---
title: "Biochemist and Biophysicist"
description: "Study the chemical composition or physical principles of living cells and organisms, their electrical and mechanical energy, and related phenomena. May…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/biochemist-and-biophysicist"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Biochemist and Biophysicist

**Category:** Life, Physical, and Social Science · **SOC code:** 19-1021 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 19-1021.00

Study the chemical composition or physical principles of living cells and organisms, their electrical and mechanical energy, and related phenomena. May conduct research to further understanding of the complex chemical combinations and reactions involved in metabolism, reproduction, growth, and heredity. May determine the effects of foods, drugs, serums, hormones, and other substances on tissues and vital processes of living organisms.

Also advertised as: Analytical Research Chemist; Biochemist; Biophysics Researcher; Scientist.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $127,410 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $61.26/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $74,290 to $201,110, with the middle half between $95,000 and $163,460
- **Total US employment:** 33,830
- **Typical entry education:** Doctorate
- **Preparation required:** Considerable preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +12.3% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 2,900 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 30/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 33,830 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $74,290 |
| 25th | $95,000 |
| 50th (median) | $127,410 |
| 75th | $163,460 |
| 90th | $201,110 |
| Mean (average) | $129,840 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| FL | $157,390 | $152,194 | 370 |
| CA | $139,580 | $126,066 | 3,240 |
| TN | $134,560 | $146,468 | 60 |
| PA | $134,090 | $137,427 | 2,750 |
| CT | $132,670 | $128,047 | 540 |
| MA | $131,600 | $124,436 | 14,890 |
| NJ | $122,620 | $112,697 | 2,570 |
| DC | $120,090 | $109,271 | 70 |
| NH | $109,770 | $105,381 | 200 |
| MI | $109,340 | $113,639 | 730 |
| SC | $109,080 | $116,353 | 60 |
| WI | $106,480 | $113,162 | 170 |
| VA | $105,780 | $104,625 | 70 |
| DE | $101,880 | $102,076 | 490 |
| IA | $101,090 | $115,187 | 140 |

21 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 36 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/biochemist-and-biophysicist/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/biochemist-and-biophysicist.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 35,200 in the 2025–2035 base year to 39,500 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 4,300 jobs, or +12.3%. Much faster than average: 12.3% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 2,900 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** Doctoral or professional degree (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Considerable preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** None.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| Post-Doctoral Training | 40.0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 25.0% |
| Doctoral Degree | 25.0% |
| First Professional Degree | 10.0% |

## What the work involves

- Share research findings by writing scientific articles or by making presentations at scientific conferences.
- Study physical principles of living cells or organisms and their electrical or mechanical energy, applying methods and knowledge of mathematics, physics, chemistry, or biology.
- Manage laboratory teams or monitor the quality of a team's work.
- Develop new methods to study the mechanisms of biological processes.
- Design or build laboratory equipment needed for special research projects.
- Prepare reports or recommendations, based upon research outcomes.
- Teach or advise undergraduate or graduate students or supervise their research.
- Write grant proposals to obtain funding for research.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Science — importance 4.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 4.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Complex Problem Solving — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Instructing — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Analysis — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operations Analysis — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Evaluation — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Biology — importance 4.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Chemistry — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Physics — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Education and Training — importance 3.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Written Comprehension — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Expression — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Inductive Reasoning — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Comprehension — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Deductive Reasoning — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Investigative (I), Realistic (R), Conventional (C).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| I — Investigative | 7.00 |
| R — Realistic | 5.11 |
| C — Conventional | 3.64 |
| A — Artistic | 2.61 |
| S — Social | 2.15 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.83 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| INTJ | 86.4 |
| ISTP | 82.9 |
| ISTJ | 78.4 |
| INTP | 77.5 |
| INFJ | 54.8 |

Best-fitting types: INTJ, ISTP. The bank also flags this occupation as introvert-friendly, meaning O\*NET work-context ratings put it low on public contact and performing for the public.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Molecular and Cellular Biologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/molecular-and-cellular-biologist) — median $98,920
- [Microbiologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/microbiologist) — median $87,990
- [Geneticist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/geneticist) — median $98,920
- [Medical Scientist, Except Epidemiologists](https://nuecareer.com/careers/medical-scientist) — median $103,410
- [Chemist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/chemist) — median $91,240
- [Bioengineer and Biomedical Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/bioengineer-and-biomedical-engineer) — median $109,370
- [Bioinformatics Scientist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/bioinformatics-scientist) — median $98,920
- [Physicist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/physicist) — median $172,250
- [Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/medical-and-clinical-laboratory-technician) — median $62,930
- [Animal Scientist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/animal-scientist) — median $68,940

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025–2035 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/biochemist-and-biophysicist