19 Series · SOC 19-1021
Biochemists and Biophysicists Salary
National pay, percentile range, growth outlook, and state-by-state detail from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS survey (May 2025).
- $127,410
- Median / year
- $201,110
- Top 10% earn
- +5.8%
- Growth '23–'33
- 33,830
- US workers
Biochemists and Biophysicists professionals earn a median $127,410/year ($61.26/hr) nationally. The salary ranges from $74,290 (10th percentile) to $201,110 (90th percentile). Employment is projected to grow5.8% from 2023 to 2033, faster than average. The highest-paying state is Florida at $157,390. Approximately 33,830 people work in this role across the U.S. Entry-level education: Doctoral or professional degree. Workplace safety grade: A (Very Safe).
Biochemists and Biophysicists (SOC 19-1021) pays a national median of $127,410 per year according to the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey released in May 2025. Full-range compensation stretches from $74,290 at the 10th percentile to $201,110 at the 90th, with a mean of $129,840 indicating a right-skew where top earners pull the average above the midpoint. An estimated 33,830 Americans work in this occupation across 36 reporting states and 48 metro areas.
BLS Employment Projections forecast a +5.8% change in employment from 2023 to 2033, which the agency classifies as faster than average relative to the 5% all-occupations baseline. About 2,900 openings are projected per year, combining new positions with replacement needs from retirements and occupation-switchers. Typical entry-level preparation is Doctoral or professional degree. The BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) and Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) produce a workplace-safety grade of A for this role, with a fatality rate of 1.5 per 100,000 and injury rate of 0.7 per 100.
Geographic variation matters as much as the headline median. Florida pays the highest state median at $157,390, which is +24% above the national figure. The top metro is Jacksonville, FL at $174,880 — metro premiums typically reflect higher cost of living, industry concentration, or specialized employer demand. When using this page for negotiation or career planning, pair the national median with the state and metro rows below, remember that BLS wages exclude benefits, bonuses, and overtime, and revisit after each May OEWS release since percentiles shift with cost-of-living cycles and industry demand.
Median Salary
$127,410
per year
Median Hourly
$61.26/hr
per hour
Mean Salary
$129,840
average
Employment
33,830
jobs nationwide
Bar fills relative to a $200K reference ceiling. Marker shows the all-occupations US median for context — anything to the right of it earns above the typical American worker.
Job Outlook (2023–2033)
Projected Growth
+5.8%
Faster than average
Annual Openings
2,900
per year (projected)
Typical Education
Doctoral or professional degree
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2023–2033
Workplace Safety
All safety ratings →Very Safe
Safety Grade (BLS 2023)
Fatality Rate
1.5/100K
Injury Rate
0.7/100
Danger Index
3.6/100
Source: BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) & Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII), 2023
Career Intelligence
Skills, knowledge, and tasks most important for Biochemists and Biophysicists roles, ranked by importance. Source: O*NET.
Top Skills
Knowledge Areas
Key Tasks
- ▸ Share research findings by writing scientific articles or by making presentations at scientific conferences.
- ▸ Teach or advise undergraduate or graduate students or supervise their research.
- ▸ Study physical principles of living cells or organisms and their electrical or mechanical energy, applying methods and knowledge of mathematics, physics, chemistry, or biology.
- ▸ Manage laboratory teams or monitor the quality of a team's work.
- ▸ Develop new methods to study the mechanisms of biological processes.
- ▸ Write grant proposals to obtain funding for research.
- ▸ Design or perform experiments with equipment, such as lasers, accelerators, or mass spectrometers.
- ▸ Determine the three-dimensional structure of biological macromolecules.
- ▸ Design or build laboratory equipment needed for special research projects.
- ▸ Prepare reports or recommendations, based upon research outcomes.
Source: O*NET Online, National Center for O*NET Development. Data represents typical importance ratings for this occupation.
