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Role hub · Food Scientists and Technologists

Food Scientist: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.

The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.

Maid DizdarevicCareer coach · 8x LinkedIn Top Voice
Updated Nov 4, 2026 · Data: BLS OEWS May 2025 · O*NET 31.0
Pay ladder · select a percentile
Median percentile pay

Half of food scientists earn more than this and half earn less.

Annual
$88,720
Hourly
$42.65
Source
BLS May 2025
Quick answer

Food Scientists 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. The median pay is $88,720 a year ($42.65 an hour) (BLS, May 2025). The most commonly reported education requirement is a bachelor's degree (82% of occupation experts surveyed by O*NET).

Median pay
$88,720
BLS May 2025
Employed in the U.S.
13,060
BLS May 2025
Preparation
Job Zone 4 of 5
considerable preparation
Most common education
Bachelor's Degree
82% of occupation experts

Data Government data groups this job as Food Scientists and Technologists (O*NET-SOC 19-1012.00). Figures on this page are for that occupation.

Key facts

Food Scientists at a glance

  • Food scientists and technologists in the United States earned a median annual wage of $88,720 in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

  • In its 2025–35 employment projections, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education for food scientists and technologists in the United States.

    Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35

  • BLS projects employment of food scientists and technologists in the United States to grow 6.2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,000 openings a year on average, including replacement openings.

    Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35

  • BLS estimated that 13,060 people were employed as food scientists and technologists in the United States in May 2025, not counting the self-employed.

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

Explore the role

Every page for Food Scientists

SalaryFood Scientist salary

Pay by percentile, state and metro, with a negotiation script.

Open →How to becomeFood Scientist how to become

Education, training and the skills to build first.

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The work

What food scientists do day to day

Data Core tasks rated most important by occupation experts (O*NET).

  1. Inspect food processing areas to ensure compliance with government regulations and standards for sanitation, safety, quality, and waste management.
  2. Check raw ingredients for maturity or stability for processing, and finished products for safety, quality, and nutritional value.
  3. Study methods to improve aspects of foods, such as chemical composition, flavor, color, texture, nutritional value, and convenience.
  4. Develop food standards and production specifications, safety and sanitary regulations, and waste management and water supply specifications.
  5. Stay up to date on new regulations and current events regarding food science by reviewing scientific literature.
  6. Study the structure and composition of food or the changes foods undergo in storage and processing.
  7. Confer with process engineers, plant operators, flavor experts, and packaging and marketing specialists to resolve problems in product development.
  8. Test new products for flavor, texture, color, nutritional content, and adherence to government and industry standards.
Skills that matter

Ranked by importance to the job

Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.

Reading ComprehensioncoreCritical ThinkingcoreActive LearningcoreComplex Problem SolvingJudgment and Decision MakingActive ListeningWritingSpeakingScience

Knowledge areas: Production and Processing, Food Production, Chemistry, English Language, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology.

Tools and technology

Software food scientists use

Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.

  • HubSpot softwareSales and marketing softwareHot technology
  • Marketo Marketing AutomationSales and marketing softwareHot technology
  • BioDiscovery ImaGeneAnalytical or scientific software
  • Image analysis softwareAnalytical or scientific software
  • Insightful S-PLUSAnalytical or scientific software
  • MDS Analytical Technologies GenePix ProAnalytical or scientific software
  • STATISTICAAnalytical or scientific software
  • Sensory Computer Systems SIMSAnalytical or scientific software
  • Microsoft ExcelSpreadsheet softwareIn demand
  • Microsoft Office softwareOffice suite softwareIn demand
  • Microsoft OutlookElectronic mail softwareIn demand
  • Microsoft PowerPointPresentation softwareIn demand

Also called: Corporate Food Scientist, Food and Drug Research Scientist, Food Engineer, Food Safety Regulatory Manager, Food Technologist.

Method

How this page is built

Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the cosine similarity of the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level and subtract the average across all occupations, then compare the direction of the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 means unrelated or opposite (negative values are shown as 0). Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.

What this page can't tell you
  • How a specific employer defines the job.
  • Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
  • Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
Sources
  1. O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
  2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).

How TryHired builds this data: sources, methods and downloads. Spotted an error? Report a correction.