Best degree programs for Biochemists and Biophysicists, ranked by enrollment
9 college programs and 689 schools train Biochemists and Biophysicists. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $127,410 median wage, 33,830 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
9 college programs at 689 schools train biochemists and biophysicists, graduating 13,677 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Biochemistry. The job pays a median of $127,410 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About biochemists and biophysicists
Study the chemical composition or physical principles of living cells and organisms, their electrical and mechanical energy, and related phenomena. May conduct research to further understanding of the complex chemical combinations and reactions involved in metabolism, reproduction, growth, and heredity. May determine the effects of foods, drugs, serums, hormones, and other substances on tissues and vital processes of living organisms.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
9 degree programs that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Biochemistrymain feeder CIP 26.0202 | 10,036 | 73.4% | 593 | $38,243 | $23,014 |
| 2 | Biochemistry and Molecular Biologymain feeder CIP 26.0210 | 1,607 | 11.7% | 98 | $38,243 | $23,014 |
| 3 | CIP 51.2003 | 544 | 4.0% | 35 | $48,728 | $23,761 |
| 4 | Molecular Biochemistrymain feeder CIP 26.0205 | 494 | 3.6% | 18 | $38,243 | $23,014 |
| 5 | CIP 26.0499 | 436 | 3.2% | 20 | $35,393 | $19,961 |
| 6 | Biophysicsmain feeder CIP 26.0203 | 266 | 1.9% | 52 | $38,243 | $23,014 |
| 7 | Molecular Biophysicsmain feeder CIP 26.0206 | 207 | 1.5% | 4 | $38,243 | $23,014 |
| 8 | CIP 26.0913 | 70 | 0.5% | 6 | $31,146 | $23,384 |
| 9 | Structural Biologymain feeder CIP 26.0207 | 17 | 0.1% | 2 | $38,243 | $23,014 |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Washington - Seattle Campus Seattle, WA Public · 2 feeder programs | 332 | Biochemistry | 85% | — | 39% |
| 2 | The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 287 | Biochemistry | 89% | — | 27% |
| 3 | University of Wisconsin - Madison Madison, WI Public · 3 feeder programs | 279 | Biochemistry | 90% | — | 45% |
| 4 | University of California - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Public · 3 feeder programs | 273 | Biochemistry | 93% | — | 9% |
| 5 | University of California - San Diego La Jolla, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 225 | Biochemistry | 86% | — | 27% |
| 6 | University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Dallas, TX Public · 2 feeder programs | 198 | Molecular Biophysics | — | — | — |
| 7 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion Tempe, AZ Public · 1 feeder programs | 196 | Biochemistry | 68% | — | 90% |
| 8 | University of California - Davis Davis, CA Public · 3 feeder programs | 195 | Molecular Biochemistry | 86% | — | 42% |
| 9 | Ohio State University - Main Campus Columbus, OH Public · 3 feeder programs | 148 | Biochemistry | 88% | — | 61% |
| 10 | University of Massachusetts - Amherst Amherst, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 140 | Biochemistry and Molecular Biology | 83% | — | 60% |
| 11 | Michigan State University East Lansing, MI Public · 2 feeder programs | 133 | Biochemistry and Molecular Biology | 81% | — | 85% |
| 12 | University of California - Riverside Riverside, CA Public · 3 feeder programs | 133 | Biochemistry | 76% | — | 76% |
| 13 | Arizona State University Digital Immersion Scottsdale, AZ Public · 2 feeder programs | 132 | Biochemistry | 0% | — | 67% |
| 14 | National University San Diego, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 130 | Cell/Cellular Biology and Anatomical Sciences, Other | 43% | $31,817 | — |
| 15 | Purdue University - Main Campus West Lafayette, IN Public · 3 feeder programs | 128 | Biochemistry | 83% | — | 50% |
| 16 | Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 127 | Biochemistry | 94% | $11,888 | 6% |
| 17 | Northeastern University Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 125 | Biochemistry | 91% | $18,925 | 5% |
| 18 | University of Georgia Athens, GA Public · 2 feeder programs | 123 | Biochemistry and Molecular Biology | 90% | — | 38% |
| 19 | University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI Public · 3 feeder programs | 121 | Biochemistry | 93% | — | 16% |
| 20 | Pennsylvania State University - Main Campus University Park, PA Public · 1 feeder programs | 119 | Biochemistry | 86% | — | 61% |
| 21 | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 118 | Biochemistry | 86% | — | 55% |
