Science and Research
Computational Biologist
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
Uses biological data to develop models to better understand biological systems. Conducts analysis using computational and mathematical methods and large data sets.
Job Outlook
There were 21 Computational Biologist job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 942 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Biologist industry, which includes the Computational Biologist career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2012:
Salary
Many new Computational 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 $88,510.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $75,467.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Computational Biologist postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $75,811.
Education and Experience
Posted Computational 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 | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 12% |
| Master's Degree | 43% |
| Doctoral Degree | 45% |
| Other | 0% |
Posted Computational 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 | 30% |
| 3 to 5 years | 50% |
| 6 to 8 years | 11% |
| 9+ years | 9% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Computational 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 (75%)
- Teamwork / Collaboration (53%)
- Communication Skills (51%)
- Problem Solving (16%)
- Organizational Skills (15%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Biology (91%)
- Bioinformatics (75%)
- Python (74%)
- Machine Learning (57%)
- Genomics (43%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- DNA (19%)
- Linux (17%)
- Biotechnology (17%)
- Oncology (15%)
- PERL Scripting Language (15%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Human Genetics (7%)
- Gene Expression (6%)
- Synthetic Biology (6%)
- Assay Development (6%)
- Genome Sequencing (5%)
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 along with the marginal value: the average salary difference between postings that request that skill and those that do not.
- Disease Biology (3%) – marginal value $3,319
- Cell Biology (3%) – marginal value $1,910
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Computational Biologist skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Senior Computational Biologist
- Senior Computational Geneticist
- Senior Scientist, Computational Biology
- Computational Biologist I
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.
- Bioinformatician
- Geneticist
- Molecular Biologist
- Cell Biologist
- Biology Research Scientist
- Computational Chemist
- Biostatistician
- Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Process Engineer
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Computational Biologist jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Pfizer (40)
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (38)
- Broad Institute (33)
- Bevov (26)
- Bristol-Myers Squibb (21)
North Carolina
- Syngenta (4)
- Locus Biosciences (3)
- Element Genomics, Inc (3)
- Agbiome (3)
- Basf Corporation (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 Burning Glass Technologies. For more information about how they gather data and what it represents, see Burning Glass Technologies - Frequently Asked Questions.