Biologist (General)
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Biologist studies plant and animal life and conducts research in one of many specialized areas. May observe and study different types of animals or plants and their habitats or ecosystems, or study cell biology or microorganisms, or research questions relating to human biology and health.
Job Outlook
There were 184 Biologist (General) job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 9403 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Biologist industry, which includes the Biologist (General) career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:
Salary
Many new Biologist (General) 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 $104,736.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $99,746.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Biologist (General) postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $76,397.
Education and Experience
Posted Biologist (General) 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 | 60.81% |
| Master's Degree | 39.79% |
| Doctoral Degree | 37.97% |
| Other | 2.53% |
Posted Biologist (General) 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 | 34.05% |
| 6 to 8 years | 11.68% |
| 9+ years | 10.77% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Biologist (General) 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 (58.58%)
- Communication (39.97%)
- Management (29.74%)
- Writing (22.38%)
- Presentations (20.13%)
- Detail Oriented (16.9%)
- Planning (14.73%)
- Problem Solving (14.63%)
- Operations (14.26%)
- Leadership (14.16%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Biochemical Assays (20.83%)
- Biology (74.47%)
- Project Management (13.29%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Workflow Management (7.73%)
- Laboratory Experience (9.08%)
- Biotechnology (10.9%)
- Molecular Biology (26.33%)
- Geographic Information Systems (5.99%)
- Agriculture (9.54%)
- Cell Biology (18.8%)
- ArcGIS (GIS Software) (4.33%)
- Biopharmaceuticals (11.75%)
- Chemistry (21.23%)
- Biochemistry (21.82%)
- Business Development (4.64%)
- Immunology (8.8%)
- Flow Cytometry (7.59%)
- Cell Cultures (16.05%)
- Python (Programming Language) (7.59%)
- Natural Resource Management (10.77%)
- Drug Discovery (7.72%)
- Bioinformatics (6.57%)
- Environmental Impact Assessments (1.49%)
- Data Collection (11.08%)
- Ecology (12.82%)
- Data Management (5.19%)
- Computational Biology (6.94%)
- R (Programming Language) (9.72%)
- Field Research (7.02%)
- Environmental Science (9.31%)
- Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent (ELISA) Assay (8.05%)
- Data Analysis (21.83%)
- Environmental Laws (3.8%)
- Life Sciences (9.05%)
- Genetics (7.08%)
- Surveys (4.2%)
- Resource Management (4.05%)
- Microbiology (7.68%)
- Polymerase Chain Reaction (10.06%)
- Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reactions (8.57%)
- Pharmaceuticals (12.6%)
- Technical Writing (4.36%)
- Ribonucleic Acid Sequencing (10.87%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Habitat Assessment (3.62%)
- Protein Expression (4.57%)
- Wetland Delineation (4.67%)
- Endangered Species Act (4.45%)
- Conservation Biology (1.97%)
- Fishery Biology (2.27%)
- Molecular Cloning (3.31%)
- DNA Extraction (2.57%)
- Gene Expression (3.81%)
- Transfection (3.42%)
- Bacterial Cultures (3.8%)
- Structural Biology (3.1%)
- Wildlife Habitats (2.01%)
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.
- Data Analysis (89.72%)
- Structural Biology (12.72%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Biologist (General) skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Biologist
- Biological Scientist
- Computational Biologist
- Molecular Biologist
- Molecular Biology Research Assistant
- Cell Biologist
- Scientist
- Principal Scientist
- Research Biologist
- Operations Biological Scientist
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.
- Molecular Biologist
- Cell Biologist
- Biological Technician
- Research Technician
- Biomedical Scientist
- Research Associate (General)
- Assay Development Scientist
- Research Assistant
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Biologist (General) jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- State of Florida (240)
- AbbVie (156)
- Johnson & Johnson (138)
- Gilead Sciences (128)
- Accenture (121)
- Thermo Fisher Scientific (116)
- University of California (101)
- University of Florida (98)
- University of Pennsylvania (95)
- United States Fish & Wildlife Service (89)
North Carolina
- State of North Carolina (13)
- Wake Forest Baptist Health (9)
- Grifols (7)
- University of North Carolina (7)
- North Carolina State University (7)
- Recode Therapeutics (6)
- Cell Microsystems (6)
- Accenture (6)
- Environmental Protection Agency (5)
- Atrium Health Floyd (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!
- Agriculture Data Science Graduate Certificates
- Animal Science Master's Degrees
- 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.