Snapshot

Overview

Occupation Specialties

Work Environment

Education, Training, and Advancement

Earnings and Advancement

The median annual wage for microbiologists was $84,400 in 2020. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $45,690, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $156,360.

Most microbiologists work full time and keep regular hours. Microbiologists may receive paid vacations, holidays, and sick days; life and health insurance; and retirement benefits. These are usually paid by the employer.

Microbiology is a thriving field that should provide good prospects for qualified workers. Most of the applied research projects that microbiologists are involved in require the expertise of scientists in multiple fields such as geology, chemistry, and medicine. Microbiologists with some familiarity of other disciplines should have the best opportunities.

Much of basic research depends upon funding from the federal government through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). Federal budgetary decisions and private capital availability will affect job prospects in basic research from year to year. There is strong competition among microbiologists for research funding. However, many opportunities for microbiologists are likely to be available.

Employment and Outlook

Microbiologists held 21,400 jobs in 2020. Employment of microbiologists is projected to grow 5 percent from 2020 to 2030, slower than the average for all occupations.

Microbiologists will be needed to help pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies develop drugs that are produced with the aid of microorganisms. In addition, employers will need microbiologists to ensure quality and production efficiency in a range of companies, including food products and chemical plants.

In agriculture, microbiologists will be needed to help develop genetically engineered crops that provide greater yields or require less pesticide and fertilizer. Finally, efforts to discover new and improved ways to preserve the environment and safeguard public health also will make use of microbiologists.

However, since microbiologists can be heavily involved in research and development (R&D) work, growth in this occupation may be limited by R&D funding constraints.

More Information

Conversation With... Robert F. Garry, PHD

Professor of Microbiology and Immunology

Tulane School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisianna

Research scientist, 40 years

What was your individual career path in terms of education/training, entry-level job, or other significant opportunity?

I majored in biology at Indiana State University and had a great experience in a great research lab studying virology. I was encouraged by a graduate student and a postdoctoral researcher who must have seen some potential and took me under their wings. I got fascinated by the field of virology and how you can discover things and make a difference. The possibilities are endless. I enjoyed the camaraderie in the lab. I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else.

I received my PhD in microbiology with a focus on virology at the University of Texas in Austin. I remained for my postdoctoral research and worked in an area that was off the beaten track at the time, on a retrovirus, reticuloendotheliosis virus (REV), that can cause immuno-suppression in chickens. It turned out to be a fortunate choice because about the time I was finishing my postdoc, a new disease called AIDS appeared. All of a sudden, my work on this obscure avian retrovirus became very relevant because what we were studying—immune suppression—was exactly what we were seeing in AIDS patients.

I received a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to study in humans what I had worked on in birds. There just weren’t that many people who knew about this. I went on to join an NIH study section, reviewing and funding grants. It’s really what happens to move the field forward, and I learned the process of doing science.

I also moved to New Orleans and became an assistant professor, associate professor, and, later, professor at Tulane University.

I worked on AIDS up until 10 or 15 years ago when work on HIV shifted mostly to vaccine discovery, which really isn’t my field. This was coincident with 9-11, and concerns about anthrax. Funding shifted as did concern that something like Ebola was a potential bioweapon of mass destruction.

I had worked on tests to determine if people had HIV and learned a lot about the diagnostic industry. NIH was basically looking to fund grants relating to diagnostics, vaccinations, and therapeutics for these viruses of new concern. So I moved into research on the Lassa virus, a hemorrhagic fever similar to Ebola. Unlike Ebola, which occurs in outbreaks that burn themselves out, Lassa is endemic in West Africa. That means you can study it.

I am principal investigator of the Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Consortium, and set up a lab at Kenema Government Hospital (KGH) in eastern Sierra Leone in 2005. I go four to six times a year for two to three weeks at a time with a team and work with clinicians. In the U.S., we’d be working in a biosafety four-level lab—the high-level labs where you wear a space suit—but there are no rubber suits in Africa. The doctors don’t have the opportunity to put on that kind of protection so you have to be pretty brave, as well as the mindset you’re going to use as many proper precautions as you can.

In March 2014, the World Health Organization announced the Ebola outbreak in Guinea and Liberia, a three- or four-hour drive from KGH. Lassa and Ebola have similar symptoms, and on May 25, our hospital received its first sample that was positive for Ebola. West Africa is different from the interior of Africa because it is more populated and mining companies—such as those that mine diamonds—have built good roads. People can travel around Sierra Leone, as opposed to a village you could ring off from the spread of disease.

I was at KGH by May 27 with diagnostics and personal protective equipment. The cases kept coming. We were overwhelmed. Kenema had several thousand patients.

Over the past couple of years, we’ve been able to get back to our Lassa program. But we lost team members to Ebola, including the only virologist in Sierra Leone and the hospital’s head nurse. That certainly motivates me to put these diseases behind us.

In addition to my work with the consortium, I am Assistant Dean for Graduate Studies in Biomedical Sciences at Tulane.

What are the most important skills and/or qualities for someone in your profession, particularly someone who decides to work overseas?

