Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
Job outlook for research biostatisticians in the United States
Are research biostatistician jobs in demand?
Research biostatistician job and salary trends over time
Research biostatistician jobs over time
Research biostatistician job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 71 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 89 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 89 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 91 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 83 | 0.00% |
Average research biostatistician salary over time
Research biostatistician salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $88,264 | $42.43 | +1.2% |
| 2025 | $87,203 | $41.92 | +3.9% |
| 2024 | $83,969 | $40.37 | +4.4% |
| 2023 | $80,411 | $38.66 | +4.4% |
| 2022 | $77,005 | $37.02 | +0.5% |
Research biostatistician jobs by state
Most common states for research biostatisticians
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vermont | 623,657 | 86 | 14% |
| 2 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 541 | 13% |
| 3 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 170 | 13% |
| 4 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 143 | 13% |
| 5 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 847 | 12% |
| 6 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 645 | 12% |
| 7 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 80 | 12% |
| 8 | Nebraska | 1,920,076 | 208 | 11% |
| 9 | Delaware | 961,939 | 108 | 11% |
| 10 | California | 39,536,653 | 3,955 | 10% |
| 11 | Pennsylvania | 12,805,537 | 1,287 | 10% |
| 12 | New Jersey | 9,005,644 | 909 | 10% |
| 13 | Colorado | 5,607,154 | 584 | 10% |
| 14 | South Dakota | 869,666 | 85 | 10% |
| 15 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 741 | 9% |
| 16 | Missouri | 6,113,532 | 523 | 9% |
| 17 | Utah | 3,101,833 | 274 | 9% |
| 18 | New Mexico | 2,088,070 | 185 | 9% |
| 19 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 93 | 9% |
| 20 | Wyoming | 579,315 | 54 | 9% |
Most common cities for research biostatisticians
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pasadena | 4 | 3% | $92,556 |
| 2 | Bethesda | 1 | 2% | $98,685 |
| 3 | Downers Grove | 1 | 2% | $85,783 |
| 4 | Iowa City | 1 | 1% | $50,583 |
| 5 | Boston | 1 | 0% | $100,251 |
| 6 | Chicago | 1 | 0% | $86,119 |
| 7 | Glendale | 1 | 0% | $88,467 |
Research Biostatistician job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of research biostatistician experts
San Francisco State University
Bowling Green State University
Georgetown University
Pennsylvania State University - Great Valley School of Graduate Professional Studies
The University of Tennessee - Martin
Saint Peter's University
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Park University
Butler University
University of Northern Colorado
University of New Haven
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University
University of Houston - Clear Lake
University of Evansville
What general advice would you give to a Research Biostatistician?
Luella Fu: Statistics is an amazing profession to enter now because the amount of data being collected and stored is always increasing. This makes Statistics a high-demand skill not just now but also in the future. The data is also of a huge variety: sports, medical, environmental, and business being just a few kinds. This means that a Statistician can use Statistics as a tool to explore almost field they want. It’s an incredibly versatile profession. You can also get an industry after a Bachelors, Master’s or PhD, so there is also flexibility in how much training you choose to undergo.
What Research 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 will help Research Biostatisticians increase their earning potential?
Luella Fu: It varies depending on if you’re an academic or an industry professional, but I think a common theme for all entry-level statisticians is that they’re going to be pulling data out of storage, finding ways to visualize it, and finding ways to summarize it. They’ll usually have very specific goals in mind, either to answer a research or business question, and so they’ll spend quite some time just thinking about what the data is answering and how to showcase the data in the way that best answers those important questions.
John Chen
Professor of StatisticsBowling Green State University
Biomathematics, Bioinformatics, And Computational Biology
What general advice would you give to a Research 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 Research 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 Research 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 Research 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 Research 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 Research 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.
What will help Research Biostatisticians increase their earning potential?
Dina Abudaih: Acquiring in-demand skills, staying up to date with the latest technologies and trends in the industry will boost earning potential. Focusing on acquiring skills in areas such as AI, machine learning, data science , cyber security, cloud computing, and blockchain, because these fields generally offer higher-paying opportunities. Pursuing higher education and certifications is also a great way to maximize one's salary potential and don't forget to negotiate your salary, focusing on the value you bring to the company. You will be surprised how much more you can earn by negotiating.
