Keep cultures alive and growing
Keep microorganisms alive in their growth medium by controlling temperature, moisture and the nutrients they get.
Career profile
Microbiologist
Microbiologists grow cultures, compare samples and design experiments to study bacteria, fungi and other microbes.
Why does a microbe thrive under some conditions and struggle under others? Answering that means building an experiment around the question.
A day in the life
Compare cells under the microscope
Through the microscope, you compare cell shapes and other traits that help identify the microorganism.
Change one factor at a time
For food safety studies, alter one environmental factor, hold the rest steady, and measure how microbial growth responds.
Flag possible outbreaks for public health
Match bacterial results in a shared database, then talk through a cluster with the epidemiologist tracing the illnesses.
Quick facts
Bachelor's degree
United States · 2025
$87,990/year
United States · May 2025
6.2% projected growth
United States · 2025–2035
Quick orientation
Preparation, pay & outlook
Preparation
Bachelor's degreeTypical education needed to enter the occupation.
Pay
$87,990/yearNational median employee wage; about $42.30/hour on a 2,080-hour basis.
Outlook
6.2% projected growthAbout 1,500 openings per year on average, including replacement needs.
Fit, tradeoffs & changing tools
You might like this if…
- You like asking what would make an experiment a fair test.
- You can stay attentive while repeating careful steps.
- You enjoy explaining why evidence supports a conclusion.
Things to weigh
- Bench work can be repetitive, and handling potentially harmful organisms requires protective equipment and careful procedures.
- In grant-supported research, uncertain funding can add stress.
Where AI may help
In foodborne disease laboratories, machines read a bacterium's genetic code through whole genome sequencing. Software compares those readings to help find related samples.
What people still lead
Scientists prepare samples and interpret results with outbreak investigators. A genetic match needs context from the investigation.
What we can’t predict yet
How much comparison work software will take over remains uncertain. New tools also change the sample preparation, data skills, and interpretation the job requires.
Pay in context
Earnings
Workplace type helps explain the wide pay spread.
The national midpoint
The median was $87,990 a year, equivalent to about $42.30 an hour over 2,080 hours. Half earned more and half less; this is not a starting salary.
The spread
The lowest-paid 10% earned below $54,670; the highest-paid 10% earned above $150,000. These are wage percentiles, not career stages.
Compare workplaces
Annual medians were $105,110 in scientific research and development, $83,770 in pharmaceutical manufacturing, and $59,470 in testing laboratories and services.
Openings include replacements
Employment is projected to grow 6.2% from 2025 to 2035. The roughly 1,500 annual openings include replacing workers who leave, not just newly created jobs.
Getting started
Earn a relevant bachelor's degree
- What the route involves
- Study microbiology or a related field, with laboratory courses and practical experience.
- What it can lead to
- This is the usual preparation for entry-level microbiologist jobs.
- What to check
- Some positions require or prefer a master's degree or Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.).
Combine coursework and experience for federal roles
- What the route involves
- Complete coursework equivalent to a microbiology, biology, chemistry, or basic medical science major, plus appropriate experience or additional education.
- What it can lead to
- This can meet the federal microbiologist series' basic qualification requirement through its combined education-and-experience route.
- What to check
- The coursework must include 20 semester hours in microbiology and related subjects and 20 in physical and mathematical sciences, covering organic chemistry or biochemistry, physics, and college algebra or equivalents. Vacancy-specific requirements still apply.
Build science knowledge alongside laboratory experience.
After entry
Career paths
This starts where the entry routes leave off: early work, growing capability, and advancement or specialization.
Get established
Make culture handling and experiment records dependable enough for colleagues to use your results.
Develop a specialty
Learn to improve a testing method—for example, finding a more reliable way to detect harmful microbes in food.
Lead people and projects
With experience, pursue laboratory leadership or natural sciences management.
Where you can work
Public health laboratories
Your results feed outbreak investigations. You coordinate testing priorities with epidemiologists and environmental health staff, especially when many samples arrive, and share findings across laboratories.
- Indoors
- Lab
Federal food safety research
You may recreate growing conditions in a controlled laboratory or study microbes around crop-growing areas. Findings help improve detection methods and inform advice about preventing contamination.
- Lab
- Field work
Try it
See whether the job clicks before you commit to the path.
On paper, design a test of whether temperature changes a microbe's growth. Name what you would change, keep constant, and measure. Then explain what result would challenge your prediction. Notice whether designing a fair comparison interests you.
Stay safe: Keep this a paper exercise; do not collect or grow unknown microorganisms.
Sources
- O*NET OnLine. 19-1022.00 — Microbiologists. Accessed 2026-10-04.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational projections and worker characteristics, 2025–2035. Accessed 2026-10-04.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Microbiologists — Occupational Outlook Handbook. Accessed 2026-10-04.
- U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Microbiology Series 0403. Accessed 2026-10-04.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About Whole Genome Sequencing. Accessed 2026-10-04.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Model Practice: Laboratory Timeliness and Completeness. Accessed 2026-10-04.
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Microbiology Research (Food). Accessed 2026-10-04.