Biological scientists: salary in the UK
About £38,800 a year after tax (England, Wales and Northern Ireland, 2026/27)
median salary a year, full-time, +5.4% on last year
£4,083 a month About £3,233 a month after tax 12 thousand full-time jobs
Gross pay before tax, including bonuses, commission and overtime. Not included: benefits in kind such as a company car. About the data
Pay range
The dark part is the middle half of full-time employees (25% to 75%); the light bar runs from 10% to 90%. ONS doesn't publish the highest or lowest salary, and x means a figure wasn't published.
Pay by year
The median went from £38,755 in 2021 to £49,001 in 2026 (+26%); for all full-time employees in the UK it changed by +31% over the same years.
Figures by year
| P10 | P25 | Median | P75 | P90 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | x | £29,684 | £38,755 | x | x |
| 2022 | x | £25,320 | £33,458 | x | x |
| 2023 | x | x | x | x | x |
| 2024 | x | x | £40,809 | x | x |
| 2025 | x | £32,398 | £46,473 | x | x |
| 2026 | x | £34,093 | £49,001 | x | x |
ONS figures for each year, not adjusted for inflation. Years before 2021 used a different occupation classification, so they can't be compared. Earlier years are ONS's revised figures; the latest is provisional.
Half of full-time employees in this occupation earn less than £49,001 a year and half earn more. That is 20% more than the median for all full-time employees in the UK (£40,911).
Ranked by median, it is number 79 of the 362 occupations with a published figure.
At the median salary, take-home pay after Income Tax and National Insurance is about £3,233 a month in England, Wales or Northern Ireland and £3,127 in Scotland.
The median for men is £47,184 and for women £49,532, a gap of 5% in women's favour. This compares full-time salaries only and doesn't account for seniority or hours.
Percentiles
| Percentile | Annual | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th (P10) | x | x |
| 20th | £31,901 | £2,658 |
| 25th (P25) | £34,093 | £2,841 |
| 30th | £38,936 | £3,245 |
| 40th | £44,207 | £3,684 |
| Median (50th) | £49,001 | £4,083 |
| 60th | £51,562 | £4,297 |
| 70th | x | x |
| 75th (P75) | x | x |
| 80th | x | x |
| 90th (P90) | x | x |
Men and women
| Median | Mean | Jobs (thousands) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men | £47,184 | £49,514 | x |
| Women | £49,532 | £58,176 | x |
Take-home pay at the median
| Where you live | Per year | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| England, Wales, NI | £38,800 | £3,233 |
| Scotland | £37,524 | £3,127 |
After Income Tax and National Insurance for 2026 to 2027, with the standard tax code and no pension or student loan. Work out your own take-home pay · Take-home pay on £49,000
Job titles in this occupation
ONS codes these 87 job titles to SOC 2112 Biological scientists. Pay figures are for the whole occupation, not for each title.
- Adviser
- Advisory officer
- Agricultural adviser
- Agricultural chemist
- Agricultural consultant
- Agricultural nutritionist
- Agricultural scientist
- Agroclimatologist
- Agronomist
- Agrostologist
- Anatomist
- Animal nutritionist
- Animal scientist
- Aquatic scientist
- Arboricultural consultant
- Arboricultural manager
- Audiological scientist
- Bacteriologist
- Biological field surveyor
- Biologist
- Botanist
- Chief experimental officer
- Computational neuroscientist
- Conchologist
- Cytotaxonomist
- Dairy consultant
- Director of research
- District advisory officer
- Entomologist
- Farming consultant
- Fatstock officer
- Field officer
- Field trials officer
- Fieldman
- Fieldsman
- Fisheries consultant
- Fisheries research scientist
- Forensic scientist
- Forestry consultant
- Helminthologist
- Herpetologist
- Horticultural adviser
- Horticultural consultant
- Horticultural officer
- Horticultural scientist
- Horticulturalist
- Horticulturist
- Hydrobiologist
- Ichthyologist
- Lepidopterist
- Limnologist
- Live stock officer
- Marine scientist
- Medical microbiologist
- Microbiologist
- Milk production officer
- Mycologist
- Naturalist
- Nematologist
- Ornithologist
Show all 87 titles
- Parasitologist
- Pathologist
- Pharmacologist
- Plant breeder
- Plant health scientist
- Plant pathologist
- Poultry adviser
- Research assistant
- Research associate
- Research nutritionist
- Research officer
- Research scientist
- Research worker
- Researcher
- Ruminant nutritionist
- Scientific officer
- Scientist
- Senior experimental officer
- Silviculturist
- Soil chemist
- Systematist
- Taxonomist
- Technical officer
- Toxicologist
- Veterinary pathologist
- Veterinary serologist
- Zoologist
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Source: ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2026 provisional, Table 14.7a (full-time employees, gross annual pay, UK, tax year ending 5 April 2026). Provisional figures may be revised.