The invisible world of bacteria, viruses, and fungi—and the immune system that fights them. Think outbreaks, vaccines, food safety, and microbes that make beer or medicine.
Top pay: highest pay, longest training
Research Immunologist: Studies the immune system and how to train it to fight cancer, infections, and autoimmune disease. Typical pay $110k.
Microbiome Scientist: Studies the trillions of microbes living in our guts, skin, and soil—and how they affect health. Typical pay $112k.
Clinical Microbiology Lab Director: Runs a hospital's microbiology lab, overseeing the tests that identify which germ is making a patient sick. Typical pay $135k.
Infectious Disease Physician: A doctor who specializes in hard-to-treat infections like HIV, superbugs, and tropical diseases. Typical pay $260k.
Biodefense Scientist: Researches dangerous pathogens to build defenses against pandemics and bioterrorism. Typical pay $125k.
Cancer Immunotherapy Scientist: Engineers immune cells like CAR-T cells to find and kill cancer, testing them in the lab at biotech companies and cancer research centers. Typical pay $135k.
Mid pay: solid pay, degree or apprenticeship
Microbiologist: Studies bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other tiny organisms—how they live, spread, and affect us. Typical pay $86k.
Virologist: Studies viruses—how they infect cells, evolve, and can be stopped. Typical pay $108k.
Astrobiologist: Searches for signs of life beyond Earth by studying microbes that survive in extreme places. Typical pay $100k.
Parasitologist: Studies worms, protozoa, and ticks that live off other creatures, including those causing malaria. Typical pay $90k.
Biosafety Officer: Keeps labs safe when people work with dangerous germs, making sure nothing escapes. Typical pay $100k.
Food Microbiologist: Makes sure food is safe from germs like Salmonella and Listeria—and helps create foods made by microbes like yogurt and cheese. Typical pay $78k.
Fermentation Scientist: Uses microbes as tiny factories to make medicines, enzymes, biofuels, beer, or lab-grown foods. Typical pay $85k.
Environmental Microbiologist: Studies microbes in soil, water, and air—including ones that clean up oil spills and pollution. Typical pay $78k.
Public Health Laboratory Scientist: Works in a government lab testing samples during outbreaks—like food poisoning, flu, or measles. Typical pay $70k.
Quality Control Microbiologist: Tests medicines and the factories that make them to make sure no microbes contaminate products. Typical pay $65k.
Phage Biologist: Studies viruses that kill bacteria and uses them to treat drug-resistant infections. Typical pay $105k.
Histocompatibility Technologist: Tests immune system markers to match organ and bone marrow donors with patients. Typical pay $75k.
BSL-3 Laboratory Technician: Works with dangerous germs like tuberculosis in sealed, high-safety labs. Typical pay $62k.
Microbial Culture Collection Curator: Keeps thousands of living strains of bacteria, fungi and viruses frozen or freeze-dried so scientists can order exact, trusted samples. Typical pay $75k.
Biothreat Detection Laboratory Technician: Tests air filter samples from city sensors for germs like anthrax that could be used in a bioterror attack. Typical pay $65k.
Starter: fastest way in
Microbiology Lab Technician: Prepares samples, media, and equipment for microbiology testing. Typical pay $45k.
Brewery Lab Technician: Checks beer and yeast health in a brewery's lab so every batch tastes right and stays safe. Typical pay $44k.
Sterility Assurance Technician: Makes sure medical devices and drugs are truly germ-free before they reach patients. Typical pay $44k.
Stool Bank Technician: Screens and processes stool donated by healthy people into treatments that cure dangerous gut infections like C. diff. Typical pay $50k.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.