| 22 | University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN Public · 4 feeder programs | 115 | Biochemistry | 85% | — | 80% |
| 23 | University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 5 feeder programs | 115 | Cell/Cellular Biology and Anatomical Sciences, Other | 92% | $26,873 | 10% |
| 24 | Stony Brook University Stony Brook, NY Public · 2 feeder programs | 108 | Biochemistry | 76% | — | 49% |
| 25 | University of Miami Coral Gables, FL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 96 | Biochemistry | 84% | $26,589 | 19% |
| 26 | University of New Mexico - Main Campus Albuquerque, NM Public · 2 feeder programs | 95 | Biochemistry | 55% | — | 95% |
| 27 | Texas A&M University - College Station College Station, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 91 | Biochemistry | 84% | — | 57% |
| 28 | Boston University Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 90 | Biochemistry and Molecular Biology | 89% | $21,956 | 11% |
| 29 | Oregon State University Corvallis, OR Public · 1 feeder programs | 90 | Biochemistry and Molecular Biology | 70% | — | 77% |
| 30 | University of California - Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 87 | Cell/Cellular Biology and Anatomical Sciences, Other | 83% | — | 33% |
| 31 | Baylor University Waco, TX Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 86 | Biochemistry | 80% | $35,682 | 51% |
| 32 | University of Nebraska - Lincoln Lincoln, NE Public · 1 feeder programs | 86 | Biochemistry | 67% | — | 87% |
| 33 | University of Houston Houston, TX Public · 2 feeder programs | 84 | Biochemistry | 65% | — | 74% |
| 34 | Florida State University Tallahassee, FL Public · 2 feeder programs | 83 | Biochemistry | 86% | — | 24% |
| 35 | Binghamton University Vestal, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 82 | Biochemistry | 82% | — | 39% |
| 36 | Mississippi State University Mississippi State, MS Public · 1 feeder programs | 82 | Biochemistry | 67% | — | 78% |
| 37 | Clemson University Clemson, SC Public · 1 feeder programs | 79 | Biochemistry | 87% | — | 38% |
| 38 | Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Baton Rouge, LA Public · 1 feeder programs | 78 | Biochemistry | 69% | — | 73% |
| 39 | Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 77 | Biochemistry | 87% | $27,976 | 37% |
| 40 | North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 77 | Biochemistry | 85% | — | 42% |
| 41 | University of Arizona Tucson, AZ Public · 1 feeder programs | 76 | Biochemistry | 68% | — | 86% |
| 42 | University of Mississippi University, MS Public · 3 feeder programs | 74 | Biochemistry | 72% | — | 97% |
| 43 | University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign Champaign, IL Public · 2 feeder programs | 71 | Biochemistry | 85% | — | 42% |
| 44 | University of Missouri - Columbia Columbia, MO Public · 1 feeder programs | 71 | Biochemistry | 75% | — | 78% |
| 45 | University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 70 | Biochemistry | 74% | — | 78% |
| 46 | University of Maryland - Baltimore County Baltimore, MD Public · 1 feeder programs | 70 | Biochemistry and Molecular Biology | 70% | — | 72% |
| 47 | Indiana University - Bloomington Bloomington, IN Public · 3 feeder programs | 69 | Biochemistry | 80% | — | 78% |
| 48 | University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT Public · 2 feeder programs | 69 | Biochemistry | 65% | — | 86% |
| 49 | University of California - Irvine Irvine, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 68 | Biochemistry and Molecular Biology | 87% | — | 29% |
| 50 | University of South Carolina - Columbia Columbia, SC Public · 2 feeder programs | 65 | Biochemistry and Molecular Biology | 79% | — | 60% |
What biochemists and biophysicists earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | $139,580 | 3,240 | 0.82× | 52 | 1,942 |
| Texas | $97,510 | 520 | 0.17× | 39 | 1,228 |
| New York | $101,080 | 980 | 0.46× | 61 | 774 |
| Pennsylvania | $134,090 | 2,750 | 2.08× | 58 | 734 |
| Massachusetts | $131,600 | 14,890 | 18.81× | 25 | 716 |
| Michigan | $109,340 | 730 | 0.76× | 26 | 537 |
| Ohio | $90,000 | 350 | 0.29× | 32 | 537 |
| Washington | $98,840 | 270 | 0.34× | 10 | 468 |
| Wisconsin | $106,480 | 170 | 0.26× | 13 | 398 |
| Maryland | $100,650 | 690 | 1.15× | 13 | 353 |
| Florida | $157,390 | 370 | 0.17× | 15 | 346 |
| Illinois | $87,010 | 150 | 0.11× | 27 | 336 |
| Georgia | $85,680 | 110 | 0.10× | 12 | 299 |
| Minnesota | $81,280 | 190 | 0.30× | 21 | 293 |
| Virginia | $105,780 | 70 | 0.08× | 17 | 276 |
| North Carolina | $82,220 | 570 | 0.53× | 19 | 268 |
| Colorado | — | 960 | 1.53× | 9 | 251 |
| Iowa | $101,090 | 140 | 0.41× | 13 | 214 |
