Biochemists fetch highest salaries in life sciences

Chemistry-related skills are in demand, which is translating to some attractive salaries in the field. According to a new round-up on income from The Scientist, biochemists now command a median salary of $74,000. Professionals in the 90th percentile earn more than $90,000 a year, according to an analysis doe by the Economic Research Institute. Biologists are getting by on a median salary of $53,600 while biomedical engineers are flexing some considerable income muscle, with a median income of $69,500.

"I think there's a huge void in the American marketplace for people who can not only work and speak in an engineering environment, but who can also work through problems creatively and communicate well," life science headhunter Edmund Orr tells The Scientist. ERI expects these top life science professions to gain average salary hikes of about 5 percent a year. Boston, San Francisco and San Diego all stand out as top destinations for life science experts, but even though they'll likely earn more in those cities, anyone who already lives there will tell you that they can also expect to pay considerably more for the same kind of lifestyle they could enjoy in, say, Durham, North Carolina.

- here's the article on pay from The Scientist

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