What Can You Do With a Biology Degree? Jobs & Salaries (2026)

Key takeaway: A biology degree leads to laboratory, field, and health-science work rather than a single job title. Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2025 national medians for the occupations most closely tied to biology programs run from $57,510 for biological technicians to $103,410 for medical scientists, and the higher-paying roles almost always assume graduate study on top of the bachelor's.

Jobs you can get with a biology degree

Biology is a foundation major. The coursework, cell and molecular biology, genetics, ecology, chemistry, statistics, and laboratory method, prepares you to work with living systems and with the data that describes them, and employers hire biology graduates into bench science, field science, agriculture, and health research. The occupations below are the ones the Bureau of Labor Statistics associates most directly with biology programs.

Wage source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS national medians. Figures are national medians across all employers and experience levels; actual pay varies by employer, sector, and location.

Medical scientist. Medical scientists design and run research aimed at improving human health, work that ranges from bench studies of disease mechanisms to clinical trial design and analysis. Day to day the job means writing protocols, running experiments or supervising the people who do, analyzing results, and publishing or reporting findings to sponsors and regulators. This is the highest-paid occupation on the list and also the most credential-dependent: most medical scientists hold a doctorate, an MD, or both, and a bachelor’s in biology functions as the entry ticket to that training rather than to the job itself.

Soil and plant scientist. Soil and plant scientists study how crops and soils behave, testing soil composition, developing and evaluating plant varieties, advising growers on nutrient and rotation practices, and researching how agricultural methods affect yield and land quality. The work splits between laboratory analysis, field trials, and writing up recommendations for producers, agencies, or agribusiness employers. A bachelor’s in biology with coursework in botany, chemistry, and soil science is a normal entry point, and research-leading positions typically expect a master’s or doctorate.

Zoologist and wildlife biologist. Zoologists and wildlife biologists study animals and their habitats, conducting population surveys, tracking and tagging animals, analyzing how development or habitat change affects species, and preparing reports that inform conservation and land-management decisions. Field seasons can be physically demanding and seasonal, and much of the remaining year is spent on data analysis and writing. Entry-level and technician-track positions are open to bachelor’s graduates; permanent research and project-lead roles usually require a master’s.

Biological technician. Biological technicians are the people who make research run: preparing samples and cultures, calibrating and operating instruments, running standardized assays, maintaining sterile conditions, and recording results carefully enough that someone else can reproduce them. They work in university labs, hospital and pharmaceutical research groups, and government agencies, usually under the direction of a scientist. This is the most accessible role on the list for a new bachelor’s graduate, and its median wage of $57,510 reflects that it is an early-career position rather than a terminal one.

What the degree level changes

In biology the gap between degree levels is unusually wide, and it is worth being blunt about it. A bachelor’s in biology qualifies you to do science; it rarely qualifies you to direct it. Bachelor’s graduates are hired as biological technicians, laboratory analysts, quality-control staff, field technicians on wildlife and agricultural projects, and into science-adjacent work such as regulatory support, science writing, and pharmaceutical or laboratory sales. Those are real careers, but the ceiling on the technician track is set by the credential, not by your performance.

A master’s in biology is the credential that moves you from executing protocols to designing them. It is the practical requirement for permanent zoologist and wildlife biologist positions with state and federal agencies, for research-leading roles in soil and plant science, and for laboratory management. A doctorate is effectively required for independent research careers, for principal-investigator status on grant-funded work, and for tenure-track university positions.

Two honest caveats. First, medical scientist is a doctorate-level occupation. The $103,410 median above describes people who have finished a PhD, an MD, or a combined program, and quoting it as a “biology degree salary” without that qualifier would be misleading. Second, biology is a common pre-professional major for medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, physician assistant programs, and pharmacy, all of which require their own professional degree and licensure. If a clinical career is the goal, treat the biology bachelor’s as step one of a longer sequence and check each professional program’s prerequisites before you choose electives.

Common questions

What jobs can you get with a biology degree?

The occupations most directly tied to biology programs are biological technician, zoologist and wildlife biologist, soil and plant scientist, and medical scientist. Bachelor’s graduates most often start in technician and field-technician roles; the scientist titles generally assume graduate study. Biology also serves as the undergraduate foundation for medical, dental, veterinary, and other professional programs.

How much do biology majors make?

Using Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2025 OEWS national medians, biological technicians earn a median of $57,510, zoologists and wildlife biologists $76,780, soil and plant scientists $78,850, and medical scientists $103,410. These are medians across all experience levels and employers, so early-career pay in each occupation typically sits below the figure shown.

Do you need a master’s degree in biology?

For technician and laboratory-support work, no. For permanent scientist titles, research leadership, and most agency wildlife-biologist positions, yes, a master’s is the working standard, and independent research careers require a doctorate. The degree level you need is determined almost entirely by whether you want to run the science or support it.

Can you work in healthcare with a biology degree?

A biology bachelor’s is a standard preparation route for medical, dental, veterinary, physician assistant, and pharmacy programs, but it is not itself a clinical credential. Every one of those careers requires its own professional degree plus state licensure, and none of them can be entered with an undergraduate biology degree alone.

Is a biology degree worth it?

It depends on whether you are prepared to continue past the bachelor’s, because the roles open to bachelor’s-only graduates cluster at the lower end of the wage table above. Weigh the cost and the timeline on the is a biology degree worth it page before committing.

Keep exploring

• Start at the online biology degrees hub, then compare levels: bachelor’s and master’s.
• Check biology programs by state to see what is offered where you live, and weigh the decision on the is it worth it page.
• Considering a related field? Compare public health, healthcare, and kinesiology.

Data verified: August 12, 2026. Salary, employment, and tuition figures on this page are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2024–2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.

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