What will help Research Biostatisticians increase their earning potential?
Bernd Schroeder: You want to be one who solves problems, not one who causes them. Ask for help when you need it, but also freely lend your help to others. You want to be one whose good front is backed by solid performance and to whom people look for help. The hardest part is to commit, but to not overcommit to the point where the quality of your work suffers.
What general advice would you give to a Research Biostatistician?
David Gerberry Ph.D.: Data Science is a very hot area that is adjacent to mathematics. Including some programming and statistical skills in addition to your formal mathematical training will position to understand the inner workings of artificial intelligence and put you in front of people from other disciplines who are just users of this type of technology.
What Research Biostatistician skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
David Gerberry Ph.D.: Keep in mind one of the greatest virtues of your background is that the critical thinking and problem-solving skills developed in studying mathematics are a unique asset in just about any career. While it is stressful for students to see that very few job postings will say "mathematician," the flexibility to pivot and succeed in many different careers is a major strength.
What will help Research Biostatisticians increase their earning potential?
David Gerberry Ph.D.: Again, right at the start one can maximize their salary by having some Data Science, programming, and statistical background in addition to their Mathematics training.
What general advice would you give to a Research Biostatistician?
Raghu Sangwan: Before you graduate, engage in experiential learning through internships or work on industry-sponsored projects. In addition to technical skills, develop soft skills such as communication, problem-solving, and teamwork. Showcase your skills and abilities through a personal website. Network and build relationships with professionals in the field by attending industry events and joining professional organizations. These activities can provide valuable insights, mentorship and job opportunities that can lead to higher-paying jobs.
What Research Biostatistician skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Raghu Sangwan: Information science is a broad field encompassing areas such as information systems architecture, cybersecurity, business process integration, data science and analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence. Identify your interests and strengths, then specialize in a specific area that aligns with your career goals.
Dr. Rachel Tatarski Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of PracticeThe University of Tennessee - Martin
Sports, Kinesiology, And Physical Education/Fitness
What general advice would you give to a Research Biostatistician?
Dr. Rachel Tatarski Ph.D.: Be curious and ready to continue learning. As someone who is just beginning their career, it can feel like you need to know every detail, but there's still going to be a lot to learn. Things change, we create new technologies, we learn new ways of doing things. Being able to adapt to those changes will be an important skill for any job.
What Research Biostatistician skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dr. Rachel Tatarski Ph.D.: I believe the use of artificial intelligence will become a normal part of many jobs. So, being able to understand the advantages, disadvantages, and limitations of AI will set you apart from others entering the workforce. BUT, you will still need to be able to learn and adapt, and you will still need to rely on your own critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
What will help Research Biostatisticians increase their earning potential?
Dr. Rachel Tatarski Ph.D.: Look for additional badges, credentials, certifications, and/or licensures that can set you apart from the crowd. For example, a physical therapist with a sports medicine residency will be more competitive than someone without when applying to sports-focused physical therapy positions. LinkedIn Learning and Coursera are also great ways to develop new skills or become even better at ones you already have.
What general advice would you give to a Research Biostatistician?
Nickolas Kintos PhD: Be prepared for job interviews, keep up to date with skills in demand, relevant developments in the field, and communicate effectively.
What Research Biostatistician skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Nickolas Kintos PhD: It depends on the area a recent graduate wants to pursue. Some areas may require more than a bachelor's degree and involve more sophisticated mathematics.
What will help Research Biostatisticians increase their earning potential?
Nickolas Kintos PhD: Don't think that you have to limit yourself to specific areas. Mathematics is used in many different fields. Keep your options open.
What general advice would you give to a Research Biostatistician?
Fritz Breithaupt: Adding the word "cognitive" to your profile is already a good start. Cognitive science is a small field of high demand. Another feature often forgotten is "vision." If you can provide a vision of the big picture of what you want to accomplish and what you bring to an employer, they can see how you will rise.
