Skip to main content
Online and Distance Education
Science and Research - Careers

Science and Research

Programs Relevant To This Career
Science and Research | Food and Agricultural Scientist / Technologist

Food and Agricultural Scientist / Technologist

What Does a Professional in this Career Do?

A Food and Agricultural Scientist or Technologist studies plants and animals used in food production. Researches topics related to improving quality and productivity in agriculture and livestock farming, or food science and nutrition. May specialize in applying food science to food product development.

Job Outlook

There were 114 Food and Agricultural Scientist / Technologist job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 6640 in the United States.

In combination with other careers in the Food and Agricultural Scientist / Technologist industry, which includes the Food and Agricultural Scientist / Technologist career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:

Salary

Many new Food and Agricultural Scientist / Technologist 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 $61,865.

State

The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $53,244.

Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Food and Agricultural Scientist / Technologist postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $44,444.

Education and Experience

Posted Food and Agricultural Scientist / Technologist 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 LevelPercentage
Associate's Degree2.44%
Bachelor's Degree38.13%
Master's Degree15.59%
Doctoral Degree8.43%
Other13.69%

Posted Food and Agricultural Scientist / Technologist 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 ExperiencePercentage
0 to 2 years52.59%
3 to 5 years39.82%
6 to 8 years4.4%
9+ years3.19%

Skills

Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Food and Agricultural Scientist / Technologist 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.

  • Communication (27.64%)
  • Management (26.33%)
  • Research (23.06%)
  • Troubleshooting (Problem Solving) (21.49%)
  • Operations (20.02%)
  • Sales (16.84%)
  • Detail Oriented (14.28%)
  • Leadership (12.73%)
  • Customer Service (12.71%)
  • Innovation (11.01%)

Defining Skills

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

  • Irrigation (Landscaping And Agriculture) (43.62%)
  • Food Science (23.21%)

Necessary Skills

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

  • Soil Science (6.49%)
  • Agriculture (10.82%)
  • Commercialization (10.48%)
  • Fermentation (5.77%)
  • Agronomy (9.2%)
  • Food Safety And Sanitation (12.44%)
  • Project Management (9.08%)
  • Chemistry (8.69%)
  • Auditing (4.28%)
  • New Product Development (19.24%)
  • Valves (Piping) (13.37%)
  • Landscaping (13.85%)
  • Marketing (12.41%)
  • Biology (8.35%)

Distinguishing Skills

A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.

  • Enology (3.37%)
  • Viticulture (3.39%)
  • Ingredient Functionality (4.02%)
  • Winemaking (3.99%)

Alternative Job Titles

Sometimes employers post jobs with Food and Agricultural Scientist / Technologist skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:

  • Irrigation Technician
  • Food Scientist
  • Food Technologist
  • Crop Advisor
  • Summer Intern
  • Fermentation Scientist
  • Sales Agronomist
  • Landscape Irrigation Technician
  • Irrigator
  • Enologist

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 Food and Agricultural Scientist / Technologist jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.

United States

  • TGI Friday's (192)
  • J.R. Simplot Company (158)
  • Unilever (126)
  • Brightview (108)
  • Actalent (78)
  • GPAC (75)
  • Disability Solutions (73)
  • The Judge Group (69)
  • University of California (65)
  • Juniper Landscaping Of Florida (46)

North Carolina

  • Eurofins (5)
  • Gardens For Living (5)
  • North Carolina A&T State University (5)
  • Unilever (3)
  • Mainscape (3)
  • Agricultural Marketing Service (3)
  • Granite Hills (3)
  • North Carolina State University (3)
  • Southern States Cooperative (3)
  • Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College (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.