Utah·Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations·SOC 19-4021

Best Biological Technician programs in Utah, ranked by enrollment

Assist biological and medical scientists. Set up, operate, and maintain laboratory instruments and equipment, monitor experiments, collect data and samples, make observations, and calculate and record results.

11 schools in Utah run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,632 people a year. The job pays a median of $52,960 in Utah across about 710 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledResearch AssociateResearch TechnicianBiological TechnicianLaboratory TechnicianSeed AnalystBiotechnicianBabcock TesterBiologist Aide
Graduates / yr
1,632
in Utah
Median pay · Utah
$52,960
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
710
people employed
Schools
11
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
56%
across those schools
Median net price
$23,154
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Utah that lead to this job

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

12 programs in Utah that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Utah (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 Utah page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 26.0101In Utah
942
57.7%
10$32,152$25,000
2
CIP 26.0202In Utah
167
10.2%
4$38,243$23,014
3
CIP 26.0502In Utah
157
9.6%
3$38,383$22,065
4
Neurosciencemain feeder
CIP 26.1501In Utah
115
7.0%
3$31,687$22,936
5
CIP 41.0101In Utah
76
4.7%
4$38,858$12,609
6
CIP 26.0701In Utah
48
2.9%
2$28,266$24,393
7
Bioinformaticsmain feeder
CIP 26.1103In Utah
47
2.9%
3$72,338$18,500
8
CIP 26.0204In Utah
36
2.2%
1$38,243$23,014
9
CIP 26.0709In Utah
23
1.4%
2$28,266$24,393
10
CIP 26.0102In Utah
9
0.6%
4$32,152$25,000
11
Biostatisticsmain feeder
CIP 26.1102In Utah
7
0.4%
2$72,338$18,500
12
CIP 26.1304In Utah
5
0.3%
1$29,460$23,480

Top 11 schools in Utah

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 6 of the 11 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Brigham Young University
Provo, UT Private not-for-profit · 8 feeder programs
347Neuroscience$27,98681%$13,71268%
2University of Utah
Salt Lake City, UT Public · 4 feeder programs
347Biology/Biological Sciences, General$39,21265%86%
3Utah Valley University
Orem, UT Public · 5 feeder programs
337Biology/Biological Sciences, General$38,42745%
4Weber State University
Ogden, UT Public · 5 feeder programs
165Biology/Biotechnology Technology/Technician46%
5Utah State University
Logan, UT Public · 7 feeder programs
151Biology/Biological Sciences, General$29,17959%92%
6Southern Utah University
Cedar City, UT Public · 1 feeder programs
81Biology/Biological Sciences, General61%82%
7Utah Tech University
Saint George, UT Public · 2 feeder programs
76Biology/Biological Sciences, General$35,97938%
8Snow College
Ephraim, UT Public · 2 feeder programs
67Biology/Biological Sciences, General46%
9Salt Lake Community College
Salt Lake City, UT Public · 2 feeder programs
45Biology/Biological Sciences, General29%
10Westminster University
Salt Lake City, UT Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
11Biology/Biological Sciences, General$40,91964%$23,15467%
11Dixie Technical College
Saint George, UT Public · 1 feeder programs
5Biology/Biotechnology Technology/Technician77%

All 11 schools in Utah

Every school in Utah 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 Utah that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Brigham Young UniversityProvoPrivate not-for-profit3478
University of UtahSalt Lake CityPublic3474
Utah Valley UniversityOremPublic3375
Weber State UniversityOgdenPublic1655
Utah State UniversityLoganPublic1517
Southern Utah UniversityCedar CityPublic811
Utah Tech UniversitySaint GeorgePublic762
Snow CollegeEphraimPublic672
Salt Lake Community CollegeSalt Lake CityPublic452
Westminster UniversitySalt Lake CityPrivate not-for-profit112
Dixie Technical CollegeSaint GeorgePublic51

What biological technicians earn in Utah

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

Median annual in Utah
$52,960
Mean annual
$57,850
Jobs in state
710
What the range looks like
10th pct$40,330Median$52,96090th pct$82,500
Versus the national median
-7.9%

U.S. median $57,510. Utah pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
0.91×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Utah

Salt Lake City-Murray, UT
$52,960median
500 jobs
Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT
$51,900median
40 jobs
Ogden, UT
$51,780median
30 jobs
Logan, UT-ID
$40,500median
60 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+3.5%
About as fast as average
Openings per year
9,100
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
2,900
82,700 → 85,600
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 Technicians page.

How to become a Biological Technician

Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Top skills

Reading ComprehensionCritical ThinkingActive ListeningScienceActive LearningWriting

The same job in other states

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

Related careers in Utah

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 19 majors mapped to Biological Technicians19 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 26.0101Biology/Biological Sciences, General
  • 26.0102Biomedical Sciences, General
  • 26.0202Biochemistry
  • 26.0204Molecular Biology
  • 26.0406Cell/Cellular and Molecular Biology
  • 26.0502Microbiology, General
  • 26.0503Medical Microbiology and Bacteriology
  • 26.0508Microbiology and Immunology
  • 26.0701Zoology/Animal Biology
  • 26.0708Animal Behavior and Ethology
  • 26.0709Wildlife Biology
  • 26.0801Genetics, General
  • 26.1102Biostatistics
  • 26.1103Bioinformatics
  • 26.1104Computational Biology
  • 26.1302Marine Biology and Biological Oceanography
  • 26.1304Aquatic Biology/Limnology
  • 26.1501Neuroscience
  • 41.0101Biology/Biotechnology Technology/Technician

Common questions

Answers for people weighing biological technicians programs in Utah.

What degree do you need to become a Biological Technician?+

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 942 degrees in Utah in 2024-25, 57.7% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Biological Technician?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 12 programs to this occupation. The largest are Biology, Biochemistry, Microbiological Sciences and Immunology, Neurobiology and Neurosciences, plus 4 more. Together they graduate about 1,632 people a year in Utah.

How much do biological technicians earn in Utah?+

The median is $52,960 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 7.9% below the U.S. median of $57,510. 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 technicians growing?+

BLS projects a +3.5% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 9,100 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Utah?+

11 institutions in Utah reported graduates from at least one of the 12 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 technicians work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Research Associate, Research Technician, Biological Technician, Laboratory Technician among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 19-4021.

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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