Food Science Technicians salary

SOC 19-4013 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$52,130

per year, nationally

Middle half

$46,020–$63,270

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

14,600

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+4.8%

3,200 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.

$39,820$78,820

10th: $39,820
25th: $46,020
Median: $52,130
75th: $63,270
90th: $78,820

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Associate's degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Moderate-term on-the-job training

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

Where food science technicians 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	Virginia	$65,360	101.1	150	0.39×
2	Kentucky	$64,770	90.2	160	0.87×
3	Washington	$62,070	107.0	660	1.98×
4	Vermont	$60,980	98.0	50	1.84×
5	Illinois	$60,820	100.0	290	0.51×
6	Missouri	$59,570	90.8	150	0.54×
7	Nevada	$59,070	100.0	110	0.72×
8	Colorado	$58,540	103.1	270	1.02×
9	Florida	$58,500	103.4	250	0.26×
10	Minnesota	$57,940	98.6	380	1.36×
11	Maryland	$57,880	105.0	280	1.07×
12	Ohio	$57,060	92.8	230	0.43×
13	Massachusetts	$56,850	105.8	260	0.75×
14	New Jersey	$56,730	108.8	590	1.48×
15	Wisconsin	$55,690	94.1	540	1.96×
16	New York	$55,470	107.9	580	0.64×
17	California	$54,200	110.7	3,990	2.34×
18	Georgia	$53,150	96.3	260	0.56×
19	Michigan	$52,130	96.2	250	0.59×
20	Mississippi	$51,460	87.0	50	0.49×
21	Iowa	$50,740	87.8	420	2.86×
22	Oregon	$50,590	103.4	820	4.45×
23	Connecticut	$49,700	103.6	—	—
24	Idaho	$48,980	95.5	560	7.00×
25	South Dakota	$48,760	88.6	100	2.23×
26	North Carolina	$48,640	94.3	130	0.28×
27	Nebraska	$48,530	90.1	170	1.77×
28	Pennsylvania	$48,060	97.6	590	1.04×
29	Texas	$47,760	97.1	900	0.68×
30	Oklahoma	$47,240	87.8	50	0.29×
31	Arkansas	$46,810	86.9	140	1.12×
32	New Mexico	$46,500	92.2	120	1.42×
33	Utah	$45,110	98.9	80	0.51×
34	Indiana	$44,630	93.3	530	1.78×
35	Louisiana	$44,310	88.2	30	0.17×
36	Alabama	$40,940	88.8	30	0.16×
37	Kansas	$39,930	90.1	60	0.41×
38	South Carolina	$39,480	93.7	40	0.19×

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 food science technicians wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for food science technicians

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	Columbus, OH	$86,300	95.5	40	0.35×
2	Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN	$84,320	93.1	60	0.86×
3	Jacksonville, FL	$83,030	99.5	50	0.73×
4	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$79,850	111.1	420	2.16×
5	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$73,030	96.9	60	0.72×
6	Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC	$72,950	97.9	40	0.51×
7	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$66,630	103.6	250	0.58×
8	St. Louis, MO-IL	$66,230	95.1	100	0.76×
9	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$64,620	106.7	200	1.97×
10	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$64,480	95.4	80	0.78×
11	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$63,160	108.3	130	0.51×
12	Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY	$61,870	95.8	80	1.54×
13	Napa, CA	$61,430	112.6	140	19.44×
14	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$61,410	104.5	200	1.59×
15	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$60,980	115.6	310	1.37×
16	Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ	$60,320	100.0	80	2.14×
17	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$60,020	112.6	580	0.65×
18	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$59,650	105.8	40	0.25×
19	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$59,580	110.4	70	0.69×
20	Reno, NV	$59,440	101.0	40	1.48×
21	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	$58,850	100.2	60	0.54×
22	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$58,640	107.8	110	5.95×
23	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$58,290	104.8	160	0.89×
24	Vallejo, CA	$57,630	108.5	70	5.46×
25	Modesto, CA	$56,220	104.1	180	9.70×
26	Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR	$55,090	91.4	50	2.00×
27	Rochester, NY	$54,970	97.0	40	0.77×
28	Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA	$54,570	93.6	50	1.87×
29	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$54,410	113.6	970	1.65×
30	Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI	$53,960	95.5	60	0.98×
31	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$53,530	108.6	80	6.89×
32	Rochester, MN	$53,210	90.8	30	2.66×
33	Lancaster, PA	$53,130	98.3	70	2.75×
34	Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL	$52,970	97.1	40	1.51×
35	Salinas, CA	$52,870	109.0	50	2.66×
36	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$52,690	100.1	160	0.59×
37	Omaha, NE-IA	$52,160	91.9	—	—
38	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$51,570	105.4	280	2.43×
39	Chico, CA	$51,390	101.2	40	5.61×
40	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$50,900	106.4	390	2.41×

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 food science technicians wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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

Life, Physical, and Social Science Technicians, All Other$62,280
Biological Technicians$57,510
Chemical Technicians$60,390
Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health$55,090
Social Science Research Assistants$61,990
Forest and Conservation Technicians$54,560
Forensic Science Technicians$72,060
Agricultural Technicians$49,630