Persistence: not being discouraged if an experiment doesn’t work the first time, a grant doesn’t get funded, or a paper is not accepted.

What do you wish you had known before deciding to work abroad?

I wish I had known about the opportunities for work overseas earlier in my career. Until we got involved in Sierra Leone, my work was laboratory-based. When you see what’s happening on the ground, you see what the stakes are.

Are there many job opportunities overseas in your profession? In what specific geographic areas?

Yes, in all developing low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Will the willingness of professionals in your career to travel and live overseas change in the next five years?

Yes, I think it will increase. We are seeing more awareness of the need for enhancing basic healthcare infrastructure and for epidemic preparedness.

What role will technology play in those changes, and what skills will be required?

Researchers have to be computer literate, but basic lab skills are a must. So is maturity.

What do you enjoy most about your job? What do you enjoy least about your job?

I most enjoy the eureka moments. I least enjoy paperwork and budgeting.

Can you suggest a valuable “try this” for students considering a career overseas in your profession?

Do work-study or volunteer in a lab. Do a study-abroad program or join the Peace Corps. A research university is probably the most likely place to start if you’re interested in going overseas. Public health schools are doing a lot of work in developing countries.

This interview was originally published in 2017.

Conversation With... Hailey E. Petersen, PHD

Walter Reed Army Institute of Research

Silver Spring, MD

Microbiologist, 6 years

What was your individual career path in terms of education/training, entry-level job, or other significant opportunity?

My AP biology teacher in high school took us into labs and assigned books like The Hot Zone. That really got me excited about science and, specifically, microbiology. Infectious disease is interesting, sexy and dangerous. I earned a BS in microbiology from Kansas State University, where I joined a laboratory as an undergraduate assistant. I gained a lot of practical experience and was exposed to lab culture. I also met my first significant mentor, a principal investigator who had other female students in her lab, which attracted me. With her help I decided to get my PhD Together we navigated the process of asking for recommendations, applying to schools, and the interview process.

During my grad school interviews, what struck me most was being told not to worry so much about what research I was doing but to find a school, a lab, and an advisor I was comfortable with. Don’t get me wrong; grad school is intense. But some schools foster a community where students have time for a life of their own. When I visited Tulane University, I knew that was where I needed to be; the people were sincere and the students were hardworking but still happy.

I worked on vaccine development with a bacteria that causes melidosis, which is like pneumonia. I was drawn to the project because pathogens are classified by how dangerous they are, and this was a level three out of four possible levels. So we wore full suits and worked in a contained, high-security lab.

Entering the last year of my PhD I started exploring my next step. I wanted to do a postdoc but didn’t want to be an academic. My ultimate goal is to be head of a lab, but not necessarily at a university. I’m now doing a postdoc at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, working on vaccine development for shigella, which is a diarrheal disease. The Army is interested because it’s an expensive inconvenience for deployed troops and others in the field.

I’m also doing a project management fellowship in the next year, which would be overseeing different projects in a science capacity. For instance, I might share new research that might be applicable to a particular project.

During my search for my postdoc, I did a lot of networking. It can be hard to approach people you don’t know, but it was vital to finding my current position.

What are the most important skills and/or qualities for someone in your profession?

You must be persistent. A lot of doing science is failure. Experiments don’t work the first time, or the second, or the 50th but you have to keep trying. You read more, you ask questions, you optimize and you try again. You also have to be persistent when it comes to getting funding and publishing. You will submit grants or manuscripts and get rejections and feedback and you need to be able to take that criticism, improve, and try again with a better product.

What do you wish you had known going into this profession?

I’ve been told that all grad students are miserable and that to really be successful you have to sacrifice personal time. But increasingly, I realize that you can accomplish your goals and do things in a way you are comfortable with if you plan for it.

Are there many job opportunities in your profession? In what specific areas?

Yes. Besides laboratory jobs in academia, industry or government, there are options like being a science writer, a consultant or a patent lawyer.

How do you see your profession changing in the next five years, what role will technology play in those changes, and what skills will be required?

Science is more collaborative than ever and a lot of that is because of technology. The speed of communication makes it easy to work with people all over the world. It has also boosted competition because you want to be the first to publish findings, and if you’re not quick, someone may publish before you. You need to be able to build important collaborations with other scientists and communicate your ideas and discoveries clearly and quickly.

What do you enjoy most about your job? What do you enjoy least about your job?

The best part of being a scientist is that you are always on the edge of current knowledge. Every day, you and your colleagues are learning something no one has known before, and that’s exciting. You get to tackle amazing questions. What I like least are the small things you must to do in order to get to the amazing experiments, such as paperwork, budgeting, and the bureaucracy involved in getting funding or managing a laboratory.

Can you suggest a valuable “try this” for students considering a career in your profession?

Summer internships, laboratory assistantships and lab tech positions are all good ways to get an idea of what it’s like in a science lab and what grad school will be like. Most importantly, talk to PhD students and postdocs about their experiences and find an advisor who can help you assess your strengths and weaknesses and help you make the jump to graduate student.

This interview was originally conducted in 2015.