How much does a biological scientist make?

The average biological scientist salary in the United States is $67,631. Biological scientist salaries typically range between $42,000 and $107,000 yearly. The average hourly rate for biological scientists is $32.51 per hour. Biological scientist salary is impacted by location, education, and experience. Biological scientists earn the highest average salary in Hawaii.

Biological scientist salary

Q: What state pays Biological Scientists the most?

Hawaii pays Biological Scientists the most in the United States, with an average salary of $107,698 per year, or $51.78 per hour.

Q: How do I know if I'm being paid fairly as a biological scientist?

You know if you are being paid fairly as a biological scientist if your pay is close to the average pay for the state you live in. For example, if you live in California you should be paid close to $95,139 per year.

Q: Do biologists get paid well?

Yes, biologists get paid well. The average salary for a biologist in the United States is around $69,000 in a year. The bottom 10% of biologists may only make $40,000 a year in the role; however, the top 10% of biologists make over $120,000 in a year.

Q: Do you need a Ph.D. to be a biologist?

No, you do not need a Ph.D. to be a biologist. While the best paying jobs typically go to people who have a Ph.D., this is not a requirement to work in a position as a biologist. Biology is a fast-growing field with a wide range of high-paying positions. While the highest-paid positions require an extensive amount of training and education, they are also considered highly rewarding jobs both emotionally and financially.

Q: How much do biological scientists at NASA get paid?

Biological scientists at NASA get paid around $61,000 per year. This is higher than the bottom 10% of biological scientists who only make $40,000 a year in the role; however, the top 10% of biological scientists make over $120,000 in a year.

Q: What is the highest-paying biology job?

The highest-paying biology job is for physicians. The average salary for a person who works in the field of biology as a physician is over $200,000 in a year. However, working as a physician requires significantly more education and experience than the typical biology job. For the average biology role, a person can expect the bottom 10% of biologists to only make $40,000 a year in the role; however, the top 10% of biologists make over $120,000 in a year.

Q: What is the lowest salary for a biologist?

The lowest salary for a biological scientist in the United States is around $40,000 in a year. The average salary for all biological scientists is around $69,000 in a year; however, the top 10% of biological scientists make over $120,000 in a year.

Quoted expert

Dr. Howard Whiteman

Average biological scientist salary

$67,631

$32.51 hourly rate

Entry-level biological scientist salary

$42,000 yearly salary

Updated January 8, 2025

Average Biological Scientist Salary

The average salary for a biological scientist in the United States stands at $67,631 per year. This figure reflects the diverse roles within the field, which encompass research, academia, and applied sciences. Salary levels can vary significantly based on factors such as location, years of experience, and specific job responsibilities.

Factors Affecting Salary

Experience plays a crucial role in determining salary. Entry-level biological scientists may start with lower salaries, while those with several years of experience can command significantly higher wages. For example, a mid-career biological scientist typically earns around $80,000 annually, while experienced professionals in senior roles may exceed $100,000.

Regional Insights

Salaries also vary by state. States like California and Massachusetts often offer higher salaries due to their substantial investment in research and biotechnology. Conversely, regions with fewer research facilities may present lower salary averages.

Career Opportunities

In addition to traditional research roles, biological scientists may find opportunities in regulatory affairs, quality control, and environmental consulting, each with its own salary range. Exploring these options can lead to rewarding career paths and competitive compensation.

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Biological scientist salary by:

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Where can a Biological Scientist earn more?

Compare salary by location

117k

97k

77k

57k

37k

17k

Columbus, OH$103,627

Saint Petersburg, FL$47,109

Compare salary by company

114k

94k

74k

54k

Schrödinger Inc$97,646

Pfizer$83,531

Biological scientist salaries by experience level

Experience level	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
Entry-level biological scientist	$61,100	$29.40
Mid-level biological scientist	$69,900	$33.62
Senior-level biological scientist	$78,700	$37.85

Biological scientist salary estimates from across the web

Based on the latest salary information compiled by Zippia, Salary.com, Glassdoor, SalaryExpert, Comparably and Payscale, the average salary for a biological scientist typically falls between $47,260 and $83,838.

zippia

$67,631yearly

glassdoor[1]

$73,186yearly

comparably[2]

$47,260yearly

Salary.com[3]

$83,838yearly

payscale[4]

$57,259yearly

SalaryExpert[5]

$79,838yearly

Average biological scientist salary by state

The average biological scientist salary in Hawaii, California, and Washington are the highest in the U.S. The lowest average biological scientist salary states are Delaware, Tennessee, and Alabama.