| South Carolina | $109,080 | 60 | 0.13× | 11 | 208 |
| New Jersey | $122,620 | 2,570 | 2.75× | 17 | 188 |
| Utah | $81,990 | 160 | 0.44× | 5 | 187 |
| Missouri | $79,550 | 290 | 0.45× | 12 | 175 |
| Nebraska | $66,910 | 70 | 0.31× | 9 | 158 |
| Tennessee | $134,560 | 60 | 0.08× | 13 | 157 |
| Connecticut | $132,670 | 540 | 1.47× | 13 | 153 |
| Kansas | $97,850 | 140 | 0.44× | 11 | 116 |
| Oklahoma | $69,130 | 70 | 0.18× | 8 | 100 |
| Vermontmoderate | — | 40 | 0.63× | 4 | 83 |
| Kentucky | $74,710 | 40 | 0.09× | 9 | 81 |
| Maine | $84,560 | 390 | 2.80× | 7 | 78 |
| Nevadalimited | $69,220 | — | — | 2 | 75 |
| Rhode Island | $76,710 | — | — | 6 | 75 |
| District of Columbia | $120,090 | 70 | 0.43× | 5 | 61 |
| New Hampshiremoderate | $109,770 | 200 | 1.33× | 4 | 50 |
| Arkansasmoderate | $82,390 | — | — | 3 | 35 |
| Delawarelimited | $101,880 | 490 | 4.62× | 1 | 23 |
| Alabama | $48,510 | 90 | 0.20× | 6 | 19 |
Skills and tools
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Share research findings by writing scientific articles or by making presentations at scientific conferences.
- Teach or advise undergraduate or graduate students or supervise their research.
- Study physical principles of living cells or organisms and their electrical or mechanical energy, applying methods and knowledge of mathematics, physics, chemistry, or biology.
- Manage laboratory teams or monitor the quality of a team's work.
- Develop new methods to study the mechanisms of biological processes.
- Write grant proposals to obtain funding for research.
- Design or perform experiments with equipment, such as lasers, accelerators, or mass spectrometers.
- Determine the three-dimensional structure of biological macromolecules.
Skills
- Science4.8
- Reading Comprehension4.4
- Critical Thinking4.3
- Writing4.3
- Active Learning4.1
- Active Listening4.1
- Speaking4.1
- Learning Strategies4.0
Knowledge areas
- Biology4.7
- Chemistry4.3
- English Language4.3
- Mathematics4.3
- Physics4.0
- Education and Training3.7
Abilities
- Inductive Reasoning4.3
- Written Expression4.3
- Written Comprehension4.3
- Oral Expression4.1
- Oral Comprehension4.1
- Category Flexibility4.0
Core activities
- Analyzing Data or Information5.0
- Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge4.8
- Thinking Creatively4.8
- Documenting/Recording Information4.8
- Getting Information4.7
- Processing Information4.7
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Biochemist
Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above- Typical entry education
- Doctoral or professional 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.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 9 majors mapped to Biochemists and Biophysicists9 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 26.0202Biochemistry
- 26.0203Biophysics
- 26.0205Molecular Biochemistry
- 26.0206Molecular Biophysics
- 26.0207Structural Biology
- 26.0210Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
- 26.0499Cell/Cellular Biology and Anatomical Sciences, Other
- 26.0913Biomechanics
- 51.2003Pharmaceutics and Drug Design
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become a Biochemist?+
Doctoral or professional degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Biochemistry, which awarded 10,036 degrees in 2024-25, 73.4% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Biochemist?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 9 programs to this occupation. The largest are Biochemistry, Pharmacy, Cell/Cellular Biology and Anatomical Sciences, Physiology. Together they graduate about 13,677 people a year.
How much do biochemists and biophysicists earn?+
The median is $127,410 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $74,290 at the 10th percentile to $201,110 at the 90th. 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 biochemists and biophysicists growing?+
BLS projects a +5.8% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 2,900 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
689 institutions 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 biochemists and biophysicists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Scientist, Biochemist, Biophysics Researcher, Analytical Research Chemist among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 19-1021.
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 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected 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 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, 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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