What Research Biostatistician skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Fritz Breithaupt: Critical thinking, independent thinking, human-centered thinking. AI, such as ChatGPT, is already doing amazing work with programming and with communication. Programming in particular will undergo quick transformations and may become less relevant for many jobs. To be sure, excellent programmers will remain highly relevant. However, what will now become a core feature on the job market is to bring in all aspects of the human-perspective. To see things from many perspectives. Asking good questions. Active listening skills. Storytelling.
What will help Research Biostatisticians increase their earning potential?
Fritz Breithaupt: Know your skills! Cognitive scientists are at an amazing intersection of data skills and flexible thinking. In job domains where complex thinking is required, cognitive scientists add data competence. In the area of data science, they add flexible, creative, and independent thinking.
What Research Biostatistician skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Devin Burns: The internet and AI are making relevant facts more accessible every day, so memorizing information is becoming less useful. You need to know which conclusions are well supported by the facts, and which are more tenuous. What conclusions would be most worth knowing? What would need to be done to validate them? These are skills that experimental psychology graduates specialize in, and that are broadly useful to many careers.
What will help Research Biostatisticians increase their earning potential?
Devin Burns: It can be more lucrative to learn what you can in a particular job and then move on to a new opportunity instead of slowly working your way up through the ranks. When doing so, however, be sure to craft a consistent narrative about what your important skills are, rather than having a resume filled with odd jobs.
What Research Biostatistician skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Andrew Johnson Ph.D.: Within the classroom - build skills, e.g., critical thinking, knowledge of the discipline, finding appropriate literature, and discerning truth. Outside of the classroom - get involved to build people skills and leadership experience. Build your social network to maximize opportunities and to lay a foundation of competence, and take advantage of internships/ field placements to obtain hands-on skills.
What will help Research Biostatisticians increase their earning potential?
Andrew Johnson Ph.D.: Advocate for a higher salary/ wage before hiring on. This means the person needs to have a sense of earnings and benefits first. This will be easier if there is evidence justifying an increase at the onset. Also, prepare to switch places of employment about every 3 years. The additional experience at the present position will result in being more competitive for other positions and jump a person higher/ faster. Organizational loyalty has gone the way of company pension plans.
Dr. Lee Farquhar
Associate ProfessorButler University
Radio, Television, And Digital Communication
What Research 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.
Khalil Shafie
Dr.University of Northern Colorado
Mathematics And Statistics
What will help Research Biostatisticians increase their earning potential?
Khalil Shafie: For a graduate beginning their career in Statistics, I'd advise focusing on building a strong foundation in both theoretical and practical aspects of statistics and seeking opportunities for hands-on experiences
What general advice would you give to a Research Biostatistician?
Timothy Dowling: Sophisticated machine learning and artificial intelligence tools applied to physics and astronomy's large data sets will become widespread and you will have the opportunity to help shape how these tools are used and developed in the next 3-5 years.
What will help Research Biostatisticians increase their earning potential?
Timothy Dowling: If you are embarking on a successful research career in a physics or astronomy related field, then a good salary will take care of itself as you concentrate on making and sharing your discoveries. If instead, you are concerned about salary, then you will be finding success in a non-research endeavor by getting certified in sought-after skill sets.
Dr. Shivanjali Khare
Assistant ProfessorUniversity of New Haven
Computer Science
What Research Biostatistician skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dr. Shivanjali Khare: I think Natural language processing (NLP) , deploying and building AI in production (MLOps), cybersecurity, and multi-cloud management with domain expertise are some important and prevalent skills in the next 3-5 years.
Peter Aiken
Associate Professor of Information Systems/Founding DirectorVirginia Commonwealth University
Information Science/Studies
What will help Research Biostatisticians increase their earning potential?
Peter Aiken: It is not enough to tell potential employers that you want to be a data scientist. They need to see that you also have a desire to help their business. For example, if your passion is around health care outcomes, then you should position yourself as a Health Care Data Scientist and demonstrate that your class projects and extracurricular activities show how you are able to contribute to the field as well as the potential employer's business.
