Average Salary

• For its May 2010 employment report, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics classified biochemists with their close colleagues biophysicists. It reported that the average yearly salary across the category was $86,580, calculated from wage data supplied by over 22,000 individuals working in the field. This translates into a monthly wage of $7,215 and an hourly rate of $41.63. The top 10 percent of earners in the field made $142,420 or more, while their counterparts in the bottom 10 percent bracket earned $43,050 or less.
  
  

Salary by Industry

• The bureau's analysis revealed that the majority of biochemists worked in scientific research and development services, with an annual wage of $90,810. Positions in pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing paid an average of $88,590, while biochemists working in academia, at colleges, universities and professional schools, earned an average salary of $62,480. Practitioners employed in basic chemical manufacturing were paid $79,790 on average, while those in medical and diagnostic laboratories received an average of $77,340.
  
  

Salary by Geography

• In June 2011, pay comparison website SalaryExpert.com analyzed wage levels for biochemists in several major U.S. cities. It found wide variations. Among the most lucrative locales were Houston, Texas, and New York City, averaging $110,060 and $99,329, respectively. Charlotte, North Carolina, and Los Angeles, California, had lower rates, at $83,607 and $81,550, respectively. Orlando, Florida, had an average of just $69,499. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the state where biochemists earned the highest wages overall was Georgia, which had an annual average of $105,830. North Carolina and Pennsylvania completed the top three states, at $105,040 and $102,900, respectively, while, in contrast, Maryland was listed at $85,250.
  
  

Prospects

• The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that employment opportunities across the biological science field, including for biochemists, will grow by around 21 percent over the years from 2008 to 2018. This is a very respectable growth rate, considering that jobs in the country as a whole are not expected to grow by more than 13 percent over the same time. The increase in the knowledge and application of biotechnologies will be the primary reason for this growth and should see salary levels remain very competitive.