Computer and Mathematical · Holland code ICR

Bioinformatics Technicians

Apply principles and methods of bioinformatics to assist scientists in areas such as pharmaceuticals, medical technology, biotechnology, computational biology, proteomics, computer information science, biology and medical informatics. Apply bioinformatics tools to visualize, analyze, manipulate or interpret molecular data. May build and maintain databases for processing and analyzing genomic or other biological information.

Also called: Bioinformatics Analyst, Bioinformatics Specialist, Biotechnician, Scientific Informatics Analyst, Biocurator, Bioinformatics Data Analyst, Research Scientist, Research Specialist.

O*NET 15-2099.01

At a glance

US median annual pay: $81,490; Middle half earn $60,750 to $107,180. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Bachelor's Degree; 51% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 4 of 5; Considerable preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Write computer programs or scripts to be used in querying databases.
Develop or maintain applications that process biologically based data into searchable databases for purposes of analysis, calculation, or presentation.
Conduct quality analyses of data inputs and resulting analyses or predictions.
Confer with researchers, clinicians, or information technology staff to determine data needs and programming requirements and to provide assistance with database-related research activities.
Analyze or manipulate bioinformatics data using software packages, statistical applications, or data mining techniques.
Enter or retrieve information from structural databases, protein sequence motif databases, mutation databases, genomic databases or gene expression databases.
Develop or apply data mining and machine learning algorithms.
Extend existing software programs, web-based interactive tools, or database queries as sequence management and analysis needs evolve.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Reading Comprehension3.8 / 5
Active Listening3.5 / 5
Writing3.5 / 5
Critical Thinking3.5 / 5
Active Learning3.5 / 5
Speaking3.4 / 5

Knowledge areas

Computers and Electronics4.8 / 5
Mathematics4.5 / 5
English Language4.0 / 5
Biology3.8 / 5
Design2.9 / 5
Engineering and Technology2.9 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic47
Investigative90
Artistic10
Social12
Enterprising0
Conventional84

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

bioinformatics scientist · DE Bioinformatiker/Bioinformatikerin · FR bioinformaticien/bioinformaticienne
scientific laboratory technician · DE Labortechniker Biowissenschaften/Labortechnikerin Biowissenschaften · FR technicien de laboratoire scientifique/technicienne de laboratoire scientifique

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Natural and social science professionals n.e.c. (2119)36,500 employed
Other researchers, unspecified discipline (2162)78,200 employed
Biochemists and biomedical scientists (2113)68,000 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Technicians and associate professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Technicians and associate professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€50,992
Austria	€46,986
Germany	€44,473
Netherlands	€42,448
Ireland	€41,613
Sweden	€41,155
Italy	€34,882
France	€34,816
Spain	€29,757
Portugal	€18,080
Poland	€12,108

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

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