Best Biological Technician programs in Washington, 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.
38 schools in Washington run programs that feed this job, graduating 2,512 people a year. The job pays a median of $60,800 in Washington across about 3,210 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Washington that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
12 programs in Washington that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Washington (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 Washington page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Biology/Biological Sciences, Generalmain feeder CIP 26.0101In Washington → | 1,346 | 53.6% | 33 | $32,152 | $25,000 |
| 2 | CIP 26.0202In Washington → | 415 | 16.5% | 9 | $38,243 | $23,014 |
| 3 | Cell/Cellular and Molecular Biologymain feeder CIP 26.0406In Washington → | 256 | 10.2% | 5 | $35,393 | $19,961 |
| 4 | Biomedical Sciences, Generalmain feeder CIP 26.0102In Washington → | 103 | 4.1% | 2 | $32,152 | $25,000 |
| 5 | Neurosciencemain feeder CIP 26.1501In Washington → | 100 | 4.0% | 4 | $31,687 | $22,936 |
| 6 | CIP 26.0502In Washington → | 86 | 3.4% | 2 | $38,383 | $22,065 |
| 7 | Marine Biology and Biological Oceanographymain feeder CIP 26.1302In Washington → | 82 | 3.3% | 3 | $29,460 | $23,480 |
| 8 | CIP 26.0701In Washington → | 39 | 1.6% | 1 | $28,266 | $24,393 |
| 9 | Biostatisticsmain feeder CIP 26.1102In Washington → | 35 | 1.4% | 1 | $72,338 | $18,500 |
| 10 | Biology/Biotechnology Technology/Technicianmain feeder CIP 41.0101In Washington → | 27 | 1.1% | 2 | $38,858 | $12,609 |
| 11 | CIP 26.0801In Washington → | 19 | 0.8% | 1 | $31,800 | $21,424 |
| 12 | Bioinformaticsmain feeder CIP 26.1103In Washington → | 4 | 0.2% | 2 | $72,338 | $18,500 |
Top 25 schools in Washington
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 14 of the 38 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Washington - Seattle Campus Seattle, WA Public · 7 feeder programs | 886 | Biochemistry | $38,985 | 85% | — | 39% |
| 2 | Washington State University Pullman, WA Public · 7 feeder programs | 405 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $36,290 | 60% | — | 87% |
| 3 | Western Washington University Bellingham, WA Public · 5 feeder programs | 174 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $33,871 | 65% | — | 93% |
| 4 | University of Washington - Bothell Campus Bothell, WA Public · 2 feeder programs | 110 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $38,716 | 65% | — | 91% |
| 5 | Gonzaga University Spokane, WA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 97 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $30,819 | 86% | $30,006 | 82% |
| 6 | Eastern Washington University Cheney, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 91 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $33,793 | 43% | — | 91% |
| 7 | University of Washington - Tacoma Campus Tacoma, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 79 | Biomedical Sciences, General | $38,716 | 63% | — | 83% |
| 8 | Central Washington University Ellensburg, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 61 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $36,401 | 54% | — | 91% |
| 9 | Seattle University Seattle, WA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 58 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $37,063 | 76% | $31,900 | 77% |
| 10 | Clark College Vancouver, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 51 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | — | 39% | — | — |
| 11 | Pacific Lutheran University Tacoma, WA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 50 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $36,766 | 69% | $19,944 | 78% |
| 12 | Cascadia College Bothell, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 47 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | — | 32% | — | — |
| 13 | Whitman College Walla Walla, WA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 38 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $28,538 | 81% | $28,508 | 38% |
| 14 | South Puget Sound Community College Olympia, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 33 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | — | 44% | — | — |
| 15 | Pierce College District Lakewood, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 32 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | — | 31% | — | — |
| 16 | Edmonds College Lynnwood, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 30 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | — | 29% | — | — |
| 17 | Highline College Des Moines, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 27 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | — | 35% | — | — |
| 18 | Shoreline College Shoreline, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 25 | Biology/Biotechnology Technology/Technician | — | 29% | — | — |
| 19 | Whitworth University Spokane, WA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 25 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $29,599 | 71% | $23,510 | 90% |
| 20 | Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences Yakima, WA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 24 | Biomedical Sciences, General | — | — | — | — |
| 21 | University of Puget Sound Tacoma, WA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 24 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $30,191 | 68% | $35,057 | 72% |
| 22 | Saint Martin's University Lacey, WA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 19 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | $32,034 | 52% | $22,131 | 90% |
| 23 | Spokane Falls Community College Spokane, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 16 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | — | 32% | — | — |
| 24 | Walla Walla University College Place, WA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 16 | Biology/Biological Sciences, General | — | 60% | $22,260 | — |
| 25 | Seattle Pacific University Seattle, WA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 14 | Biochemistry | — | 62% | $24,653 | 83% |
All 38 schools in Washington
Every school in Washington 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.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Washington - Seattle Campus | Seattle | Public | 886 | 7 |
| Washington State University | Pullman | Public | 405 | 7 |
| Western Washington University | Bellingham | Public | 174 | 5 |
| University of Washington - Bothell Campus | Bothell | Public | 110 | 2 |
| Gonzaga University | Spokane | Private not-for-profit | 97 | 2 |
| Eastern Washington University | Cheney | Public | 91 | 1 |
| University of Washington - Tacoma Campus | Tacoma | Public | 79 | 1 |
| Central Washington University | Ellensburg | Public | 61 | 1 |
| Seattle University | Seattle | Private not-for-profit | 58 | 3 |
| Clark College | Vancouver | Public | 51 | 1 |
| Pacific Lutheran University | Tacoma | Private not-for-profit | 50 | 1 |
| Cascadia College | Bothell | Public | 47 | 1 |
| Whitman College | Walla Walla | Private not-for-profit | 38 | 2 |
| South Puget Sound Community College | Olympia | Public | 33 | 1 |
| Pierce College District | Lakewood | Public | 32 | 1 |
What biological technicians earn in Washington
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $57,510. Washington pays above the national figure.
Concentrated here: Washington employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in Washington
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
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
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Washington
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 Washington.
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 1,346 degrees in Washington in 2024-25, 53.6% 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, Cell/Cellular Biology and Anatomical Sciences, Neurobiology and Neurosciences, plus 6 more. Together they graduate about 2,512 people a year in Washington.
How much do biological technicians earn in Washington?+
The median is $60,800 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 5.7% above 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 Washington?+
38 institutions in Washington 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 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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