Taxonomist

What Does a Professional in this Career Do?

A Taxonomist studies organisms, including plants, animals and micro-organisms, and classifies them in to groups. Conducts field research to collect specimens and lab research to analyze and document specimens or samples. May identify and name previously unknown species. May assist with forensics investigations.

Job Outlook

There were 14 Taxonomist job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 623 in the United States.

In combination with other careers in the Biologist industry, which includes the Taxonomist career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2016:

Salary

Many new Taxonomist 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 $74,250.

State

The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $74,250.

Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Taxonomist postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $63,058.

Education and Experience

Posted Taxonomist 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	50.56%
Master's Degree	57.62%
Doctoral Degree	55.38%
Other	3.85%

Posted Taxonomist 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	43.5%
3 to 5 years	51%
6 to 8 years	1%
9+ years	4.5%

Skills

Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Taxonomist 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 (74.48%)
Management (60.19%)
Communication (33.23%)
Writing (26.97%)
Leadership (20.22%)
Operations (19.1%)
Planning (18.94%)
Problem Solving (18.94%)
Mathematics (17.34%)
Business Administration (16.85%)

Defining Skills

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

Agricultural Economics (34.73%)
Accounting (28.62%)
Biology (41.71%)
Agriculture (62.3%)
Ecology (14.31%)
Economics (31.59%)
Finance (30.37%)
Loans (28.62%)
Sociology (30.02%)
Statistics (23.39%)
Farm Management (30.89%)

Necessary Skills

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

Dairy Science (17.98%)
Agronomy (27.4%)
Credit Risk (23.39%)
Plant Pathology (5.58%)
Data Analysis (14.14%)
Data Management (4.36%)
Applied Research (8.03%)
Natural Resource Management (9.95%)
Chemistry (14.83%)
Data Collection (7.16%)
Encryption (27.75%)
R (Programming Language) (2.97%)
Credit Reports (25.65%)
Information Management (6.81%)
Entomology (12.22%)
Forestry (9.25%)
Marketing (17.1%)
Financial Management (11.17%)
Soil Science (14.14%)
Project Management (5.93%)
Crop Production (3.14%)
Demonstration Skills (6.11%)

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.

Farm Management (46.83%)
Agricultural Economics (52.65%)
Agriculture (94.44%)
Economics (47.88%)
Finance (46.03%)

Alternative Job Titles

Sometimes employers post jobs with Taxonomist skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:

Loan Analyst
Natural Resources Specialist
Agricultural Loan Specialist
Entomologist
Postdoctoral Associate
Biologist
Postdoctoral Fellow
Research Entomologist
Extension Specialist
Rangeland Management Specialist

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 Taxonomist jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.

United States

Farm Service Agency (136)
Natural Resources Conservation Service (54)
United States Department of Agriculture (30)
University of California-Davis (26)
Us Farm Service Center (26)
Agricultural Research Service (17)
Cornell University (17)
Natural Resources Conservation (14)
Pennsylvania State University (9)
University of Georgia (8)

North Carolina

North Carolina State University (4)
University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (1)
University of North Carolina Wilmington (1)
Metabolon (1)
Center For Biological Diversity (1)
Duke University (1)
North Carolina State Of (1)
Farm Service Agency (1)
Natural Resources Conservation Service (1)
Us Farm Service Center (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!

Fundamentals of Entomology Undergraduate Certificates

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