Soil / Plant Scientist
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Soil or Plant Scientist studies soil composition and nutrition, the impact of soil treatment practices on plant or crop growth, and soil conservation and management methods relevant to farming and forestry.
Job Outlook
There were 44 Soil / Plant Scientist job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 1088 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Soil / Plant Scientist industry, which includes the Soil / Plant Scientist career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:
Salary
Many new Soil / Plant Scientist jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $80,074.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $87,908.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Soil / Plant Scientist postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $67,252.
Education and Experience
Posted Soil / Plant Scientist jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 38.24% |
| Master's Degree | 24.82% |
| Doctoral Degree | 18.84% |
| Other | 15.81% |
Posted Soil / Plant Scientist jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 64.39% |
| 3 to 5 years | 31.19% |
| 6 to 8 years | 1.41% |
| 9+ years | 3.02% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Soil / Plant Scientist positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Research (39.34%)
- Management (35.11%)
- Communication (24.63%)
- Writing (18.29%)
- Planning (13.97%)
- Teaching (12.22%)
- Quality Control (11.31%)
- Detail Oriented (11.31%)
- Operations (11.21%)
- Good Driving Record (11.03%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Soil Chemistry (8.24%)
- Biology (43.13%)
- Botany (34.59%)
- Agriculture (29.4%)
- Soil Fertility (8.44%)
- Soil Science (51.48%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Soil Management (3.26%)
- Site Assessment (1.32%)
- Soil Sampling (14.45%)
- Agronomy (7.93%)
- Herbicides (8.04%)
- Invasive Plants (9.77%)
- Animal Husbandry (8.75%)
- Plant Identification (9.46%)
- Data Analysis (7.32%)
- ArcGIS (GIS Software) (7.93%)
- Field Research (12.72%)
- Data Collection (13.22%)
- Ecology (15.06%)
- Performance Appraisal (8.24%)
- Plant Science (21.87%)
- Chemistry (11.29%)
- Physics (14.75%)
- Geographic Information Systems (12.72%)
- Resource Management (6.51%)
- Geology (7.32%)
- Earth Science (7.63%)
- Statistics (9.26%)
- Sampling (Statistics) (8.04%)
- Ecosystem Science (7.12%)
- Irrigation (Landscaping And Agriculture) (10.78%)
- Entomology (11.39%)
- Environmental Science (16.17%)
- Project Management (9.56%)
- Surveys (4.68%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Pedology (6.92%)
- Soil Genesis (6.31%)
- Herbarium Curation (4.17%)
- Dichotomous Key (5.7%)
- Soil Ecology (1.42%)
Salary Boosting Skills
A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.
- Soil Genesis (74.7%)
- Soil Fertility (100%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Soil / Plant Scientist skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Soil Scientist
- Botanist
- Biological Science Technician
- Soils Technician
- Plant Biological Science Technician
- Postdoctoral Research Associate
- Postdoctoral Fellow
- Agricultural Science Teacher
- Adjunct Instructor
- Plant Science Research Associate
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.
- Conservation Scientist
- Field Biologist
- Environmental Planner / Scientist
- Wildlife Biologist
- Biologist (General)
- Biological Technician
- Forest / Conservation Technician
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Soil / Plant Scientist jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- National Park Service (55)
- Natural Resources Conservation Service (53)
- Vestis (44)
- United States Forest Service (39)
- United States Department of Agriculture (27)
- University of Tennessee (24)
- Actalent (20)
- Stantec (19)
- United States Department of the Interior (18)
- Colorado State University (17)
North Carolina
- North Carolina State University (9)
- North Carolina State Of (6)
- Vestis (5)
- Actalent (3)
- University of North Carolina (3)
- State of North Carolina (3)
- At Technical (1)
- U.S National Park Service (1)
- Duke Energy (1)
- The Davey Tree Expert Company (1)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
- Agricultural Science Undergraduate Degrees
- Agriculture Data Science Graduate Certificates
- Crop Science Undergraduate Certificates
- Environmental Assessment Master's Degrees
- Environmental Assessment Graduate Certificates
- Horticultural Science Graduate Certificates
- Horticultural Science Master's Degrees
- Regulatory Science in Agriculture Graduate Certificates
- Regulatory Science in Agriculture Undergraduate Certificates
- Soil Science Undergraduate Certificates
- Soil Science Master's Degrees
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.