JobAfterNext

Bioinformatics Scientists

Conduct research using bioinformatics theory and methods in areas such as pharmaceuticals, medical technology, biotechnology, computational biology, proteomics, computer information science, biology and medical informatics. May design databases and develop algorithms for processing and analyzing genomic information, or other biological information.

Wages

BLS doesn't publish wages for Bioinformatics Scientists separately. These are the figures for Biological Scientists, All Other (19-1029), its parent occupation.

Median annual wage, U.S.$98,920
Employment, U.S.55,850
Median hourly wage$47.56
Annual wage percentiles, U.S., May 2025
10th25thMedian75th90th
$60,430$76,800$98,920$127,670$168,010
By state (50)
StateEmploymentMedian annualLocation quotient
Alabama340$87,2600.44
Alaska370$106,8703.14
Arizona760$90,2900.65
Arkansas360$76,4000.78
California11,880$113,5301.82
Colorado850$93,9700.82
Connecticut170$111,9400.28
Delaware$113,400
District of Columbia850$84,5903.39
Florida1,920$83,7800.54
Georgia1,230$96,8200.70
Hawaii370$95,6001.63
Idaho430$83,3201.41
Illinois1,300$82,6400.59
Indiana640$84,5700.56
Iowa550$82,7200.98
Kansas760$76,4001.47
Kentucky260$79,4000.36
Louisiana580$69,5900.83
Maine340$104,5701.49
Maryland4,970$121,6805.01
Massachusetts2,930$107,1002.24
Michigan860$81,5400.54
Minnesota750$76,4000.71
Mississippi320$91,1700.76
Missouri1,120$63,2901.07
Montana550$91,5603.02
Nebraska240$82,7700.65
Nevada410$74,2100.74
New Hampshire310$83,7401.28
New Jersey540$104,7500.35
New Mexico420$84,1201.34
New York2,520$104,1200.72
North Carolina2,780$100,0701.56
Ohio610$95,5600.31
Oklahoma300$79,9500.49
Oregon700$86,2600.99
Pennsylvania1,810$100,7800.83
Rhode Island100$101,7500.56
South Carolina240$91,5600.29
South Dakota170$73,9201.03
Tennessee420$80,5000.35
Texas2,480$80,8700.49
Utah590$93,2500.95
Vermont90$77,9600.84
Virginia1,650$96,0301.11
Washington2,620$108,1102.05
West Virginia230$84,5900.91
Wisconsin740$78,4800.70
Wyoming170$91,5601.70

Similar occupations

Similarity is our measure: the cosine of importance x level over all 120 O*NET skills, knowledge areas and abilities. It is not an O*NET finding. More.

#OccupationJob ZoneSimilarity
1Biochemists and Biophysicists50.968
2Geneticists50.963
3Bioinformatics Technicians40.961
4Molecular and Cellular Biologists50.958
5Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists50.955
6Industrial Ecologists50.946
7Microbiologists40.945
8Biologists50.942
9Natural Sciences Managers50.941
10Soil and Plant Scientists50.940

One skill away

Among the 50 occupations most similar to Bioinformatics Scientists, those at the same Job Zone or lower, where exactly one skill rated at least 3 in importance needs a level more than 0.75 points higher (on O*NET's 0-7 level scale). Our definition. Change the thresholds.

OccupationSkill to buildLevel gapSimilarity
Bioinformatics TechniciansProgramming3.000.961
BiologistsProgramming3.750.942
Biological Science Teachers, PostsecondaryInstructing1.130.936
AstronomersScience0.870.934
Chemistry Teachers, PostsecondaryInstructing1.370.931
Environmental Science Teachers, PostsecondaryInstructing1.130.922
Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Teachers, PostsecondaryInstructing1.000.922
Materials ScientistsOperations Analysis1.380.922
Physics Teachers, PostsecondaryInstructing1.130.920
MathematiciansMathematics1.620.920

All 15

Software to learn next

Software used by at least 3 of the 20 occupations most similar to Bioinformatics Scientists, excluding software Bioinformatics Scientists already lists and any you named. Ranked by how many of them use it, weighted by how much more common it is among them than across all occupations (lift). Our ranking.

