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Pay · 19-1022

Microbiologists earn $87,990 a year at the midpoint

The middle of the pay scale for microbiologists is $87,990. A typical start is nearer $67,100; the top tenth earn about $150,000.

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$87,990median a year · United States
$42.30an hour $97,600average 18,940people
Nine in ten people in this work earn between the two ends. The shaded part is the middle half — where most people are.
$67,10025th $87,990median $122,35075th
$54,67010th percentile $150,00090th percentile
$67,100a year at the 25th percentile, nearer a first job
$122,350best-paying state · Massachusetts
$59,750lowest-paying state · Arkansas
+39%top state against the national median
  • Read the spread, not the middle. The median is the midpoint across everyone in the occupation, most of them years into the work. A beginner starts nearer the 10th to 25th percentile, which is why the spread is published alongside it.
  • What the figure counts. The figure counts base pay plus tips, commissions and production bonuses. It leaves out the self-employed, unpaid family workers, private household workers, and the value of benefits or profit sharing.
  • Where you live moves it more than your resume does. National figures. A state or metro area can sit far from the national number, and that gap is usually larger than any difference a resume makes.
  • Not in these numbers. Growth and annual openings are not in this dataset. They come from the separate Employment Projections tables, where an opening is a modelled ten year average and not a posted vacancy.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025. Retrieved through the BLS Public Data API on 2026-08-13. bls.gov/oes “BLS.gov cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov.”

State matters a lotThe same job pays $122,350 in Massachusetts and $59,750 in Arkansas — a gap of $62,600 a year.

Microbiologist earnings, from starting pay to the highest 10%

Pick the job, where you work and how long you have done it. The range comes from the published wage percentiles for that job.

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An estimate from survey percentiles, not an offer. Employer, industry, shift and credentials move pay within and beyond this range. Full wage page for this job →

Microbiologist wages, state by state

The 35 states where the most people do this work, of 42 with a published figure: their medians range by 2.05 times. Figures are the 2025 survey.

State Median a year Where most start 10th to 90th Employed
Massachusetts $122,350 $75,990 $75,990 — $162,760 1,960
California $108,530 $62,440 $62,440 — $183,420 2,600
Maryland $108,470 $59,260 $59,260 — $185,520 1,590
Georgia $103,070 $66,510 $66,510 — $158,020 880
New Jersey $96,020 $57,840 $57,840 — $131,700 790
Illinois $92,050 $59,780 $59,780 — $127,300 1,470
Oregon $89,220 $65,600 $65,600 — $141,130 170
Montana $87,750 $53,940 $53,940 — $171,600 80
Connecticut $86,360 $60,800 $60,800 — $134,040 180
North Carolina $85,860 $57,710 $57,710 — $138,600 1,050
Pennsylvania $84,650 $50,300 $50,300 — $132,040 670
Minnesota $83,400 $58,050 $58,050 — $138,280 290
Delaware $82,770 $59,040 $59,040 — $128,480 190
Colorado $81,640 $49,690 $49,690 — $152,730 370
New York $81,090 $65,020 $65,020 — $134,960 1,050
Florida $80,930 $46,090 $46,090 — $135,710 270
Iowa $79,830 $66,780 $66,780 — $138,090 180
New Hampshire $79,430 $57,540 $57,540 — $111,120 170
Michigan $78,680 $52,470 $52,470 — $103,150 370
Missouri $78,590 $54,540 $54,540 — $163,130 140
Indiana $77,900 $55,460 $55,460 — $120,020 150
Virginia $77,820 $55,120 $55,120 — $161,470 280
Washington $77,690 $53,490 $53,490 — $129,480 340
Tennessee $77,630 $52,880 $52,880 — $143,220 210
Utah $72,600 $46,960 $46,960 — $123,120 120
Ohio $72,500 $46,420 $46,420 — $129,590 530
Nebraska $72,470 $57,160 $57,160 — $166,000 90
South Dakota $70,530 $40,820 $40,820 — $107,200 80
Kansas $70,500 $50,570 $50,570 — $118,560 120
Wisconsin $67,100 $46,030 $46,030 — $109,040 420
Texas $66,450 $45,850 $45,850 — $103,820 920
Alabama $65,690 $38,350 $38,350 — $96,660 110
South Carolina $64,740 $51,820 $51,820 — $98,460 100
Nevada $64,490 $51,990 $51,990 — $125,860 110
Arkansas $59,750 $42,580 $42,580 — $145,270 140

No estimate is published for 1 states: the survey withholds a figure when too few employers report it. Nothing has been filled in for them.

No. 167 of 788 by median pay

Better paid than 79% of the occupations in the survey.

  1. 165 Operations Research Analysts $88,940
  2. 166 Food Scientists and Technologists $88,720
  3. 167 Microbiologists $87,990
  4. 168 Gas Plant Operators $87,820
  5. 169 First-Line Supervisors of Non-Retail Sales Workers $87,520

Resumes for microbiologists

Name the job in the builder and the duties, skills and credentials it is screened on are written in for you.

Microsoft PowerPointMicrosoft Office softwareMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft WordBasic Local Alignment Search Tool BLASTLaboratory information management system LIMSMicrosoft AccessStatistical software
  • Isolated and maintained cultures of bacteria or other microorganisms in prescribed or developed media, controlling moisture, aeration, temperature, and nutrition.
  • Provided laboratory services for health departments, community environmental health programs, and physicians needing information for diagnosis and treatment.
  • Monitored and performed tests on water, food, and the environment to detect harmful microorganisms or to obtain information about sources of pollution, contamination, or infection.

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This page 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. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. The owner of tiersi.com has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

Microbiologist pay rate, hourly to yearly

Starts at this job’s median. Change the rate or the hours; a full-time year is 40 hours for 52 weeks.

$87,984a year

Nearby work, and what it pays

Occupations in the same group of the federal classification — the usual next steps, or the ones beside this one.

Microbiologists$87,990
Life Scientists, All Other$93,750+$5,760 Food Scientists and Technologists$88,720+$730 Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists$76,780−$11,210 Foresters$76,400−$11,590

Examples

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Questions people ask

What is a microbiologist’s yearly income?

A microbiologist makes a median of $87,990 a year (2025 survey). The middle half earn between $67,100 and $122,350.

What is a microbiologist’s hourly pay rate?

The median pay rate is $42.30 an hour; the average is $97,600 a year.

What is the starting pay for a microbiologist?

Starting pay is usually near the 25th percentile, $67,100 a year, and sometimes as low as the 10th, $54,670.

Which state pays microbiologists the most?

Massachusetts, with a median of $122,350 a year.

How many people work as microbiologists?

About 18,940 in the United States — number 167 of 788 occupations by median pay.

Jobs that pay about the same

Median pay within $1,330 of what microbiologists earn — $87,990 a year — but not always the same spread.

See all 788 occupations