Life, Physical, and Social Science · Holland code ICR

Geneticists

Research and study the inheritance of traits at the molecular, organism or population level. May evaluate or treat patients with genetic disorders.

Also called: Cardiovascular Geneticist, Medical Geneticist, Research Scientist, Scientist.

O*NET 19-1029.03

At a glance

US median annual pay: $98,920; Middle half earn $76,800 to $127,670. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Post-Doctoral Training; 36% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 5 of 5; Extensive 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.

Supervise or direct the work of other geneticists, biologists, technicians, or biometricians working on genetics research projects.
Plan or conduct basic genomic and biological research related to areas such as regulation of gene expression, protein interactions, metabolic networks, and nucleic acid or protein complexes.
Prepare results of experimental findings for presentation at professional conferences or in scientific journals.
Maintain laboratory notebooks that record research methods, procedures, and results.
Write grants and papers or attend fundraising events to seek research funds.
Search scientific literature to select and modify methods and procedures most appropriate for genetic research goals.
Review, approve, or interpret genetic laboratory results.
Attend clinical and research conferences and read scientific literature to keep abreast of technological advances and current genetic research findings.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Reading Comprehension4.3 / 5
Science4.1 / 5
Active Listening4.0 / 5
Writing4.0 / 5
Speaking4.0 / 5
Critical Thinking4.0 / 5

Knowledge areas

Biology4.8 / 5
English Language4.3 / 5
Education and Training3.7 / 5
Mathematics3.7 / 5
Chemistry3.5 / 5
Computers and Electronics3.0 / 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.

Realistic51
Investigative100
Artistic33
Social32
Enterprising10
Conventional63

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
biologist · DE Biologe/Biologin · FR biologiste
physiologist · DE Physiologe/Physiologin · FR physiologiste
specialist biomedical scientist · DE Experte Biomedizinische Wissenschaften/Expertin Biomedizinische Wissenschaften · FR médecin d’études cliniques
biomedical scientist advanced · DE Wissenschaftlicher Experte Biomedizinische Forschung/Wissenschaftliche Expertin Biomedizinische Forschung · FR ingénieur de recherche biomédicale/ingénieure de recherche biomédicale
geneticist · DE Genetiker/Genetikerin · FR généticien/généticienne

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Biochemists and biomedical scientists (2113)68,000 employed
Natural and social science professionals n.e.c. (2119)36,500 employed
Other researchers, unspecified discipline (2162)78,200 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 “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, Professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€61,714
Germany	€59,529
Ireland	€56,877
Austria	€55,374
Netherlands	€53,595
Sweden	€43,567
France	€41,515
Spain	€35,735
Italy	€33,649
Portugal	€26,072
Poland	€14,380

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.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +1.01. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (19-1029).

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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