Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary salary

SOC 25-1042 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$84,620

per year, nationally

Middle half

$64,350–$126,770

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

50,190

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+7.3%

5,400 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.

$52,150$169,900

10th: $52,150
25th: $64,350
Median: $84,620
75th: $126,770
90th: $169,900

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 biological science teachers, postsecondary 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	California	$129,150	110.7	3,610	0.61×
2	Massachusetts	$105,050	105.8	2,060	1.75×
3	Michigan	$103,620	96.2	1,460	1.03×
4	New Hampshire	$102,410	104.2	170	0.79×
5	Rhode Island	$102,300	102.3	250	1.55×
6	Delaware	$101,380	99.8	130	0.84×
7	Oregon	$100,820	103.4	800	1.25×
8	Montana	$100,480	94.6	110	0.69×
9	Illinois	$99,060	100.0	2,340	1.19×
10	New Mexico	$98,820	92.2	150	0.52×
11	Colorado	$98,680	103.1	810	0.87×
12	New York	$98,180	107.9	3,870	1.24×
13	Washington	$97,280	107.0	960	0.84×
14	Minnesota	$96,880	98.6	780	0.82×
15	District of Columbia	$96,830	109.9	350	1.53×
16	Connecticut	$96,470	103.6	870	1.59×
17	North Dakota	$90,740	89.0	170	1.21×
18	Georgia	$88,020	96.3	980	0.62×
19	Pennsylvania	$85,970	97.6	2,410	1.23×
20	Nevada	$85,040	100.0	350	0.70×
21	Maine	$84,080	97.0	270	1.30×
22	Maryland	$83,500	105.0	970	1.09×
23	Indiana	$83,130	93.3	1,100	1.07×
24	Arizona	$83,030	100.7	—	—
25	Wyoming	$82,930	92.7	160	1.71×
26	Texas	$82,470	97.1	3,840	0.85×
27	South Carolina	$82,300	93.7	750	1.00×
28	Vermont	$82,230	98.0	170	1.78×
29	Idaho	$81,620	95.5	220	0.79×
30	Utah	$81,580	98.9	300	0.54×
31	Kansas	$81,300	90.1	430	0.92×
32	Nebraska	$81,190	90.1	500	1.51×
33	Missouri	$80,970	90.8	1,060	1.12×
34	Ohio	$79,600	92.8	1,350	0.75×
35	New Jersey	$79,540	108.8	1,570	1.14×
36	Virginia	$79,190	101.1	1,760	1.33×
37	Louisiana	$79,010	88.2	390	0.63×
38	Tennessee	$78,940	91.9	830	0.79×
39	Wisconsin	$78,920	94.1	950	1.00×
40	Iowa	$78,060	87.8	540	1.08×
41	North Carolina	$77,700	94.3	1,960	1.23×
42	Arkansas	$77,670	86.9	430	1.03×
43	Alabama	$77,540	88.8	1,160	1.70×
44	South Dakota	$76,570	88.6	160	1.10×
45	Kentucky	$70,630	90.2	470	0.72×
46	West Virginia	$67,190	89.5	220	0.97×
47	Mississippi	$66,830	87.0	580	1.54×
48	Oklahoma	$65,960	87.8	470	0.85×
49	Florida	$57,140	103.4	2,020	0.63×

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 science teachers, postsecondary wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for biological science teachers, postsecondary

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 Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$166,850	111.9	570	1.14×
2	Madison, WI	$142,490	97.3	210	1.60×
3	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$138,120	106.4	230	0.42×
4	Charlottesville, VA	$135,930	99.1	130	3.57×
5	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$133,540	115.6	390	0.51×
6	Fresno, CA	$129,520	102.2	100	0.65×
7	Bakersfield-Delano, CA	$128,910	100.9	30	0.28×
8	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$128,070	108.3	1,380	1.58×
9	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$127,800	113.6	1,250	0.62×
10	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$127,040	106.7	280	0.82×
11	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$126,380	110.4	230	0.62×
12	Albuquerque, NM	$110,000	95.5	50	0.38×
13	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$109,430	108.8	90	1.39×
14	Fargo, ND-MN	$108,090	90.9	100	2.08×
15	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$107,110	100.1	550	0.58×
16	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$106,530	100.3	380	0.61×
17	Ann Arbor, MI	$105,290	100.9	290	4.04×
18	Amherst Town-Northampton, MA	$105,050	100.2	140	6.82×
19	Raleigh-Cary, NC	$104,290	98.2	480	1.99×
20	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$102,520	104.8	500	0.79×
21	Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT	$102,070	100.4	40	1.06×
22	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$102,060	111.1	600	0.89×
23	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$101,960	103.6	1,760	1.21×
24	Ithaca, NY	$100,880	103.3	140	9.07×
25	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$100,800	105.4	510	1.31×
26	Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA	$100,740	98.7	120	1.08×
27	Birmingham, AL	$100,610	91.6	310	1.83×
28	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$100,430	98.6	820	0.77×
29	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$100,300	102.7	340	1.78×
30	Lafayette, LA	$100,290	87.2	30	0.56×
31	Knoxville, TN	$100,220	92.6	180	1.29×
32	Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI	$99,910	95.5	200	1.05×
33	Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR	$99,740	89.4	120	1.06×
34	New Orleans-Metairie, LA	$99,340	92.6	150	1.05×
35	Rochester, NY	$99,050	97.0	280	1.78×
36	Lincoln, NE	$98,950	91.6	220	3.75×
37	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	$98,720	98.1	430	1.04×
38	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$98,680	105.8	250	0.48×
39	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$98,430	99.6	330	2.28×
40	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$98,250	112.6	3,070	1.00×

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 science teachers, postsecondary wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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

Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary$107,310
Postsecondary Teachers, All Other$77,640
Career/Technical Education Teachers, Postsecondary$63,820
Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary$78,620
Business Teachers, Postsecondary$99,080
Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary$80,250
Education Teachers, Postsecondary$75,350
English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary$78,760

Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where biological science teachers, postsecondary earn the most

Best paying metro areas for biological science teachers, postsecondary

Similar occupations

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