Biological Scientists, All Other salary

SOC 19-1029 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$98,920

per year, nationally

Middle half

$76,800–$127,670

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

55,850

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+1.2%

4,800 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.

$60,430$168,010

10th: $60,430
25th: $76,800
Median: $98,920
75th: $127,670
90th: $168,010

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Bachelor's 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 biological scientists, all other 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	Maryland	$121,680	105.0	4,970	5.01×
2	California	$113,530	110.7	11,880	1.82×
3	Delaware	$113,400	99.8	—	—
4	Connecticut	$111,940	103.6	170	0.28×
5	Washington	$108,110	107.0	2,620	2.05×
6	Massachusetts	$107,100	105.8	2,930	2.24×
7	Alaska	$106,870	102.4	370	3.14×
8	New Jersey	$104,750	108.8	540	0.35×
9	Maine	$104,570	97.0	340	1.49×
10	New York	$104,120	107.9	2,520	0.72×
11	Rhode Island	$101,750	102.3	100	0.56×
12	Pennsylvania	$100,780	97.6	1,810	0.83×
13	North Carolina	$100,070	94.3	2,780	1.56×
14	Georgia	$96,820	96.3	1,230	0.70×
15	Virginia	$96,030	101.1	1,650	1.11×
16	Hawaii	$95,600	110.0	370	1.63×
17	Ohio	$95,560	92.8	610	0.31×
18	Colorado	$93,970	103.1	850	0.82×
19	Utah	$93,250	98.9	590	0.95×
20	Montana	$91,560	94.6	550	3.02×
21	Wyoming	$91,560	92.7	170	1.70×
22	South Carolina	$91,560	93.7	240	0.29×
23	Mississippi	$91,170	87.0	320	0.76×
24	Arizona	$90,290	100.7	760	0.65×
25	Alabama	$87,260	88.8	340	0.44×
26	Oregon	$86,260	103.4	700	0.99×
27	District of Columbia	$84,590	109.9	850	3.39×
28	West Virginia	$84,590	89.5	230	0.91×
29	Indiana	$84,570	93.3	640	0.56×
30	New Mexico	$84,120	92.2	420	1.34×
31	Florida	$83,780	103.4	1,920	0.54×
32	New Hampshire	$83,740	104.2	310	1.28×
33	Idaho	$83,320	95.5	430	1.41×
34	Nebraska	$82,770	90.1	240	0.65×
35	Iowa	$82,720	87.8	550	0.98×
36	Illinois	$82,640	100.0	1,300	0.59×
37	Michigan	$81,540	96.2	860	0.54×
38	Texas	$80,870	97.1	2,480	0.49×
39	Tennessee	$80,500	91.9	420	0.35×
40	Oklahoma	$79,950	87.8	300	0.49×
41	Kentucky	$79,400	90.2	260	0.36×
42	Wisconsin	$78,480	94.1	740	0.70×
43	Vermont	$77,960	98.0	90	0.84×
44	Arkansas	$76,400	86.9	360	0.78×
45	Minnesota	$76,400	98.6	750	0.71×
46	Kansas	$76,400	90.1	760	1.47×
47	Nevada	$74,210	100.0	410	0.74×
48	South Dakota	$73,920	88.6	170	1.03×
49	Louisiana	$69,590	88.2	580	0.83×
50	Missouri	$63,290	90.8	1,120	1.07×

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 biological scientists, all other wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for biological scientists, all other

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	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$138,160	115.6	4,280	5.01×
2	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$133,790	110.4	610	1.49×
3	Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH	$126,960	92.7	70	0.53×
4	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$124,840	108.8	90	1.29×
5	Portland-South Portland, ME	$119,430	101.9	60	0.60×
6	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$114,920	108.9	5,720	5.08×
7	New Haven, CT	$112,670	104.6	60	0.62×
8	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$111,530	104.5	800	1.64×
9	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$111,380	112.6	1,970	0.58×
10	Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI	$111,150	95.5	70	0.33×
11	Vallejo, CA	$110,780	108.5	60	1.08×
12	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$110,410	108.3	2,630	2.71×
13	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$110,330	107.8	70	0.93×
14	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$109,550	105.6	30	1.02×
15	Barnstable Town, MA	$108,850	98.4	60	1.69×
16	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$108,580	111.1	1,880	2.51×
17	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$108,350	111.9	1,960	3.54×
18	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$107,350	95.4	200	0.51×
19	Rochester, NY	$107,010	97.0	120	0.70×
20	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$106,890	100.3	70	0.80×
21	Anchorage, AK	$106,870	105.4	180	2.89×
22	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$106,670	102.6	1,140	1.10×
23	Bozeman, MT	$106,330	102.5	70	2.80×
24	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$105,250	103.7	90	1.86×
25	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$104,660	102.7	50	0.22×
26	Salinas, CA	$104,540	109.0	50	0.72×
27	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$104,330	95.7	380	0.96×
28	Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL	$103,380	101.4	80	0.16×
29	Helena, MT	$103,380	95.7	50	3.01×
30	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$102,650	105.1	60	0.62×
31	Raleigh-Cary, NC	$102,400	98.2	630	2.36×
32	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$102,090	105.8	250	0.44×
33	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$101,750	101.8	120	0.45×
34	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	$101,740	97.3	160	0.32×
35	Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY	$100,510	95.8	200	1.05×
36	Birmingham, AL	$99,630	91.6	80	0.43×
37	Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA	$99,420	91.7	130	0.87×
38	Greensboro-High Point, NC	$99,050	92.9	40	0.31×
39	Boulder, CO	$98,800	105.2	150	2.21×
40	Fort Collins-Loveland, CO	$98,800	101.1	210	3.44×

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 biological scientists, all other 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
Biochemists and Biophysicists$127,410
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