Cell Biologist

What Does a Professional in this Career Do?

A Cell Biologist studies plant and animal life and conducts research to understand cells and cell systems. May teach cell biology or specialize in clinical research, cell culture, medical research and treatment, pharmaceutical, biotechnology or plant research. Directs research experiments and staff, operates specialized equipment and analyzes and reports research results.

Job Outlook

There were 57 Cell Biologist job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 2675 in the United States.

In combination with other careers in the Biologist industry, which includes the Cell Biologist career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:

Salary

Many new Cell Biologist 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 $81,714.

State

The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $69,421.

Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Cell Biologist postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $63,155.

Education and Experience

Posted Cell Biologist 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	5.2%
Bachelor's Degree	54.28%
Master's Degree	33.31%
Doctoral Degree	30.06%
Other	9.38%

Posted Cell Biologist 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	43.8%
3 to 5 years	38.71%
6 to 8 years	13.5%
9+ years	3.99%

Skills

Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Cell Biologist 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 (37.83%)
Communication (35.89%)
Troubleshooting (Problem Solving) (20.04%)
Detail Oriented (19.44%)
Writing (17.64%)
Self-Motivation (15.33%)
Management (14.36%)
Problem Solving (13.08%)
Operations (13.01%)
Presentations (12.75%)

Defining Skills

A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.

Molecular Biology (27.41%)
Cell Biology (46.38%)
Biology (49.09%)
Cell Cultures (44.21%)
Biochemical Assays (23.77%)
Stem Cell Biology (9.56%)

Necessary Skills

A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.

Good Manufacturing Practices (11.77%)
Pharmaceuticals (4.18%)
Asepsis (11.3%)
Ribonucleic Acid Sequencing (9.06%)
Cytology (17.58%)
Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) (4.1%)
Statistical Analysis (3.64%)
Data Analysis (16.96%)
Data Entry (4.1%)
Workflow Management (6.66%)
Western Blot (7.55%)
Process Development (10.65%)
Biotechnology (11.73%)
Mammalian Cell Cultures (17.54%)
Project Management (8.79%)
Biochemistry (21.99%)
Bioprocess (4.45%)
Standard Operating Procedure (6.78%)
Flow Cytometry (14.21%)
Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reactions (7.39%)
Technical Writing (5.61%)
Reagent (6.12%)
Assay Development (5.85%)
Experimentation (5.34%)
Tissue Culture (5.73%)
Genome Editing (5.54%)
Chemistry (9.18%)
Immunology (13.24%)
Gynecology (8.79%)
Drug Discovery (3.48%)
Biopharmaceuticals (7.98%)
Microscopy (6.12%)
Laboratory Experience (12.2%)
Ecology (3.37%)
Polymerase Chain Reaction (8.28%)
Life Sciences (8.01%)
Laboratory Equipment (12.12%)
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent (ELISA) Assay (9.64%)
Environmental Science (3.95%)
Data Collection (4.1%)

Alternative Job Titles

Sometimes employers post jobs with Cell Biologist skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:

Cytologist
Associate Scientist
Cell Culture Scientist
Scientist
Biologist
Technology Intern
Postdoctoral Fellow
Cytology Supervisor
Assistant Professor of Biology

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.

Common Employers

Here are the employers that have posted the most Cell Biologist jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.

United States

Stantec (86)
University of California (83)
Cultured Meat Symposium (83)
Eurofins (74)
Thermo Fisher Scientific (47)
Genentech (47)
Actalent (46)
Sonic Healthcare USA (41)
Healthcare Connections (36)
AstraZeneca (33)

North Carolina

WakeMed (9)
Actalent (4)
United Therapeutics Corporation (4)
University of North Carolina (3)
TGI Friday's (3)
Duke University (3)
North Carolina State University (3)
East Carolina University (2)
Labcorp Drug Development (2)
Cultured Meat Symposium (2)

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!

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.

Science and Research