Scientific Writer Salary

Updated April 6, 2023

Scientific Writer Salary Estimate

$99,550

$47.86 hourly

Entry level Salary

$66,000 yearly

$66,00010%

$99,550Median

$150,00090%

How much does a Scientific Writer make?

The average salary for a scientific writer in the United States is $99,550. Scientific writer salaries typically range between $66,000 and $150,000 a year. The average hourly rate for scientific writers is $47.86 per hour.

Location, education, and experience impacts how much a scientific writer can expect to make. Scientific writers make the most in Virginia, Arizona, California, New Jersey, and Massachusetts.

Research Summary.

The average salary for a scientific writer is $99,550 in the US.
The average scientific writer salary ranges between $66,000 and $150,000 in the US.
Hourly rates for scientific writers in the US typically range between $31 and $72 an hour.
The average scientific writer salary is $117,340 in Virginia, $115,911 in Arizona, and $110,398 in California. These are the three highest-paying states for scientific writers in the US.
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center has the highest average salary for scientific writers.
Pharmaceutical is the highest-paying industry for scientific writers in the US.

Highest Paying States For Scientific Writers

Throughout the U.S., the average salary for a scientific writer is roughly $99,550 per year, which boils down to $47.86 per hour. Interestingly enough, scientific writers have the highest salaries in Richmond, VA at about $117,342 per year. For those who are just starting out, the average entry-level salary in Richmond, VA is $78,000. Additionally, scientific writers make more than the average salary in Menlo Park, CA, Hackensack, NJ, Worcester, MA, New York, NY, and Bethesda, MD. On a more broad level, scientific writer salaries are highest in Virginia, Arizona, California, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. On the contrary, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Nebraska offer the lowest scientific writer salaries.

State View
County View

Average Salary:

Scientific Writer average salary by State

Rank	State	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Count
1	District of Columbia	$137,045	$65.89	194
2	Virginia	$117,340	$56.41	345
3	Massachusetts	$104,656	$50.32	373
4	New Jersey	$109,419	$52.61	222
5	California	$110,398	$53.08	987
6	Arizona	$115,911	$55.73	110
7	Vermont	$97,329	$46.79	26
8	Connecticut	$99,795	$47.98	76
9	Pennsylvania	$98,980	$47.59	215
10	New Hampshire	$97,650	$46.95	36
11	North Carolina	$94,627	$45.49	218
12	Michigan	$97,501	$46.88	137
13	New York	$95,473	$45.90	572
14	Nevada	$91,628	$44.05	52
15	Maryland	$93,448	$44.93	317
16	Wyoming	$84,714	$40.73	29
17	Rhode Island	$88,842	$42.71	28
18	Oregon	$89,459	$43.01	165
19	Alaska	$89,312	$42.94	27
20	Washington	$90,519	$43.52	225
21	Illinois	$87,955	$42.29	323
22	Delaware	$88,222	$42.41	34
23	Minnesota	$88,537	$42.57	142
24	North Dakota	$88,714	$42.65	14
25	Florida	$89,587	$43.07	311
26	Texas	$87,339	$41.99	322
27	Ohio	$86,544	$41.61	129
28	Louisiana	$86,411	$41.54	26
29	Wisconsin	$81,410	$39.14	95
30	Indiana	$81,301	$39.09	88
31	New Mexico	$81,558	$39.21	39
32	Georgia	$83,086	$39.95	177
33	Hawaii	$81,150	$39.01	23
34	Colorado	$81,321	$39.10	133
35	Utah	$76,688	$36.87	98
36	Tennessee	$79,157	$38.06	65
37	Missouri	$79,433	$38.19	106
38	West Virginia	$76,053	$36.56	20
39	Alabama	$78,564	$37.77	46
40	Montana	$76,290	$36.68	24
41	South Carolina	$77,816	$37.41	54
42	Arkansas	$74,783	$35.95	40
43	Kansas	$75,525	$36.31	45
44	Maine	$76,672	$36.86	19
45	Nebraska	$70,454	$33.87	48
46	Idaho	$69,122	$33.23	32
47	Mississippi	$74,258	$35.70	18
48	Kentucky	$73,453	$35.31	38
49	Oklahoma	$72,164	$34.69	39
50	South Dakota	$68,957	$33.15	14
51	Iowa	$69,622	$33.47	40

Highest Paying Cities For Scientific Writers

Rank	City	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Count
1	Richmond, VA	$117,342	$56.41	1
2	Menlo Park, CA	$113,479	$54.56
3	Hackensack, NJ	$109,479	$52.63
4	Worcester, MA	$104,764	$50.37
5	New York, NY	$95,777	$46.05
6	Bethesda, MD	$93,362	$44.89	1
7	Reno, NV	$93,339	$44.87
8	Seattle, WA	$91,442	$43.96
9	Miami, FL	$89,192	$42.88	1
10	Chicago, IL	$88,414	$42.51
11	Houston, TX	$87,686	$42.16
12	Saint Louis, MO	$80,391	$38.65	1
13	Memphis, TN	$77,968	$37.48	1
14	Birmingham, AL	$77,890	$37.45

Scientific Writer Salary by Years of Experience

The salary for a scientific writer can vary depending on the years of experience that a person has, from entry level to senior level. An accountant with 0-2 years of experience earns an average salary of $67,536, a mid-career professional with 3-6 years of experience makes $99,550 a year on average, and a senior level accountant with 7-12 years of experience enjoys an average annual salary of $147,753. Data on how experience level affects total compensation is provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) as part of their National Compensation Survey, which is based on factors such as knowledge, complexity, contacts, and environment.

