1. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
In-State Tuition
$50,420
Enrollment
7,582
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What is a Scientific Illustrator?
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a scientific illustrator. For example, did you know that they make an average of $34.75 an hour? That's $72,277 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 1% and produce 500 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Scientific Illustrator Do
There are certain skills that many scientific illustrators 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 business skills, customer-service skills and artistic ability.
How To Become a Scientific Illustrator
If you're interested in becoming a scientific illustrator, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 81.0% of scientific illustrators have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 7.1% of scientific illustrators have master's degrees. Even though most scientific illustrators have a college degree, it's impossible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Average Salary for a Scientific Illustrator
Scientific Illustrators in America make an average salary of $72,277 per year or $35 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $150,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $34,000 per year.
Average Scientific Illustrator Salary
$72,277 Yearly$34.75 hourly
What Am I Worth?
Roles and Types of Scientific Illustrator
There are several types of scientific illustrator, including:
Technical Illustrator
Role:
Technical illustrators create drawings that show how parts work together. You create these drawings using digital technology and usually work primarily in some engineering field (as that's where stuff gets complicated and needs your skills to help create clear examples).
You can become a freelance technical illustrator without an illustration degree. Many artists in the industry aren't illustration graduates, and most clients will judge you by the quality of the work in your portfolio--not by the degree or diploma that you might or might not have on paper.
Technical illustrators are in demand across various industries, but it is usually up to the illustrators to create this demand. It is the virtue of this demand that the salary paid for this role is relatively high. Technical illustrators in the US typically earn $65,384 per year or $31 per hour.
- Average Salary: $52,828
- Degree: Bachelor's Degree
States With The Most Scientific Illustrator Jobs
Number Of Scientific Illustrator Jobs By State
| Rank | State | Number of Jobs | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 66 | $90,151 |
| 2 | Massachusetts | 54 | $100,011 |
| 3 | New York | 47 | $86,232 |
| 4 | New Jersey | 45 | $91,668 |
| 5 | Illinois | 41 | $76,907 |
| 6 | Pennsylvania | 36 | $81,905 |
| 7 | Washington | 27 | $72,001 |
| 8 | Texas | 23 | $66,009 |
| 9 | Florida | 22 | $61,679 |
| 10 | North Carolina | 21 | $69,492 |
| 11 | Georgia | 19 | $67,416 |
| 12 | Michigan | 15 | $82,917 |
| 13 | Maryland | 11 | $90,429 |
| 14 | Virginia | 10 | $77,251 |
| 15 | Minnesota | 10 | $69,482 |
| 16 | Connecticut | 9 | $101,818 |
| 17 | Ohio | 9 | $84,146 |
| 18 | Arizona | 7 | $75,718 |
| 19 | Utah | 7 | $71,183 |
| 20 | Wisconsin | 7 | $71,563 |
| 21 | Indiana | 7 | $69,158 |
| 22 | Oregon | 7 | $69,568 |
| 23 | New Hampshire | 6 | $98,892 |
| 24 | Iowa | 6 | $71,475 |
| 25 | Oklahoma | 6 | $66,776 |
| 26 | Colorado | 6 | $68,466 |
| 27 | Vermont | 5 | $96,984 |
| 28 | Maine | 5 | $78,859 |
| 29 | Hawaii | 5 | $67,044 |
| 30 | New Mexico | 5 | $67,881 |
| 31 | Missouri | 5 | $70,801 |
| 32 | Tennessee | 5 | $68,113 |
| 33 | Alabama | 5 | $62,193 |
| 34 | Alaska | 4 | $103,923 |
| 35 | Delaware | 4 | $100,346 |
| 36 | Nevada | 4 | $95,542 |
| 37 | North Dakota | 4 | $76,999 |
| 38 | Montana | 4 | $72,280 |
| 39 | Kentucky | 4 | $75,133 |
| 40 | Louisiana | 4 | $74,567 |
| 41 | Mississippi | 4 | $70,838 |
| 42 | Nebraska | 4 | $70,100 |
| 43 | South Carolina | 4 | $72,808 |
| 44 | Kansas | 4 | $68,875 |
| 45 | Idaho | 4 | $65,274 |
| 46 | Arkansas | 4 | $59,528 |
| 47 | Rhode Island | 3 | $101,110 |
| 48 | West Virginia | 3 | $84,177 |
| 49 | South Dakota | 3 | $70,843 |
| 50 | Wyoming | 3 | $60,728 |
Top Colleges for Scientific Illustrators
2. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
In-State Tuition
$54,568
Enrollment
8,451
3. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
In-State Tuition
$51,354
Enrollment
7,083
4. Duke University
Durham, NC • Private
In-State Tuition
$55,695
Enrollment
6,596
5. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
In-State Tuition
$55,584
Enrollment
10,764
6. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI • Private
In-State Tuition
$15,262
Enrollment
30,079
7. Northeastern University
Boston, MA • Private
In-State Tuition
$51,522
Enrollment
13,760
8. Cornell University
Ithaca, NY • Private
In-State Tuition
$55,188
Enrollment
15,105
9. Boston University
Boston, MA • Private
In-State Tuition
$53,948
Enrollment
17,238
10. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-State Tuition
$59,430
Enrollment
8,216
Top Skills For a Scientific Illustrator
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, 50.5% of scientific illustrators listed adobe photoshop on their resume, but soft skills such as business skills and customer-service skills are important as well.
Scientific Illustrator diversity
Scientific Illustrator Gender Distribution
Female
65%
Male
35%
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among scientific illustrators, 64.9% of them are women, while 35.1% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among scientific illustrators is White, which makes up 67.8% of all scientific illustrators.
- The most common foreign language among scientific illustrators is Russian at 28.6%.
Online Courses For Scientific Illustrator That You May Like
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How Do Scientific Illustrators Rate Their Jobs?
Top Scientific Illustrator Employers
Most Common Employers For Scientific Illustrator
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Novartis | $126,858 | $60.99 | 1 |
| 2 | VMFA | $106,648 | $51.27 | 1 |
| 3 | Science Magazine | $106,466 | $51.19 | 1 |
| 4 | UT Southwestern Medical Center | $92,831 | $44.63 | 1 |
| 5 | Smithsonian Institution | $91,777 | $44.12 | 1 |
| 6 | AAAS | $89,435 | $43.00 | 1 |
| 7 | Stanford University | $88,450 | $42.52 | 1 |
| 8 | University of Idaho | $82,674 | $39.75 | 1 |
| 9 | University of Hawaii Foundation | $78,704 | $37.84 | 1 |
| 10 | Wellesley College | $77,677 | $37.34 | 1 |