Staff biologist vs molecular biologist

The differences between staff biologists and molecular biologists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-8 years to become both a staff biologist and a molecular biologist. Additionally, a molecular biologist has an average salary of $73,763, which is higher than the $65,292 average annual salary of a staff biologist.

The top three skills for a staff biologist include FDA, wetland and species act. The most important skills for a molecular biologist are CRISPR, next-generation sequencing, and cell culture.

Staff biologist vs molecular biologist overview

	Staff Biologist	Molecular Biologist
Yearly salary	$65,292	$73,763
Hourly rate	$31.39	$35.46
Growth rate	1%	17%
Number of jobs	69,516	22,019
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 77%	Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Average age	40	40
Years of experience	8	8

Staff biologist vs molecular biologist salary

Staff biologists and molecular biologists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Staff Biologist	Molecular Biologist
Average salary	$65,292	$73,763
Salary range	Between $45,000 And $93,000	Between $52,000 And $104,000
Highest paying City	Rahway, NJ	Urban Honolulu, HI
Highest paying state	Alaska	Hawaii
Best paying company	Merck	Novartis
Best paying industry	Pharmaceutical	Health Care

Differences between staff biologist and molecular biologist education

There are a few differences between a staff biologist and a molecular biologist in terms of educational background:

	Staff Biologist	Molecular Biologist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 77%	Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Most common major	Biology	Biology
Most common college	Stanford University	Harvard University

Staff biologist vs molecular biologist demographics

Here are the differences between staff biologists' and molecular biologists' demographics:

	Staff Biologist	Molecular Biologist
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 52.2% Female, 47.8%	Male, 48.9% Female, 51.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 10.3% White, 71.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 2.7% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 7.4% Asian, 17.3% White, 66.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	10%	10%

Differences between staff biologist and molecular biologist duties and responsibilities

Staff biologist example responsibilities.

Manage detailed GLP laboratory manual daily.
Navigate to remote project sites using GPS, topo maps, aerial photographs, and GIS layers.
Conduct multi-layer GIS analysis for projects.
Collect survey measurements using survey grade GPS and laser survey equipment.
Full service management to private landowners and their fisheries, water-foul and whitetail deer breeder programs.
Develop a working knowledge of ArcPad 8.0, ArcMap GIS 9.3 and operation of Trimble Yuma PDAs.

Molecular biologist example responsibilities.

Provide oversight for FDA inspections.
Present results in monthly HTS and data meeting.
Perform instrument, primers and reagent validations utilize in RT-PCR.
Develop and perform assays for testing samples using ELISA and PCR technology.
Used molecular techniques such as RNA and DNA isolation, RT-PCR, and qPCR.
Play a lead role in developing, optimizing and validating ELISA and ELISA microarrays.

Staff biologist vs molecular biologist skills

Common staff biologist skills

FDA, 8%
Wetland, 8%
Species ACT, 8%
Molecular Biology, 8%
GLP, 7%
Water ACT, 6%

Common molecular biologist skills

CRISPR, 8%
Next-Generation Sequencing, 7%
Cell Culture, 6%
Lab Equipment, 6%
Molecular Biology Techniques, 5%
Extraction, 5%

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Staff Biologist
Staff Biologist vs Molecular Biologist

Updated January 8, 2025

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