State view
County view

Average salary:

Highest paying states for biological scientists

Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
1	California	$95,139	$45.74
2	Washington	$87,077	$41.86
3	Hawaii	$107,698	$51.78
4	Massachusetts	$83,011	$39.91
5	Maryland	$82,212	$39.52
6	Vermont	$79,925	$38.43
7	New Jersey	$77,378	$37.20
8	New Hampshire	$78,834	$37.90
9	Nevada	$83,855	$40.31
10	Utah	$77,257	$37.14
11	New York	$76,195	$36.63
12	North Carolina	$70,779	$34.03
13	New Mexico	$72,737	$34.97
14	Oregon	$75,263	$36.18
15	South Carolina	$75,951	$36.51
16	Connecticut	$70,226	$33.76
17	Alaska	$71,280	$34.27
18	Maine	$70,640	$33.96
19	Arizona	$73,351	$35.26
20	Virginia	$67,748	$32.57
21	West Virginia	$68,052	$32.72
22	Pennsylvania	$63,529	$30.54
23	Idaho	$66,896	$32.16
24	Illinois	$67,008	$32.22
25	Montana	$62,630	$30.11
26	South Dakota	$59,566	$28.64
27	Colorado	$65,613	$31.54
28	North Dakota	$60,891	$29.27
29	Texas	$65,461	$31.47
30	Iowa	$64,157	$30.84
31	Kentucky	$63,234	$30.40
32	Nebraska	$62,874	$30.23
33	Missouri	$62,106	$29.86
34	Kansas	$60,899	$29.28
35	Oklahoma	$61,985	$29.80
36	Georgia	$60,844	$29.25
37	Arkansas	$61,044	$29.35
38	Wyoming	$55,086	$26.48
39	Delaware	$49,799	$23.94
40	Michigan	$57,530	$27.66
41	Rhode Island	$53,102	$25.53
42	Ohio	$57,968	$27.87
43	Minnesota	$53,932	$25.93
44	Mississippi	$59,538	$28.62
45	District of Columbia	$48,231	$23.19
46	Louisiana	$57,825	$27.80
47	Wisconsin	$47,561	$22.87
48	Tennessee	$49,239	$23.67
49	Alabama	$49,086	$23.60
50	Florida	$46,428	$22.32
51	Indiana	$46,949	$22.57

Top biological scientist jobs near you

Highest paying cities for biological scientists

The highest-paying cities for biological scientists are San Francisco, CA, Seattle, WA, and Boston, MA.

Rank	City	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
1	San Francisco, CA	$103,627	$49.82
2	Seattle, WA	$87,762	$42.19
3	Boston, MA	$83,142	$39.97
4	Rockville, MD	$81,637	$39.25
5	Newark, NJ	$77,683	$37.35
6	New York, NY	$76,209	$36.64
7	Durham, NC	$72,560	$34.88
8	North Chicago, IL	$67,388	$32.40
9	Boulder, CO	$65,567	$31.52
10	Austin, TX	$65,548	$31.51
11	Atlanta, GA	$61,122	$29.39
12	Ann Arbor, MI	$57,270	$27.53
13	Newark, DE	$49,816	$23.95
14	Saint Petersburg, FL	$47,109	$22.65

Biological scientist salary details

A biological scientist's salary ranges from $42,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $107,000 at the 90th percentile.

Average biological scientist salary graph, trends, and summary

What is a biological scientist's salary?

Percentile	Annual salary	Monthly salary	Hourly rate
90th Percentile	$107,000	$8,917	$51
75th Percentile	$86,000	$7,167	$41
Average	$67,631	$5,636	$33
25th Percentile	$52,000	$4,333	$25
10th Percentile	$42,000	$3,500	$20

Highest paying biological scientist jobs

The highest paying types of biological scientists are senior scientist, scientist, and staff scientist.

Job title	Annual salary	Monthly salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
Research Fellow	$53,823	$4,485	$25.88	59,746
Research Technician	$43,034	$3,586	$20.69	64,786
Research Laboratory Technician	$38,308	$3,192	$18.42	86,476
Chemist	$64,961	$5,413	$31.23	20,221
Laboratory Analyst	$44,024	$3,669	$21.17	44,074
Research And Development Scientist	$90,278	$7,523	$43.40	129,803

How would you rate the starting salaries for biological scientists, as well as the prospects for salary advancement?

