Geneticist

What Does a Professional in this Career Do?

A Geneticist studies genes and the role that genes and heredity play in health and disease or in populations. May diagnose, counsel and treat patients with genetic diseases and disorders, or conduct research to identify genetic disorders. May research genetic interactions with environmental factors or research and develop genetic modification in plant populations.

Job Outlook

There were 16 Geneticist job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 768 in the United States.

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

Salary

Many new Geneticist 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 $137,210.

State

The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $137,210.

Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Geneticist postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $108,616.

Education and Experience

Posted Geneticist 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	6.77%
Master's Degree	13.41%
Doctoral Degree	63.28%
Other	0.65%

Posted Geneticist 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	55.56%
3 to 5 years	31.58%
6 to 8 years	9.94%
9+ years	2.92%

Skills

Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Geneticist 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 (64.71%)
Teaching (37.11%)
Management (26.04%)
Communication (21.48%)
Writing (15.36%)
Leadership (13.15%)
Mentorship (11.2%)
Presentations (11.07%)
Problem Solving (10.94%)
Detail Oriented (10.94%)

Defining Skills

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

Biochemical Genetics (10.07%)
Biology (20.82%)
Pediatrics (38.5%)
Genetics (59.59%)
Medical Genetics (40%)
Genomics (46.67%)

Necessary Skills

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

Biomarkers (3.27%)
Assay Development (8.03%)
Phenotyping (8.3%)
Collaborative Research (3.13%)
Workflow Management (4.76%)
Proteomics (3.4%)
Quality Improvement (3.27%)
DNA Sequencing (7.76%)
Metabolism (9.8%)
Molecular Biology (15.78%)
Data Analysis (9.52%)
Biochemistry (11.29%)
Biostatistics (3.4%)
Bioinformatics (10.34%)
Computational Biology (6.53%)
Clinical Trials (5.85%)
Clinical Research (12.65%)
Entomology (7.89%)
Whole Genome Sequencing (5.58%)
Compliance Training (7.21%)
R (Programming Language) (10.75%)
Drug Discovery (3.4%)
Genome-Wide Association Study (4.35%)
Laboratory Testing (3.54%)
Maternal-Fetal Medicine (5.58%)
Python (Programming Language) (8.71%)
Machine Learning (3.67%)
Oncology (11.02%)
Microbiology (7.48%)
Genetic Counseling (11.97%)
Ribonucleic Acid Sequencing (9.93%)
Molecular Genetics (14.97%)
Population Genetics (5.58%)
Statistics (10.61%)
Genetic Disorders (7.62%)
Scientific Literature (12.93%)
Programming Languages (3.67%)
Next-Generation Sequencing (6.12%)
Molecular Assays (7.62%)

Distinguishing Skills

A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.

Prenatal Genetics (1.22%)
Clinical Cytogenetics (3.27%)
PLINK (Genetic Analysis Software) (1.36%)
Genetic Research (3.13%)

Alternative Job Titles

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

Clinical Geneticist
Molecular Genetics Technologist
Medical Geneticist
Pediatric Genetic Counseling Intern
Research Geneticist
Metabolic Specialist
Statistical Geneticist
Cytogenetic Technician
Maternal Fetal Medicine Physician

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

United States

Caris Life Sciences (52)
Agricultural Research Service (27)
AMN Healthcare (26)
United States Department of Agriculture (20)
University of Chicago (20)
Baylor College of Medicine (13)
University of Alabama at Birmingham (12)
Hackensack Meridian Health (12)
University of California-San Francisco (11)
CompHealth (11)

North Carolina

University of North Carolina at Pembroke (3)
Kelly Services (2)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1)
TeMPus (1)
East Carolina University (1)
Mission Health (1)
Caris Life Sciences (1)
Duke University (1)
RTI International (1)
North Carolina State University at Raleigh (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