Scientific Writer Salary By Experience Level

Experience Level	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate
Entry Level	$67,500	$32.47
Mid Level	$108,000	$51.75
Senior Level	$148,000	$71.04

Scientific Writers Salary Details

Average Scientific Writer Salary Graph, Trends, and Summary

What is a Scientific Writer's Salary?

Percentile	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate
90th Percentile	$150,000	$12,500	$72
75th Percentile	$123,000	$10,250	$59
Average	$99,550	$8,296	$48
25th Percentile	$80,000	$6,667	$38
10th Percentile	$66,000	$5,500	$32

Highest Paying Types of Scientific Writers

Job Title	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
Journalist	$60,828	$5,069	$29.24	11,488
Publisher	$71,539	$5,962	$34.39	10,303
Editor	$52,107	$4,342	$25.05	15,115
News Editor	$53,822	$4,485	$25.88	12,484
Managing Editor	$89,060	$7,422	$42.82	16,781
Proposal Writer	$68,706	$5,725	$33.03	18,125

Here are the five companies hiring the most now:

Which Companies Pay Scientific Writers The Most?

The highest paying companies for scientific writers are Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Methodist Hospital Of Henderson, Kentucky according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, companies like Bristol-Myers Squibb and Fred Hutch report highly competitive wages for scientific writers.

Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
1	Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center	$143,093	$68.79
2	Methodist Hospital Of Henderson, Kentucky	$117,973	$56.72
3	Bristol-Myers Squibb	$117,166	$56.33	9
4	Fred Hutch	$105,659	$50.80
5	FleishmanHillard	$105,550	$50.75
6	Parexel International	$103,994	$50.00	1
7	Medimmune	$101,417	$48.76
8	Charles River Labs	$96,234	$46.27
9	UMiami Health System	$95,759	$46.04
10	Houston Methodist	$94,585	$45.47	3
11	Pharmaceutical Product Development	$93,661	$45.03
12	UC Santa Barbara	$93,479	$44.94
13	St. Jude Children's Research Hospital	$91,610	$44.04	4
14	Champions Oncology	$90,868	$43.69
15	City of Hope	$90,860	$43.68
16	Henry M. Jackson Foundation	$89,193	$42.88
17	Charles River Center	$83,246	$40.02
18	University of Massachusetts Medical School	$82,524	$39.67	2
19	Globus Medical	$80,503	$38.70
20	University of Washington	$78,411	$37.70	9

Scientific Writer Pay Trends

Average Scientific Writer Salary Over Time

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

Scientific Writer Salary By Year

Year	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	% Change
2023	$99,500	$47.86	+2.4%
2022	$97,100	$46.71	+1.4%
2021	$95,800	$46.07	+1.3%
2020	$94,600	$45.48	+1.5%
2019	$93,100	$44.78	-0.6%

Recently Added Scientific Writer Salaries

Company	Job	Location	Date Added	Salary
The University of Oklahoma Human Resources	Scientific Writer/Editor	Oklahoma City, OK	05/04/2023	$60,400
Washington University In St. Louis	Scientific Writer-Psychiatry	Saint Louis, MO	05/01/2023	$50,500
Inotiv	Scientific Writer	Westminster, CO	04/28/2023	$69,700
Stanford University	Lifestyle Medicine Scientific Writer & Program Manager (Hybrid)	Redwood City, CA	04/26/2023	$75,000
The University of Oklahoma Human Resources	Scientific Writer/Editor	Oklahoma City, OK	04/10/2023	$60,400
Inotiv	Scientific Writer II	Westminster, CO	04/05/2023	$69,700
Envigo RMS, LLC	Scientific Writer II	Westminster, CO	04/04/2023	$69,700
Envigo RMS, LLC	Scientific Writer	Westminster, CO	04/04/2023	$69,700
Virginia Commonwealth University	Protocol/Scientific Writer-Massey Cancer Center	Richmond, VA	03/30/2023	$65,000
Washington University In St. Louis	Scientific Writer-Psychiatry	Saint Louis, MO	03/30/2023	$50,500

Scientific Writer Salaries FAQs

What State Pays Scientific Writers The Most?

Virginia pays Scientific Writers the most in the United States, with an average salary of $137,045 per year, or $65.89 per hour.

How Do I Know If I'm Being Paid Fairly As A Scientific Writer?

You know if you are being paid fairly as a Scientific Writer if your pay is close to the average pay for the state you live in. For example, if you live in Virginia you should be paid close to $117,340 per year.

Have more questions? See all answers to common arts, entertainment, sports, and media questions.

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Updated April 6, 2023