Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
Job outlook for senior materials scientists in the United States
Are senior materials scientist jobs in demand?
Senior materials scientist job and salary trends over time
Senior materials scientist jobs over time
Senior materials scientist job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2,891 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 2,995 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 2,899 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 3,340 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 3,228 | 0.00% |
Average senior materials scientist salary over time
Senior materials scientist salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $102,039 | $49.06 | +2.7% |
| 2024 | $99,320 | $47.75 | --3.0% |
| 2023 | $102,388 | $49.23 | +0.3% |
| 2022 | $102,111 | $49.09 | +0.1% |
| 2021 | $102,008 | $49.04 | +9.3% |
Senior materials scientist jobs by state
Most common states for senior materials scientists
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 888 | 15% |
| 2 | Delaware | 961,939 | 139 | 14% |
| 3 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 1,078 | 13% |
| 4 | South Dakota | 869,666 | 103 | 12% |
| 5 | New Jersey | 9,005,644 | 978 | 11% |
| 6 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 152 | 11% |
| 7 | North Dakota | 755,393 | 83 | 11% |
| 8 | Vermont | 623,657 | 68 | 11% |
| 9 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 676 | 10% |
| 10 | North Carolina | 10,273,419 | 899 | 9% |
| 11 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 94 | 9% |
| 12 | Alaska | 739,795 | 64 | 9% |
| 13 | Wyoming | 579,315 | 50 | 9% |
| 14 | Pennsylvania | 12,805,537 | 976 | 8% |
| 15 | Connecticut | 3,588,184 | 292 | 8% |
| 16 | Utah | 3,101,833 | 247 | 8% |
| 17 | New Mexico | 2,088,070 | 162 | 8% |
| 18 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 90 | 8% |
| 19 | Illinois | 12,802,023 | 866 | 7% |
| 20 | Maine | 1,335,907 | 93 | 7% |
Most common cities for senior materials scientists
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ridgefield | 1 | 4% | $116,808 |
Senior Materials Scientist job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of senior materials scientist experts
Purdue University
Quinnipiac University
Doverspike Consulting/HR LItehouse
Robert Morris University
What general advice would you give to a Senior Materials Scientist?
Nikhilesh Chawla: Prioritize your education. Having a Bachelor’s is great but you will be able to do much more interesting work AND have a higher salary with a Master’s or PhD.
What Senior Materials Scientist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Nikhilesh Chawla: Make sure you are passionate about what you do. Great careers should not feel like a ‘job’. Try to learn as much as you can, be curious, and engaged. Networking with folks in your field and choosing 1-2 or mentors to help guide you would be good too.
What will help Senior Materials Scientists increase their earning potential?
Nikhilesh Chawla: Materials Science and Engineering has changed quite a bit in the last few years. In a lot of companies, it used to be a lot of fabrication of a material followed by testing. Now, we have amazing microscopy as well as computation tools. AI is becoming an important part of our field, as is x-ray microscopy to nondestructively study materials under stress, thermal, or electrical conditions.
Lisa Cuchara Ph.D.
Professor of Biomedical SciencesQuinnipiac University
Microbiological Sciences And Immunology
What Senior Materials Scientist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Lisa Cuchara Ph.D.: The first and foremost would be Critical Thinking. We live in a world where facts can be easily acquired, sometimes even by asking Siri/Alexa/ChatGPT/Google/etc. But critical thinking is timeless and priceless. I can ask anyone on the street what xyz is and they can look it up, but can they provide advice or interpret.
Also being a good steward towards science and being willing and able to communicate not just with peers as we are trained, but also with the public, the politicians, the board members. John Holdren*, stated that Scientists should be tithing at least 10 percent of their time to public service ... including activism. In the ever growing science denialism that is happening in our country being able to communicate science with the public is important. As Peter Hotaz states, "Anti-science propaganda is "killing Americans in unprecedented numbers,""
*Holdren is an American scientist who served as the senior advisor to President Barack Obama on science and technology issues through his roles as assistant to the president for science and technology, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and co-chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and a Research Professor in Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government
Zippia Expert
What skills stand out on Senior Materials Scientist resumes?
Zippia Expert : They depend on the company and job they apply to
What soft skills should all Senior Materials Scientists possess?
Zippia Expert : Working in a team and communication, in my opinion.
What hard/technical skills are most important for Senior Materials Scientists?
Zippia Expert : I would guess it depends on the job our students are seeking. There are many industries they fit in, such as semiconductors and pharmaceuticals.
What skills will help Senior Materials Scientists earn the most?
Zippia Expert : I think most jobs for our MS students pay about the same. The differences are not tied to skills but to fit between applicant and job.
What type of skills will young Senior Materials Scientists need?
Dennis Doverspike Ph.D.: Seemingly a paradox, there will continue to be a need for very general, but highly fungible, skills and demand for too specialized skills, requiring advanced education. Coding, statistics, and data analysis related skills will remain a hot growth area. The aging of the baby boomers will create demand for medical and healthcare-related regions, especially nursing, nursing aides, and emergency services. Despite the automation of many people facing jobs, there will continue to be a demand for interpersonal and people skills, including various types of sales. The switch to remote work, due to COVID, will create a substantial future market to fill the leadership and managerial skills gap. In many areas of Technology and engineering, it is already challenging to find a combination of technical knowledge and people skills, and this demand will intensify.
Will there be an increase or decrease in demand for Senior Materials Scientists in the next 5 years?
Paul Badger Ph.D.: The demand for skilled research scientists in the healthcare industry or related industries will almost certainly grow in the next five years. There is nearly always a need for entry-level positions, such as laboratory scientists or medical laboratory technicians. The recent increase in pressures placed on the health care sector will likely lead to more hiring as testing facilities, and analytical labs are expanded.