Biologist

What biologists make

These figures come from the biologists profile in the federal wage survey, where the 2025 median is $98,920 a year, the bottom tenth earn $60,430 or less and the top tenth $168,010 or more. Biologists are reported inside a wider group that also counts scientists who are not biologists, so the spread is broad. Pay also varies by state and city: O*NET OnLine (the Department of Labor's occupation database) has a local wage tool that shows the figures for your area.

Where field work starts

Summer biological technician jobs with parks, forests and state wildlife agencies are where many people in field biology start, on short contracts with no benefits, sometimes living in bunkhouses. It is how you get the hours that make you hireable.

A permanent federal job is the goal for many

Federal pay runs on the General Schedule, a published ladder of grades and steps, with an extra percentage added for each area of the country.

What it costs to get there

Many biology master's students are paid a small stipend to teach undergraduate labs. Ask about that before you accept any offer, because it changes a $40,000 bill into a job.

Benefits

• Federal health insurance and pension

  Government biologists get federal health insurance and a pension.

• Public Service Loan Forgiveness

  Ten years of payments while working for a government agency or nonprofit can cancel the rest of your federal student loans.

• Housing on remote assignments

  Park and refuge jobs often include a bunk or a trailer.

• Field gear paid for

  Boots, waders, optics and safety training come out of the employer's budget, not yours.

The path to becoming a biologist, step by step

A four year degree gets you in the door. A master's degree is what usually turns a seasonal job into a permanent one.

1. 1

   High school

   Grades 11 and 12

   Biology, chemistry, math and statistics. Volunteer with a local nature center, aquarium or wildlife rehabilitation group.

2. 2

   Bachelor's degree in biology

   4 years

   Take the field courses, the statistics course and at least one summer of real research or a technician job.

3. 3

   Seasonal technician seasons

   1 to 3 years

   Two or three summers counting fish, banding birds, surveying plants. This is the real entry exam for the field.

4. 4

   Master's degree

   2 to 3 years

   Two to three years, often funded by teaching. It is the normal price of a permanent research or agency job.

5. 5

   Doctorate, only if you want to lead research

   5 to 6 years

   Needed to run your own lab or teach at a university. Funded with a stipend.

High school courses that help you become a biologist

• Biology

  Obviously, but pay attention to ecology and genetics.

• Statistics

  Biology is now mostly a data job. This is the course that separates people.

• Chemistry

  Required for almost every biology degree.

• Computer science

  Coding in Python or R makes you far more employable.

• English

  Reports and grant writing are half the work.

Time and money, at a glance

No license, but federal jobs check your transcript

No state licenses the title of biologist, so anyone can use it. Federal agencies are stricter than that: hiring for biology positions runs on published qualification standards that require a degree with a set block of biological science credits, and your transcript is checked against them. The Wildlife Society also runs a voluntary Certified Wildlife Biologist credential that some state agencies and consulting firms like to see.

Certificates and skills that open doors

• Mapping software

  Geographic information systems work is on many field biology job postings now.

• Scientific diving or a boat operator card

  Required for much marine and fisheries field work.

• Wilderness first aid and CPR

  Cheap, short, and asked for on remote field crews.

• Species identification permits

  Bird banding, bat handling and electrofishing all need specific training and authorization.

Nice-to-haves

• A driver's license and a clean record

  Field crews drive trucks on rough roads all day.

• Volunteer surveys

  Breeding bird counts, stream monitoring, invasive plant pulls. They all count as experience.

• A summer research placement

  The National Science Foundation funds paid summer research spots for undergraduates across the country.

• Comfort with camping

  Some of the best jobs are ten days on, four days off, a long way from a town.

A typical day in the field season

Up before sunrise because animals are. Drive an hour, walk in with a pack, run survey points for five or six hours in whatever weather arrives. Afternoon is data entry, gear repair and sample labeling. In the off season the same person sits at a desk cleaning data, running statistics and writing the report that decides whether a permit is granted or a habitat gets protected.

The honest pros and cons of being a biologist

Work life

Similar paths

• Wildlife BiologistCount, track and manage wild animal populations so decisions about land and hunting are based on evidence instead of guesses.
• Marine BiologistStudy life in the ocean, mostly fish and plankton rather than dolphins, and spend years on seasonal contracts before anything permanent.
• EcologistStudy how living things and the places they live fit together, then tell people what happens when that breaks.

About 4,300 openings a year

O*NET OnLine (the Department of Labor's occupation database) counted about 59,600 biologists in 2025. It projects faster than average growth to 2035, with about 4,300 jobs opening each year.

Much field biology is government work

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, the Forest Service and state wildlife agencies all hire biologists, and the federal jobs are posted in one place, the federal government's single hiring website.