Molecular Biologist
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Molecular Biologist studies plant and animal life and conducts research to understand molecular and biochemical processes. May teach molecular biology or specialize in clinical research, gene sequencing, 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 160 Molecular Biologist job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 7773 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Biologist industry, which includes the Molecular Biologist career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2016:
Salary
Many new Molecular 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 $100,024.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $123,219.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Molecular Biologist postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $77,409.
Education and Experience
Posted Molecular 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 | 43.34% |
| Master's Degree | 32.74% |
| Doctoral Degree | 49.27% |
| Other | 1.24% |
Posted Molecular 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 | 39.52% |
| 3 to 5 years | 45.16% |
| 6 to 8 years | 8.53% |
| 9+ years | 6.79% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Molecular 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 (71.44%)
- Communication (39.62%)
- Writing (23.92%)
- Detail Oriented (21.56%)
- Troubleshooting (Problem Solving) (19.45%)
- Management (17.55%)
- Presentations (15.93%)
- Self-Motivation (15.4%)
- Operations (14.32%)
- Organizational Skills (14.15%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Mammalian Cell Cultures (7.92%)
- Postdoctoral Research (8.15%)
- Western Blot (13.73%)
- Immunology (24.39%)
- DNA Sequencing (13.8%)
- Molecular Cloning (7.98%)
- Biochemistry (39.32%)
- Molecular Biology (73.24%)
- Biology (58.09%)
- Cell Biology (41.19%)
- Biochemical Assays (34.72%)
- Tissue Culture (9.61%)
- Genome Editing (9.24%)
- Nucleic Acids (7.58%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Next-Generation Sequencing (11.26%)
- Ribonucleic Acid Sequencing (24.67%)
- Research Experiences (11.87%)
- Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reactions (16.59%)
- Polymerase Chain Reaction (26.15%)
- Microbiology (15.88%)
- Project Management (5.59%)
- Laboratory Techniques (10.04%)
- Life Sciences (7.45%)
- Standard Operating Procedure (8.61%)
- Genetics (20.06%)
- Genomics (13.77%)
- Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent (ELISA) Assay (11.85%)
- Drug Discovery (5.22%)
- Flow Cytometry (16.63%)
- Medical Laboratory (4.85%)
- Bioinformatics (9.32%)
- Biotechnology (11.35%)
- Microscopy (8.41%)
- Data Analysis (20.3%)
- Cell Cultures (30.75%)
- Chemistry (13.65%)
- Quality Management Systems (1.77%)
- Workflow Management (9.83%)
- Laboratory Equipment (11.68%)
- Virology (6.65%)
- Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) (4.99%)
- Laboratory Experience (18.95%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Molecular Assays (2.63%)
- Recombinant DNA Technology (2.55%)
- Synthetic Biology (3.11%)
- RNA Extraction (5.3%)
- Molecular Genetics (4.28%)
- Molecular And Cellular Biology (5.89%)
- Functional Genomics (3.3%)
- Gene Expression (3.54%)
- Transfection (5.24%)
- Gel Electrophoresis (4.24%)
- DNA Extraction (4.3%)
- Developmental Biology (3.64%)
- Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy (4.73%)
- Bacterial Cultures (4.92%)
- Epigenetics (4.11%)
- Protein Expression (3.61%)
- Cancer Biology (7.35%)
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.
- Mammalian Cell Cultures (32.97%)
- Tissue Culture (39.97%)
- Developmental Biology (15.14%)
- Synthetic Biology (12.96%)
- Recombinant DNA Technology (10.61%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Molecular Biologist skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Postdoctoral Fellow
- Research Associate
- Scientist
- Postdoctoral Associate
- Biologist
- Research Scientist
- Associate Scientist
- Postdoctoral Research Associate
- Postdoctoral Research Fellow
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.
- Cell Biologist
- Biologist (General)
- Assay Development Scientist
- Biochemist
- Infectious Disease Scientist
- Medical Research Scientist
- Physiologist
- Microbiologist
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Molecular Biologist jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- University of Minnesota (149)
- University of Colorado System Office (126)
- University of California (109)
- Eurofins (101)
- University of California-San Francisco (97)
- University of Pennsylvania (91)
- Danaher (84)
- Thermo Fisher Scientific (81)
- Kelly Services (78)
- Caris Life Sciences (75)
North Carolina
- North Carolina State University (18)
- Thermo Fisher Scientific (16)
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (12)
- Danaher (9)
- University of North Carolina (8)
- Bioagilytix (6)
- United Therapeutics Corporation (5)
- Duke University (5)
- System One Holdings (4)
- Atrium Health (3)
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.