Soil / Plant Scientist

What Does a Professional in this Career Do?

A Soil or Plant Scientist studies soil composition and nutrition, the impact of soil treatment practices on plant or crop growth, and soil conservation and management methods relevant to farming and forestry.

Job Outlook

There were 45 Soil / Plant Scientist job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 1095 in the United States.

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

Salary

Many new Soil / Plant Scientist 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 $80,074.

State

The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $87,908.

Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Soil / Plant Scientist postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $67,252.

Education and Experience

Posted Soil / Plant Scientist 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	37.44%
Master's Degree	24.38%
Doctoral Degree	19.27%
Other	16.07%

Posted Soil / Plant Scientist 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	65.28%
3 to 5 years	30.16%
6 to 8 years	1.59%
9+ years	2.98%

Skills

Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Soil / Plant Scientist 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 (39.18%)
Management (34.7%)
Communication (25.02%)
Writing (18.81%)
Planning (13.97%)
Teaching (12.15%)
Operations (11.42%)
Good Driving Record (11.23%)
Detail Oriented (11.23%)
Quality Control (10.87%)

Defining Skills

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

Botany (33%)
Horticulture (7.37%)
Landscaping (7.37%)
Soil Science (52.17%)

Necessary Skills

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

Soil Management (3.43%)
Hand Tools (3.43%)
Soil Sampling (15.44%)
Agronomy (7.77%)
Herbicides (8.48%)
Power Tool Operation (3.63%)
Plant Science (20.79%)
Plant Identification (9.79%)
Fertilizers (4.04%)
Geographic Information Systems (12.92%)
Agriculture (28.76%)
Biology (41.57%)
Construction (3.63%)
Data Collection (12.82%)
Ecology (14.83%)
Data Entry (4.94%)
Field Research (12.21%)
Environmental Science (16.35%)
Landscape Maintenance (1.82%)
Gardening (2.02%)
Mowing (4.44%)
Mulch (2.52%)
Machinery (1.51%)
Physics (15.24%)
Pruning (4.14%)
Project Management (9.49%)
Pesticides (6.05%)
Weed Control (6.76%)
Irrigation (Landscaping And Agriculture) (10.6%)

Distinguishing Skills

A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.

Pedology (7.57%)
Dichotomous Key (5.75%)
Soil Chemistry (8.78%)
Soil Genesis (6.86%)
Plant Taxonomy (3.33%)
Atterberg Limits (0.2%)
Soil Fertility (8.88%)

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.

Soil Genesis (77.27%)
Soil Fertility (100%)

Alternative Job Titles

Sometimes employers post jobs with Soil / Plant Scientist skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:

Soil Scientist
Botanist
Biological Science Technician
Soils Technician
Plant Biological Science Technician
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Postdoctoral Fellow
Oil Technician
Adjunct Instructor
Horticultural Assistant

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 Soil / Plant Scientist jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.

United States

Natural Resources Conservation Service (56)
National Park Service (47)
Vestis (47)
United States Forest Service (45)
University of Tennessee (27)
United States Department of Agriculture (25)
Actalent (22)
Stantec (19)
United States Department of the Interior (18)
Colorado State University (16)

North Carolina

North Carolina State University (9)
North Carolina State Of (6)
Vestis (5)
Actalent (3)
University of North Carolina (3)
State of North Carolina (3)
At Technical (1)
U.S National Park Service (1)
Waypoint Analytical (1)
Duke Energy (1)

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