SoftwareSimilar jobs using itLift
Laboratory information management system LIMS8 of 2020.5x
Basic Local Alignment Search Tool BLAST6 of 2046.2x
Statistical software9 of 2010.4x
ESRI ArcGIS software10 of 205.0x
PHYLIP4 of 2046.2x
Wolfram Research Mathematica6 of 209.2x
Geographic information system GIS software8 of 205.2x
Deoxyribonucleic acid DNA sequence analysis software3 of 2046.2x
STATISTICA4 of 2015.4x
Graphics software6 of 205.3x

Skills

From O*NET data. Importance is rated 1 to 5 and level 0 to 7.

SkillTypeImportanceLevel
Reading ComprehensionEssential skill 4.38 5.12
WritingEssential skill 4.00 4.88
Critical ThinkingEssential skill 4.00 4.75
Active ListeningEssential skill 4.00 4.50
SpeakingEssential skill 4.00 4.50
Complex Problem SolvingTransferable skill 4.00 4.38
ScienceEssential skill 4.00 4.25
Active LearningEssential skill 3.88 4.38
MathematicsEssential skill 3.88 4.38
Judgment and Decision MakingTransferable skill 3.75 4.50
MonitoringEssential skill 3.38 4.00
Systems AnalysisTransferable skill 3.38 3.75
Systems EvaluationTransferable skill 3.25 3.75
Time ManagementTransferable skill 3.25 3.12
ProgrammingTransferable skill 3.00not rated
Learning StrategiesEssential skill 3.00 3.75
InstructingTransferable skill 3.00 3.25
Social PerceptivenessTransferable skill 3.00 3.25
CoordinationTransferable skill 2.88 3.12
PersuasionTransferable skill 2.62 3.25
Service OrientationTransferable skill 2.62 3.00
Management of Personnel ResourcesTransferable skill 2.62 2.62
Operations AnalysisTransferable skill 2.50 2.50
NegotiationTransferable skill 2.38 2.62
Technology DesignTransferable skill 2.12 2.38
Operations MonitoringTransferable skill 2.00 2.00
Quality Control AnalysisTransferable skill 1.88 1.62
Management of Material ResourcesTransferable skill 1.62 1.12
Management of Financial ResourcesTransferable skill 1.62 1.00
Operation and ControlTransferable skill 1.50 0.88
TroubleshootingTransferable skill 1.38 0.50
Equipment SelectionTransferable skill 1.38 0.38
Equipment MaintenanceTransferable skill 1.00not rated
InstallationTransferable skill 1.00not rated
RepairingTransferable skill 1.00not rated
Knowledge (29) and abilities (52)
Knowledge
NameImportanceLevel
Biology 4.93 6.34
Computers and Electronics 4.70 6.10
English Language 4.37 4.76
Engineering and Technology 4.35 5.25
Mathematics 4.27 5.23
Chemistry 3.94 4.23
Education and Training 3.10 3.76
Physics 2.79 3.67
Administration and Management 2.48 3.77
Design 2.33 2.35
Medicine and Dentistry 2.29 2.09
Administrative 2.24 2.80
Public Safety and Security 1.97 1.45
Personnel and Human Resources 1.96 1.42
Mechanical 1.89 1.55
Production and Processing 1.86not rated
Communications and Media 1.81 1.34
Customer and Personal Service 1.77 1.12
Law and Government 1.70 1.23
Sales and Marketing 1.67 1.78
Therapy and Counseling 1.44 0.91
Telecommunications 1.40 0.63
Philosophy and Theology 1.38 0.74
Foreign Language 1.29not rated
Geography 1.23not rated
Psychology 1.21not rated
Economics and Accounting 1.17not rated
History and Archeology 1.15not rated
Sociology and Anthropology 1.13not rated
Abilities
NameImportanceLevel
Written Comprehension 4.38 5.12
Inductive Reasoning 4.25 5.00
Oral Comprehension 4.12 5.12
Deductive Reasoning 4.12 4.88
Written Expression 4.12 4.88
Oral Expression 4.00 5.00
Mathematical Reasoning 4.00 4.50
Information Ordering 4.00 4.38
Originality 4.00 4.38
Fluency of Ideas 4.00 4.25
Problem Sensitivity 3.88 4.50
Category Flexibility 3.88 4.12
Near Vision 3.88 3.88
Number Facility 3.75 4.25
Speech Clarity 3.75 4.12
Speech Recognition 3.38 3.62
Flexibility of Closure 3.25 3.62
Selective Attention 3.25 3.50
Perceptual Speed 3.00 3.25
Speed of Closure 2.88 3.50
Far Vision 2.88 3.00
Memorization 2.88 2.88
Visualization 2.75 3.38
Time Sharing 2.50 2.50
Visual Color Discrimination 2.25 2.25
Hearing Sensitivity 2.12 1.88
Auditory Attention 1.88 1.50
Finger Dexterity 1.75 1.38
Depth Perception 1.75 1.25
Trunk Strength 1.50 0.88
Control Precision 1.38 0.62
Manual Dexterity 1.38 0.38
Wrist-Finger Speed 1.38 0.38
Arm-Hand Steadiness 1.25not rated
Dynamic Flexibility 1.00not rated
Dynamic Strength 1.00not rated
Explosive Strength 1.00not rated
Extent Flexibility 1.00not rated
Glare Sensitivity 1.00not rated
Gross Body Coordination 1.00not rated
Gross Body Equilibrium 1.00not rated
Multilimb Coordination 1.00not rated
Night Vision 1.00not rated
Peripheral Vision 1.00not rated
Rate Control 1.00not rated
Reaction Time 1.00not rated
Response Orientation 1.00not rated
Sound Localization 1.00not rated
Spatial Orientation 1.00not rated
Speed of Limb Movement 1.00not rated
Stamina 1.00not rated
Static Strength 1.00not rated

