Earnings at the National Level

• According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, biology professors in postsecondary settings earned a mean annual wage of $86,570 in 2010. Those in the 90th percentile earned at or above $153,540 per year, while those in the 75th percentile earned at or below $104,020 annually. Those in the 50th percentile earned at or below $72,700 and those in the 10th percentile earned at or below $40,380 in 2010.
  
  

Earnings by Industry

• The Bureau of Labor Statistics states that the top-paying industry for biology professors in 2010 was scientific research and development, which offered a mean annual salary of $140,600. Colleges, universities and other professional institutions paid the second-highest mean annual salary of $90,890. Junior colleges offered the third-highest mean yearly compensation of $66,610, while technical and trade schools offered the fourth-highest at $52,830.
  
  

Earnings by State

• According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Alabama paid biology professors the highest mean annual salary at $122,950 in 2010. Texas offered the second-highest mean annual wages at $112,690, while New Hampshire had the third-highest at $112,050 per year. Massachusetts paid the fourth-highest mean annual pay at $99,190, followed by Hawaii with a mean annual salary at $94,540.
  
  

Earnings by Larger Urban Areas

• Those employed in the metropolitan area of Birmingham and Hoover, Alabama, received the highest mean annual pay of $150,260 in 2010. The area of Kalamazoo and Portage, Michigan, paid the second-highest mean annual compensation at $125.130 the same year. Those in Boston, Cambridge and Quincy, Massachusetts, earned the third-highest mean annual salary with $114,050. The area including Houston, Sugar Land and Baytown, Texas offered the fourth-highest mean annual rate of $110,290.