Clinical Laboratory Scientist
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Clinical Laboratory Scientist analyzes samples of body fluids, tissues, and other substances for diagnostic and research purposes within a medical laboratory or healthcare facility. Perform complex chemical, biological, hematological, immunologic, microscopic, and bacteriologic tests. Looks for bacteria, parasites, and other microorganisms, tests for drug levels in the blood to show how a patient is responding to treatment.
Job Outlook
There were 1303 Clinical Laboratory Scientist job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 47314 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Clinical Laboratory Scientist industry, which includes the Clinical Laboratory Scientist career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2016:
Salary
Many new Clinical Laboratory 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 $84,951.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $81,027.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Clinical Laboratory Scientist postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $71,989.
Education and Experience
Posted Clinical Laboratory 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 | 43.99% |
| Master's Degree | 3.61% |
| Doctoral Degree | 0.88% |
| Other | 13.95% |
Posted Clinical Laboratory 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 | 81.62% |
| 3 to 5 years | 15.99% |
| 6 to 8 years | 1.65% |
| 9+ years | 0.74% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Clinical Laboratory 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.
- Quality Control (32.83%)
- Troubleshooting (Problem Solving) (17.03%)
- Communication (15.31%)
- Leadership (14.77%)
- Quality Assurance (10.13%)
- Problem Solving (8.93%)
- Customer Service (8.51%)
- Operations (7.14%)
- Management (6.93%)
- Detail Oriented (5.82%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Blood Banking (17.55%)
- Hematology (19.59%)
- Biology (24.82%)
- Cath Lab (24.01%)
- Chemistry (23.18%)
- Medical Laboratory (53.68%)
- Coagulation (7.72%)
- Clinical Laboratory Science (32.6%)
- Health Technology (32.19%)
- Microbiology (18.81%)
- Pulmonary Rehabilitation (11.92%)
- Urinalysis (8.48%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Workflow Management (5.9%)
- Laboratory Procedures (12.49%)
- Laboratory Equipment (11.6%)
- Automation (7.66%)
- Calibration (2.47%)
- Immunology (9.54%)
- Cardiology (15.11%)
- Laboratory Testing (20.53%)
- Pathology (4.93%)
- Standard Operating Procedure (6.77%)
- Radiology (18.49%)
- Phlebotomy (8.52%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Serology (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.
- Coagulation (100%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Clinical Laboratory Scientist skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Medical Technologist
- Laboratory Technologist
- Travel Cath Lab Technologist
- Medical Technologist/Medical Laboratory Technician
- Medical Laboratory Technologist
- Travel Medical Technologist
- Clinical Laboratory Technologist
- Medical Technologist ASCP
- Medical Technologist/Clinical Laboratory 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.
- Medical Laboratory Scientist
- Blood Bank Technologist
- Clinical Laboratory Technician
- Clinical Laboratory Manager
- Pathology Laboratory Technician
- Pathology Technologist
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Clinical Laboratory Scientist jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Norman Regional Hospital (5492)
- K&A Recruiting (2258)
- Labcorp (1081)
- Vetted Health (953)
- HCA Healthcare (887)
- Triage Staffing (726)
- Fusion Medical Staffing (622)
- MLee Healthcare Staffing and Recruiting (592)
- Actalent (569)
- AMN Healthcare (565)
North Carolina
- UNC Health (129)
- Atrium Health Floyd (101)
- Duke University (91)
- Labcorp (75)
- WakeMed (65)
- Norman Regional Hospital (60)
- K&A Recruiting (53)
- The Judge Group (30)
- Actalent (26)
- Wake Forest Baptist Health (26)
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
- Health Physics Graduate Certificates
- Microbiology Undergraduate Certificates
- Textile Chemistry Master's Degrees
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.