Software used

Examples from O*NET data. "Hot" and "in demand" are O*NET flags for technologies often listed in job postings.

All 93
  • Microsoft PowerPoint hot
  • Microsoft SQL Server hot
  • Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services SSRS hot
  • Microsoft SharePoint hot
  • Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications VBA hot
  • Microsoft Visual Studio hot
  • MySQL hot
  • NoSQL hot
  • Oracle Database hot
  • Oracle PL/SQL hot
  • PHP hot
  • PostgreSQL hot
  • Ruby hot
  • SAP software hot
  • SAS hot
  • Salesforce software hot
  • Scala hot
  • Shell script hot
  • Tableau hot
  • jQuery hot
  • Accelrys Pipeline Pilot
  • Apache Accumulo
  • Apache Groovy
  • Apache HTTP Server
  • BLAT
  • BWA
  • BioPerl
  • Bioconductor
  • Biomatters Geneious
  • Bowtie
  • Canu
  • ClustalW
  • Cufflinks
  • Cytel StatXact
  • DNA sequencing software
  • Data visualization software
  • ENSEMBL
  • Formula translation/translator FORTRAN
  • GenBank
  • GenePattern
  • Genedata Expressionist
  • Genome Analysis Toolkit GATK
  • Illumina Laboratory Information Management System LIMS
  • Life Technologies SOLiD
  • Life Technologies Vector NTI
  • NCBI RefSeq
  • Object oriented development environment software
  • Oracle JavaServer Pages JSP
  • Primer3
  • Public genomic databases
  • RNA sequencing software
  • Relational database management software
  • Roche 454 Life Sciences GS Data Analysis
  • Software development tools
  • StataCorp Stata
  • TIBCO Spotfire S+
  • Teradata software
  • Tibco S-PLUS
  • TopHat
  • User interface design software
  • Velvet
  • Web browser software
  • dbSNP

Where it concentrates

BLS doesn't publish wages for Bioinformatics Scientists separately. These are the figures for Biological Scientists, All Other (19-1029), its parent occupation.

Metro areas ranked by BLS location quotient: the occupation's share of the area's jobs divided by its share of all US jobs. Above 1 means more concentrated than the nation. Metros employing fewer than 100 are left out.

Metro areaEmploymentLocation quotientMedian annual
Durham-Chapel Hill, NC1,39011.28$98,700
Ames, IA1608.21$82,720
Missoula, MT1305.21$82,140
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV5,7205.08$114,920
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA4,2805.01$138,160
Jefferson City, MO1404.96$59,050
Champaign-Urbana, IL1403.61$70,870
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA1,9603.54$108,350
Fort Collins-Loveland, CO2103.44$98,800
Madison, WI4402.97$77,550

More metros, other thresholds