality Laboratory Technician

How Do Quality Laboratory Technicians Rate Their Jobs?

Top Quality Laboratory Technician Employers

Most Common Employers For Quality Laboratory Technician

Quality Laboratory Technician Videos

Quality Laboratory Technician Related Careers

Quality Laboratory Technician Related Jobs

What Similar Roles Do

Resume For Related Jobs