Salary Range
Annual Salary Distribution
Hourly Rate Distribution
10th Percentile
$74,290
25th Percentile
$95,000
Median
$127,410
75th Percentile
$163,460
90th Percentile
$201,110
Salary by State
Highest Paying States
Lowest Paying States
View all 36 states →
| # | State | Median Salary | vs National |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Florida | $157,390 | +24% above national |
| 2 | California | $139,580 | +10% above national |
| 3 | Tennessee | $134,560 | +6% above national |
| 4 | Pennsylvania | $134,090 | +5% above national |
| 5 | Connecticut | $132,670 | +4% above national |
| 6 | Massachusetts | $131,600 | +3% above national |
| 7 | New Jersey | $122,620 | 4% below national |
| 8 | District of Columbia | $120,090 | 6% below national |
| 9 | New Hampshire | $109,770 | 14% below national |
| 10 | Michigan | $109,340 | 14% below national |
| 11 | South Carolina | $109,080 | 14% below national |
| 12 | Wisconsin | $106,480 | 16% below national |
| 13 | Virginia | $105,780 | 17% below national |
| 14 | Delaware | $101,880 | 20% below national |
| 15 | Iowa | $101,090 | 21% below national |
| 16 | New York | $101,080 | 21% below national |
| 17 | Maryland | $100,650 | 21% below national |
| 18 | Washington | $98,840 | 22% below national |
| 19 | Kansas | $97,850 | 23% below national |
| 20 | Texas | $97,510 | 23% below national |
| 21 | Ohio | $90,000 | 29% below national |
| 22 | Illinois | $87,010 | 32% below national |
| 23 | Georgia | $85,680 | 33% below national |
| 24 | Maine | $84,560 | 34% below national |
| 25 | Arkansas | $82,390 | 35% below national |
| 26 | North Carolina | $82,220 | 35% below national |
| 27 | Utah | $81,990 | 36% below national |
| 28 | Minnesota | $81,280 | 36% below national |
| 29 | Missouri | $79,550 | 38% below national |
| 30 | Rhode Island | $76,710 | 40% below national |
| 31 | Kentucky | $74,710 | 41% below national |
| 32 | Nevada | $69,220 | 46% below national |
| 33 | Oklahoma | $69,130 | 46% below national |
| 34 | Nebraska | $66,910 | 47% below national |
| 35 | Puerto Rico | $64,140 | 50% below national |
| 36 | Alabama | $48,510 | 62% below national |
Salary by Metro Area
Highest Paying Metros
View all 48 metro areas →
| # | Metro Area | Median Salary | vs National |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jacksonville, FL | $174,880 | +37% above national |
| 2 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $165,050 | +30% above national |
| 3 | Knoxville, TN | $149,140 | +17% above national |
| 4 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | $145,550 | +14% above national |
| 5 | Boulder, CO | $140,710 | +10% above national |
| 6 | Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT | $139,740 | +10% above national |
| 7 | Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT | $135,320 | +6% above national |
| 8 | Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | $134,090 | +5% above national |
| 9 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $131,700 | +3% above national |
| 10 | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | $131,550 | +3% above national |
| 11 | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | $130,670 | +3% above national |
| 12 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | $129,490 | +2% above national |
| 13 | Worcester, MA | $125,420 | 2% below national |
| 14 | Pittsburgh, PA | $125,020 | 2% below national |
| 15 | Trenton-Princeton, NJ | $124,300 | 2% below national |
| 16 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $124,050 | 3% below national |
| 17 | San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | $121,740 | 4% below national |
| 18 | San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX | $111,320 | 13% below national |
| 19 | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | $109,620 | 14% below national |
| 20 | Ann Arbor, MI | $109,070 | 14% below national |
| 21 | Madison, WI | $106,480 | 16% below national |
| 22 | Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI | $104,160 | 18% below national |
| 23 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | $103,660 | 19% below national |
| 24 | Northern New Hampshire nonmetropolitan area | $102,170 | 20% below national |
| 25 | Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | $98,820 | 22% below national |
| 26 | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | $98,650 | 23% below national |
| 27 | Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN | $98,550 | 23% below national |
| 28 | Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | $98,320 | 23% below national |
| 29 | Kansas City, MO-KS | $95,990 | 25% below national |
| 30 | Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY | $94,510 | 26% below national |
| 31 | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX | $94,320 | 26% below national |
| 32 | Durham-Chapel Hill, NC | $87,650 | 31% below national |
| 33 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | $85,780 | 33% below national |
| 34 | Fort Collins-Loveland, CO | $84,490 | 34% below national |
| 35 | Portland-South Portland, ME | $84,490 | 34% below national |
| 36 | Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA | $83,790 | 34% below national |
| 37 | Salt Lake City-Murray, UT | $81,990 | 36% below national |
| 38 | Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY | $81,480 | 36% below national |
| 39 | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | $81,380 | 36% below national |
| 40 | Raleigh-Cary, NC | $79,990 | 37% below national |
| 41 | St. Louis, MO-IL | $79,550 | 38% below national |
| 42 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $79,550 | 38% below national |
| 43 | Providence-Warwick, RI-MA | $77,710 | 39% below national |
| 44 | Oklahoma City, OK | $69,130 | 46% below national |
| 45 | Lansing-East Lansing, MI | $67,870 | 47% below national |
| 46 | San Juan-Bayamon-Caguas, PR | $64,070 | 50% below national |
| 47 | Kalamazoo-Portage, MI | $63,630 | 50% below national |
| 48 | Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | $61,820 | 51% below national |
Similar Occupations in the Same Category
Other roles in SOC major group 19 (life physical and social science) with comparable pay and career paths.
Salary Guides
Primary source data
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Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.