Dr. Howard Whiteman

Professor of Biological Sciences, Director of the Watershed Studies Institute, Murray State University

Poor. Right now, people in these fields are not in it for the money; they do it because they have a passion for conservation, or science, or both. I do not see that changing shortly, but hope springs eternal.

Top companies hiring biological scientists now:

Which companies pay biological scientists the most?

Biological scientist salaries at Schrödinger and Biogen are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average biological scientist salary at companies like PTC Therapeutics and BioMarin are highly competitive.

Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate
1	Schrödinger Inc	$97,646	$46.95
2	Biogen	$96,312	$46.30
3	PTC Therapeutics	$95,004	$45.67
4	BioMarin	$94,417	$45.39
5	Sarepta Therapeutics	$93,907	$45.15
6	Novartis	$92,633	$44.54
7	PRO Unlimited	$92,007	$44.23
8	Eli Lilly and Company	$91,983	$44.22
9	Novo Nordisk	$91,919	$44.19
10	AbbVie	$90,927	$43.71
11	Amgen	$90,566	$43.54
12	Bristol-Myers Squibb	$90,319	$43.42
13	AstraZeneca	$88,951	$42.76
14	Regeneron	$88,568	$42.58
15	Allergan plc	$86,609	$41.64
16	Intellia Therapeutics	$86,546	$41.61
17	Vertex Pharmaceuticals	$86,026	$41.36
18	Merck	$85,831	$41.26
19	Legacy Health	$84,373	$40.56
20	Pfizer	$83,531	$40.16

Wage gap by gender, race and education

$74,000$73,600$73,200$72,800$72,400$72,000

MaleFemale

Biological Scientist salary by industry

The average biological scientist salary varies across industries:

The average biological scientist salary in the pharmaceutical industry is $80,567, the highest of any industry.
The average biological scientist salary in the finance industry is $78,713.
Biological scientists in the education industry earn an average salary of $45,574, the lowest of any industry.

Highest paying industries for biological scientists

Rank	Industry	Average salary	Hourly rate
1	Pharmaceutical	$80,567	$38.73
2	Manufacturing	$78,713	$37.84
3	Health Care	$71,758	$34.50
4	Government	$70,067	$33.69
5	Education	$45,574	$21.91

High paying biological scientist jobs

Biological scientist salary trends

The average biological scientist salary has risen by $11,498 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average biological scientist earned $56,133 annually, but today, they earn $67,631 a year. That works out to a 14% change in pay for biological scientists over the last decade.

Compare biological scientist salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.

Average biological scientist salary over time

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

Biological scientist salary by year

Year	Avg. salary	Hourly rate	% Change
2025	$67,600	$32.52	+3.6%
2024	$65,200	$31.34	+3.2%
2023	$63,100	$30.34	+3.6%
2022	$60,800	$29.24	+2.5%
2021	$59,300	$28.51	-0.5%

Recently added biological scientist salaries

Company	Job	Location	Date added	Salary
Legend Biotech	Scientist, Molecular Biology	Philadelphia, PA	06/29/2025	$93,463
Eli Lilly and Company	Postdoctoral Scientist-Renal Biology	Indianapolis, IN	06/27/2025	$58,000
State of Florida	Biological Scientist IV 1	Tallahassee, FL	06/27/2025	$49,585
University of Florida	Biological Scientist III-Molecular, Cellular, and In Vivo Biology To Develop Therapies for Genetic	Gainesville, FL	06/26/2025	$53,000
Lesaffre Group Openings	Synthetic and Systems Biology Scientist I	Bedford, MA	06/14/2025	$100,000
Lesaffre Group	Synthetic and Systems Biology Scientist I	Bedford, MA	06/13/2025	$100,000
Deciphera Pharmaceuticals	Scientist II, Biological Sciences	Lawrence, KS	06/11/2025	$83,000
Gilead Sciences, Inc.	Scientist, Inflammation Biology	Foster City, CA	06/03/2025	$146,540
University of Florida	Biological Scientist III-Pediatric Child Health Research Institute	Gainesville, FL	05/29/2025	$60,000
Xaira Therapeutics	Scientist, High Throughput Biology	South San Francisco, CA	05/28/2025	$120,000

Biological scientist salary FAQs

What state pays Biological Scientists the most?

How do I know if I'm being paid fairly as a biological scientist?

Do biologists get paid well?

Do you need a Ph.D. to be a biologist?

How much do biological scientists at NASA get paid?

What is the highest-paying biology job?

What is the lowest salary for a biologist?

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

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Biological Scientist Salary

Updated January 8, 2025

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