Biochemists and Biophysicists salary

SOC 19-1021 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$127,410

per year, nationally

Middle half

$95,000–$163,460

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

33,830

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+5.8%

2,900 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$74,290$201,110

10th: $74,290
25th: $95,000
Median: $127,410
75th: $163,460
90th: $201,110

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Doctoral or professional degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: None

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where biochemists and biophysicists earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Florida	$157,390	103.4	370	0.17×
2	California	$139,580	110.7	3,240	0.82×
3	Tennessee	$134,560	91.9	60	0.08×
4	Pennsylvania	$134,090	97.6	2,750	2.08×
5	Connecticut	$132,670	103.6	540	1.47×
6	Massachusetts	$131,600	105.8	14,890	18.81×
7	New Jersey	$122,620	108.8	2,570	2.75×
8	District of Columbia	$120,090	109.9	70	0.43×
9	New Hampshire	$109,770	104.2	200	1.33×
10	Michigan	$109,340	96.2	730	0.76×
11	South Carolina	$109,080	93.7	60	0.13×
12	Wisconsin	$106,480	94.1	170	0.26×
13	Virginia	$105,780	101.1	70	0.08×
14	Delaware	$101,880	99.8	490	4.62×
15	Iowa	$101,090	87.8	140	0.41×
16	New York	$101,080	107.9	980	0.46×
17	Maryland	$100,650	105.0	690	1.15×
18	Washington	$98,840	107.0	270	0.34×
19	Kansas	$97,850	90.1	140	0.44×
20	Texas	$97,510	97.1	520	0.17×
21	Ohio	$90,000	92.8	350	0.29×
22	Illinois	$87,010	100.0	150	0.11×
23	Georgia	$85,680	96.3	110	0.10×
24	Maine	$84,560	97.0	390	2.80×
25	Arkansas	$82,390	86.9	—	—
26	North Carolina	$82,220	94.3	570	0.53×
27	Utah	$81,990	98.9	160	0.44×
28	Minnesota	$81,280	98.6	190	0.30×
29	Missouri	$79,550	90.8	290	0.45×
30	Rhode Island	$76,710	102.3	—	—
31	Kentucky	$74,710	90.2	40	0.09×
32	Nevada	$69,220	100.0	—	—
33	Oklahoma	$69,130	87.8	70	0.18×
34	Nebraska	$66,910	90.1	70	0.31×
35	Alabama	$48,510	88.8	90	0.20×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where biochemists and biophysicists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for biochemists and biophysicists

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Jacksonville, FL	$174,880	99.5	40	0.22×
2	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$165,050	115.6	1,380	2.67×
3	Knoxville, TN	$149,140	92.6	30	0.37×
4	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	$145,550	114.2	50	0.08×
5	Boulder, CO	$140,710	105.2	390	9.34×
6	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$139,740	106.9	80	0.89×
7	Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT	$135,320	100.4	150	5.58×
8	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$134,090	102.6	3,050	4.84×
9	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$131,700	113.6	580	0.43×
10	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$131,550	108.3	13,370	22.73×
11	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$130,670	103.1	160	0.18×
12	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$129,490	106.4	30	0.09×
13	Worcester, MA	$125,420	102.5	1,060	13.90×
14	Pittsburgh, PA	$125,020	94.7	140	0.59×
15	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$124,300	103.2	520	9.92×
16	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$124,050	110.4	190	0.77×
17	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$121,740	111.9	710	2.13×
18	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX	$111,320	94.7	50	0.20×
19	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$109,620	112.6	2,200	1.06×
20	Ann Arbor, MI	$109,070	100.9	90	1.82×
21	Madison, WI	$106,480	97.3	150	1.69×
22	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$104,160	100.3	—	—
23	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$103,660	108.9	490	0.72×
24	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	$98,820	97.3	50	0.17×
25	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$98,650	104.5	210	0.72×
26	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$98,550	95.4	60	0.24×
27	Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL	$98,320	101.4	40	0.13×
28	Kansas City, MO-KS	$95,990	92.5	90	0.38×
29	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$94,510	99.6	90	0.89×
30	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$94,320	98.6	160	0.22×
31	Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	$87,650	97.6	260	3.50×
32	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$85,780	103.6	170	0.17×
33	Fort Collins-Loveland, CO	$84,490	101.1	70	1.78×
34	Portland-South Portland, ME	$84,490	101.9	380	6.03×
35	Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA	$83,790	91.7	30	0.39×
36	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT	$81,990	100.9	130	0.74×
37	Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY	$81,480	95.8	80	0.66×
38	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$81,380	104.8	170	0.41×
39	Raleigh-Cary, NC	$79,990	98.2	140	0.88×
40	St. Louis, MO-IL	$79,550	95.1	210	0.73×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where biochemists and biophysicists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists$103,410
Biological Scientists, All Other$98,920
Conservation Scientists$73,010
Microbiologists$87,990
Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists$76,780
Soil and Plant Scientists$78,850
Food Scientists and Technologists$88,720
Epidemiologists$87,220