Annual Salary, Salary Range, and Highest Paying States and Industries
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Food Scientists and Technologists
Food Scientists and Technologists use chemistry, microbiology, engineering, and other sciences to study the principles underlying the processing and deterioration of foods; analyze food content to determine levels of vitamins, fat, sugar, and protein; discover new food sources; research ways to make processed foods safe, palatable, and healthful; and apply food science knowledge to determine best ways to process, package, preserve, store, and distribute food.
Table of contents
- Average salary
- Starting salary
- Salary rank
- Salary range
- Highest paying states
- Highest paying industries
Average salary
Starting salary
Entry-level Food Scientists and Technologists with little to no experience can expect to make anywhere between $41,240 to $54,300 per year or $20 to $26 per hour. Similar to any other job, their salary will increase as they gain experience.
Salary rank
We wanted to make it easy for our readers to compare the salary of Food Scientists and Technologists to all the other careers out there. So we created Salary Rank. We compared the salary of all careers then we gave them a rank of A, B, C, or D depending on where their average salary sit in comparison to other careers.
Salary range
| Level | Hourly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| Highest (Top 10%) | $63 | $130,430 |
| Senior (Top 25%) | $48 | $99,870 |
| Middle (Mid 50%) | $35 | $73,450 |
| Junior (Bottom 25%) | $26 | $54,300 |
| No experience (Bottom 10%) | $20 | $41,240 |
Highest paying states
| State | Hourly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| OH | $47 | $97,960 |
| CT | $47 | $96,880 |
| IL | $45 | $94,330 |
| KS | $45 | $93,370 |
| MD | $44 | $92,470 |
| NY | $41 | $84,970 |
| CA | $41 | $84,750 |
| NJ | $41 | $84,300 |
| MO | $39 | $82,020 |
| MA | $39 | $81,840 |
Another simple way to increase your salary as a Food Scientist and Technologist is to move to a higher paying state. However moving to a higher paying state like OH doesn’t guarantee that you will make more because the expenses at OH might be much higher than where you are currently living at right now.
According to BLS, the highest paid Food Scientists are in the states of OH, CT, IL, KS and MD.
Highest paying industries
| Salary by industry | Annual | Hourly |
|---|---|---|
| Federal Executive Branch | $107560 | $51.71 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises | $94820 | $45.59 |
| Wholesale Electronic Markets and Agents and Brokers | $92490 | $44.47 |
| Grain and Oilseed Milling | $90500 | $43.51 |
| Scientific Research and Development Services | $88220 | $42.41 |
| Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods | $87530 | $42.08 |
| Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods | $85900 | $41.30 |
| Other Food Manufacturing | $85650 | $41.18 |
| Warehousing and Storage | $79320 | $38.14 |
| Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods | $76780 | $36.91 |
| Chemical Manufacturing | $76730 | $36.89 |
| Fruit and Vegetable Preserving and Specialty Food Manufacturing | $76450 | $36.76 |
| Bakeries and Tortilla Manufacturing | $75390 | $36.25 |
| Sugar and Confectionery Product Manufacturing | $74950 | $36.04 |
| Animal Food Manufacturing | $73660 | $35.41 |
| Animal Slaughtering and Processing | $73290 | $35.24 |
| Beverage Manufacturing | $72410 | $34.81 |
| Dairy Product Manufacturing | $72050 | $34.64 |
| Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services | $69920 | $33.62 |
| Seafood Product Preparation and Packaging | $68940 | $33.15 |
| Employment Services | $68290 | $32.83 |
| State Government | $66980 | $32.20 |
| Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services | $65330 | $31.41 |
| Local Government | $64240 | $30.89 |
| Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing | $62370 | $29.99 |
| Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools | $52270 | $25.13 |
| Health and Personal Care Stores | $31100 | $14.95 |
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