Dr. Joseph Reiner
ProfessorVirginia Commonwealth University
Nanotechnology
What general advice would you give to a Research Biostatistician?
Dr. Joseph Reiner: In physics and other science fields, I would say that continuing to learn beyond your school years is important. Fields are changing all the time, but there is some stability in the fact that learning more about computers, math, data analysis and other technical components of your field of study will always keep you relevant.
Dr. David Garrison
Associate Dean for the College of Science and Engineering, Professor and Founding Chair of PhysicsUniversity of Houston - Clear Lake
Physics
What Research Biostatistician skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dr. David Garrison: The ability to learn new things quickly. Technology is changing quickly so the ability to become an "instant expert" in a brand new field is extremely valuable. For example, Machine Learning has only recently become popular but there are a lot of Physics Majors that became Machine Learning experts only recently because of their ability to adapt and learn.
What will help Research Biostatisticians increase their earning potential?
Dr. David Garrison: Become invaluable. Learn what you can contribute to an organization that fits your strengths and talents. If everyone else can do it, it shouldn't be something you are spending much time on.
Dr. Elizabeth Hennon
Associate ProfessorUniversity of Evansville
Cognitive Science
What general advice would you give to a Research Biostatistician?
Dr. Elizabeth Hennon: ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT YOU HAVE TRAINING IN MULTIPLE AREAS FOR A REASON - THE BENEFIT OF A MULTIDISCIPLINARY DEGREE IS IN THE FLEXIBILITY IT PROVIDES YOU IN BOTH PROBLEM-SOLVING STRATEGIES AND IN POTENTIAL CAREER PATHS. USE ALL OF YOUR TRAINING TO ALLOW YOU TO THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX AT TIMES WHEN CHOOSING THE BEST OPTION FOR A JOB.
What Research Biostatistician skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dr. Elizabeth Hennon: AS AN INTERDISCIPLINARY FIELD, GRADUATES MOVE IN WIDELY VARYING DIRECTIONS. HOWEVER, SOME OF THE KEY COMPONENTS OF THE COGNITIVE SCIENCE DEGREE CAN HELP YOU LAND AT THE UPPER END OF PAY RANGES WITHIN EACH AREA. COMPUTER PROGRAMMING ABILITIES, ANALYTICAL SKILLS, AND STATISTICAL UNDERSTANDING ARE ALL HIGHLY PRIZED WITHIN MANY CAREER PATHS. ENSURING THAT YOUR RESUME (AND INTERVIEW) CLARIFY YOUR SKILLS IN EACH AREA AND EMPHASIZE HOW YOUR ADVANCED SKILLS IN ___ WILL HELP YOU IN THAT SPECIFIC JOB IS ONE WAY TO RECEIVE LARGER STARTING SALARIES. ADDITIONALLY, DURING THE INTERVIEW, DEMONSTRATING HOW YOU CAN COMBINE SKILLS FROM MULTIPLE FIELDS TO WORK TOWARDS THE POSITION OF INTEREST WILL SHOW THAT YOU ARE ABLE TO PROVIDE THE COMPANY WITH MORE BENEFITS THAN A TRADITIONAL, SINGLE-AREA MAJOR, CAN PROVIDE.
What will help Research Biostatisticians increase their earning potential?
Dr. Elizabeth Hennon: HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, AND APP DEVELOPMENT ARE ALL RAPIDLY GROWING AREAS WITHIN THE MORE COMPUTATIONAL SIDE OF COGNITIVE SCIENCE. I EXPECT EACH TO CONTINUE TO EXPAND IN THE NEXT 3 TO 5 YEARS. FOR THE LESS COMPUTATIONAL MINDS, THE ABLIITIES TO ANALYZE INFORMATION, USE DATA-SCIENCE EXPERIENCE AND SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING, AND TO CRITICALLY THINK ABOUT PROBLEMS ARE HALLMARKS OF THESE DEGREES, AND SKILLS THAT WILL ALWAYS BE USEFUL IN MULTIPLE EMPLOYMENT SETTINGS.