Biologist (General)
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Biologist studies plant and animal life and conducts research in one of many specialized areas. May observe and study different types of animals or plants and their habitats or ecosystems, or study cell biology or microorganisms, or research questions relating to human biology and health.
Job Outlook
There were 241 Biologist (General) job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 11173 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Biologist industry, which includes the Biologist (General) career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:
Salary
Many new Biologist (General) 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 $82,447.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $87,122.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Biologist (General) postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $61,572.
Education and Experience
Posted Biologist (General) 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 | 1.98% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 59.26% |
| Master's Degree | 38.31% |
| Doctoral Degree | 39.44% |
| Other | 2.28% |
Posted Biologist (General) 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 | 44.6% |
| 3 to 5 years | 35.23% |
| 6 to 8 years | 12.2% |
| 9+ years | 7.97% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Biologist (General) 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 (60.09%)
- Communication (39.19%)
- Management (28.04%)
- Writing (21.68%)
- Presentations (19.35%)
- Detail Oriented (15.91%)
- Leadership (15.59%)
- Planning (13.54%)
- Operations (13.48%)
- Troubleshooting (Problem Solving) (13.07%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Biochemical Assays (22.9%)
- Biology (76.01%)
- Project Management (12.46%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Laboratory Experience (7.47%)
- Chemistry (20.49%)
- Workflow Management (8.14%)
- Geographic Information Systems (5.58%)
- Drug Discovery (9.78%)
- ArcGIS (GIS Software) (3.89%)
- Cell Cultures (16.61%)
- Cell Biology (19.55%)
- Environmental Impact Assessments (1.54%)
- Biopharmaceuticals (10.82%)
- Biochemistry (23.3%)
- Business Development (3.48%)
- Data Analysis (22.01%)
- Agriculture (8.51%)
- Bioinformatics (7.81%)
- Flow Cytometry (8.06%)
- Immunology (10.11%)
- Molecular Biology (29.93%)
- Natural Resource Management (10.02%)
- Biotechnology (10.02%)
- Data Management (4.66%)
- Field Research (6.58%)
- Data Collection (9.55%)
- Computational Biology (8%)
- Life Sciences (8.49%)
- Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent (ELISA) Assay (8.26%)
- Environmental Laws (2.6%)
- Ecology (12.4%)
- Python (Programming Language) (7.39%)
- Genetics (8.23%)
- Western Blot (7.71%)
- R (Programming Language) (10.26%)
- Pharmaceuticals (10.36%)
- Microbiology (8.66%)
- Surveys (3.86%)
- Oncology (7.57%)
- Polymerase Chain Reaction (11.39%)
- Resource Management (3.47%)
- Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reactions (10.42%)
- Ribonucleic Acid Sequencing (12.57%)
- Technical Writing (3.96%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Habitat Assessment (3.43%)
- Protein Expression (4.3%)
- Wetland Delineation (4.58%)
- Endangered Species Act (4.73%)
- Conservation Biology (1.83%)
- Molecular Cloning (3.38%)
- Bacterial Cultures (4.15%)
- DNA Extraction (3.18%)
- Gene Expression (4.63%)
- Transfection (3.4%)
- Structural Biology (3.69%)
- Wildlife Habitats (1.93%)
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.
- Protein Expression (59.79%)
- Transfection (47.17%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Biologist (General) skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Biologist
- Biological Scientist
- Computational Biologist
- Molecular Biology Research Assistant
- Principal Scientist
- Molecular Biologist
- Cell Biologist
- Scientist
- Operations Biological Scientist
- Associate Scientist
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.
- Biological Technician
- Cell Biologist
- Molecular Biologist
- Research Technician
- Biomedical Scientist
- Research Associate (General)
- Assay Development Scientist
- Research Assistant
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Biologist (General) jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- State of Florida (285)
- Johnson & Johnson (270)
- Takeda Pharmaceutical Company (204)
- AbbVie (199)
- Amentum (138)
- University of California (133)
- Merck (127)
- University of Florida (110)
- Swca Environmental Consultants (106)
- University of Pennsylvania (104)
North Carolina
- State of North Carolina (11)
- Actalent (7)
- Environmental Protection Agency (7)
- Cell Microsystems (7)
- Wake Forest Baptist Health (7)
- Grifols (6)
- North Carolina State University (6)
- BASF (6)
- Atrium Health (5)
- Recode Therapeutics (5)
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!
- Animal Science Master's Degrees
- Fundamentals of Entomology Undergraduate Certificates
- Microbiology Undergraduate Certificates
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.