Pathology Laboratory Technician
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Pathology Laboratory Technician helps with the performance of laboratory tests in laboratories that specify in pathology, or medical patient diagnosis. Sets up, operates, and maintains laboratory equipment, makes observations, and calculates and records results.
Job Outlook
There were 44 Pathology Laboratory Technician job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 2039 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Laboratory Technician industry, which includes the Pathology Laboratory Technician career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:
Salary
Many new Pathology Laboratory Technician 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 $66,025.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $55,543.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Pathology Laboratory Technician postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $46,516.
Education and Experience
Posted Pathology Laboratory Technician 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 | 22.27% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 27.76% |
| Master's Degree | 4.46% |
| Doctoral Degree | 4.41% |
| Other | 33.15% |
Posted Pathology Laboratory Technician 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 | 79.19% |
| 3 to 5 years | 17.48% |
| 6 to 8 years | 1.43% |
| 9+ years | 1.9% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Pathology Laboratory Technician 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 (24.57%)
- Research (17.12%)
- Quality Control (16.38%)
- Detail Oriented (14.27%)
- Clerical Works (11.82%)
- Customer Service (11.08%)
- Operations (10.74%)
- Filing (10.64%)
- Computer Literacy (9.96%)
- Management (9.37%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Medical Laboratory (30.57%)
- Pathology (75.76%)
- Histology (27.66%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Laboratory Testing (8.34%)
- Surgical Pathology (9.8%)
- Medical Terminology (11.87%)
- Laboratory Information Management Systems (4.09%)
- Phlebotomy (8.9%)
- Data Entry (10.19%)
- Chemistry (16.29%)
- Laboratory Experience (16.97%)
- Laboratory Equipment (15.06%)
- Gynecology (4.42%)
- Anatomy (7.39%)
- Biology (29.84%)
- Clinical Pathology (5.6%)
- Anatomical Pathology (16.57%)
- Standard Operating Procedure (7.45%)
- Specimen Processing (11.65%)
- Quality Improvement (1.96%)
- Specimen Accessioning (10.58%)
- Cytology (14%)
- Toxicology (2.02%)
- Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) (4.42%)
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.
- Pathology (92.93%)
- Histology (33.93%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Pathology Laboratory Technician skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Pathology Technician
- Pathology Assistant
- Laboratory Technician
- Pathology Laboratory Assistant
- Laboratory Assistant
- Histology Technician
- Anatomic Pathology Technician
- Pathology Physician
- Locum Tenens
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.
- Pathology Technologist
- Clinical Laboratory Technician
- Clinical Laboratory Specialist
- Laboratory Manager
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Pathology Laboratory Technician jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- CompHealth (156)
- Aya Healthcare (65)
- Actalent (56)
- University of California (43)
- Labcorp Drug Development (28)
- AMN Healthcare (20)
- Trinity Health (19)
- University of Pennsylvania (18)
- AdventHealth (17)
- Sanford Health (16)
North Carolina
- CompHealth (7)
- WakeMed (7)
- Novant Health (4)
- Butterball (4)
- Wake Forest Baptist Health (3)
- Progenco (2)
- Aya Healthcare (2)
- East Carolina University (2)
- First Health of the Carolinas (2)
- UNC Health (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.