New Mexico·Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations·SOC 19-1029

Best Biological Scientist, All Other programs in New Mexico, ranked by enrollment

All biological scientists not listed.

15 schools in New Mexico run programs that feed this job, graduating 526 people a year. The job pays a median of $84,120 in New Mexico across about 420 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledBotanistBiologistScientistBioinformaticistMedical GeneticistResearch ScientistMolecular BiologistBioinformatics Scientist
Graduates / yr
526
in New Mexico
Median pay · New Mexico
$84,120
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
420
people employed
Schools
15
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
34%
across those schools
Median net price
$20,882
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in New Mexico that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

9 programs in New Mexico that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in New Mexico (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own New Mexico page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1462
87.8%
15$32,152$25,000
228
5.3%
1$49,023$21,309
310
1.9%
1$38,383$22,065
410
1.9%
1$31,800$21,424
56
1.1%
1$33,009$21,975
64
0.8%
1$29,460$23,480
72
0.4%
1$38,243$23,014
82
0.4%
1$33,009$21,975
92
0.4%
1$35,393$19,961

Top 15 schools in New Mexico

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 2 of the 15 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1University of New Mexico - Main Campus
Albuquerque, NM Public · 1 feeder programs
204Biology/Biological Sciences, General$30,06555%95%
2New Mexico State University - Main Campus
Las Cruces, NM Public · 6 feeder programs
146Biology/Biological Sciences, General$26,53355%89%
3Central New Mexico Community College
Albuquerque, NM Public · 2 feeder programs
53Biotechnology31%
4University of the Southwest
Hobbs, NM Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
26Biology/Biological Sciences, General17%$20,882
5New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
Socorro, NM Public · 1 feeder programs
25Biology/Biological Sciences, General57%44%
6New Mexico Highlands University
Las Vegas, NM Public · 1 feeder programs
16Biology/Biological Sciences, General26%
7Eastern New Mexico University - Main Campus
Portales, NM Public · 1 feeder programs
14Biology/Biological Sciences, General45%92%
8San Juan College
Farmington, NM Public · 1 feeder programs
13Biology/Biological Sciences, General37%
9Northern New Mexico College
Espanola, NM Public · 1 feeder programs
12Biology/Biological Sciences, General29%
10Western New Mexico University
Silver City, NM Public · 3 feeder programs
5Cell/Cellular and Molecular Biology32%
11Eastern New Mexico University - Roswell Campus
Roswell, NM Public · 1 feeder programs
4Biology/Biological Sciences, General32%
12Clovis Community College
Clovis, NM Public · 1 feeder programs
3Biology/Biological Sciences, General34%
13Luna Community College
Las Vegas, NM Public · 1 feeder programs
3Biology/Biological Sciences, General28%
14Navajo Technical University
Crownpoint, NM Public · 1 feeder programs
1Biology/Biological Sciences, General12%
15Santa Fe Community College
Santa Fe, NM Public · 1 feeder programs
1Biology/Biological Sciences, General23%

All 15 schools in New Mexico

Every school in New Mexico with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in New Mexico that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
University of New Mexico - Main CampusAlbuquerquePublic2041
New Mexico State University - Main CampusLas CrucesPublic1466
Central New Mexico Community CollegeAlbuquerquePublic532
University of the SouthwestHobbsPrivate not-for-profit261
New Mexico Institute of Mining and TechnologySocorroPublic251
New Mexico Highlands UniversityLas VegasPublic161
Eastern New Mexico University - Main CampusPortalesPublic141
San Juan CollegeFarmingtonPublic131
Northern New Mexico CollegeEspanolaPublic121
Western New Mexico UniversitySilver CityPublic53
Eastern New Mexico University - Roswell CampusRoswellPublic41
Clovis Community CollegeClovisPublic31
Luna Community CollegeLas VegasPublic31
Navajo Technical UniversityCrownpointPublic11
Santa Fe Community CollegeSanta FePublic11

What biological scientists, all other earn in New Mexico

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in New Mexico
$84,120
Mean annual
$84,640
Jobs in state
420
What the range looks like
10th pct$50,960Median$84,12090th pct$110,470
Versus the national median
-15.0%

U.S. median $98,920. New Mexico pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
1.34×

Concentrated here: New Mexico employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.

Metro areas in New Mexico

Albuquerque, NM
$92,160median
180 jobs
Las Cruces, NM
$88,320median
30 jobs
Santa Fe, NM
avg
30 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+1.2%
Little or no change
Openings per year
4,800
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
800
63,700 → 64,500
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Biological Scientists, All Other page.

How to become a Biological Scientist, All Other

Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).

Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.

Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.

Top skills

ScienceReading ComprehensionWritingCritical ThinkingActive ListeningSpeaking

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in New Mexico

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 25 majors mapped to Biological Scientists, All Other24 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 26.0101Biology/Biological Sciences, General
  • 26.0204Molecular Biology
  • 26.0207Structural Biology
  • 26.0208Photobiology(no graduates reported)
  • 26.0209Radiation Biology/Radiobiology
  • 26.0210Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
  • 26.0299Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology, Other
  • 26.0301Botany/Plant Biology
  • 26.0305Plant Pathology/Phytopathology
  • 26.0307Plant Physiology
  • 26.0308Plant Molecular Biology
  • 26.0399Botany/Plant Biology, Other
  • 26.0401Cell/Cellular Biology and Histology
  • 26.0403Anatomy
  • 26.0404Developmental Biology and Embryology
  • 26.0406Cell/Cellular and Molecular Biology
  • 26.0407Cell Biology and Anatomy
  • 26.0499Cell/Cellular Biology and Anatomical Sciences, Other
  • 26.0503Medical Microbiology and Bacteriology
  • 26.0504Virology
  • 26.0505Parasitology
  • 26.0506Mycology
  • 26.0507Immunology
  • 26.0508Microbiology and Immunology
  • 26.0509Infectious Disease and Global Health

Common questions

Answers for people weighing biological scientists, all other programs in New Mexico.

What degree do you need to become a Biological Scientist, All Other?+

Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Biology/Biological Sciences, General, which awarded 462 degrees in New Mexico in 2024-25, 87.8% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Biological Scientist, All Other?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 9 programs to this occupation. The largest are Biology, Biotechnology, Microbiological Sciences and Immunology, Genetics, plus 4 more. Together they graduate about 526 people a year in New Mexico.

How much do biological scientists, all other earn in New Mexico?+

The median is $84,120 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 15.0% below the U.S. median of $98,920. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for biological scientists, all other growing?+

BLS projects a +1.2% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 4,800 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in New Mexico?+

15 institutions in New Mexico reported graduates from at least one of the 9 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do biological scientists, all other work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Botanist, Biologist, Scientist, Bioinformaticist, Medical Geneticist, Research Scientist among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 19-1029.

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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