Average Salary

• The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics conducted a survey of medical scientist salaries in May 2009. It synthesized wage data collected from some 101,760 practitioners working in America and discovered that the mean yearly salary for the profession was $84,760, equivalent to an hourly rate averaging $40.75. The top 10 percent of earners gained a mean wage of $138,840 while the lowest 10 percent received and average of $41,320. A medical research scientist may also receive benefits such as health insurance and bonuses, depending on their contract.
  
  

Salary by Employer

• Salary levels for a medical research scientist are not uniform across the health-care industry. The Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that federal government agencies offer high rates of pay -- $111,810 -- as do medical and diagnostic laboratories -- $107,490. Scientific research and development services and pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturers offered comparable salaries -- $92,130 and $91,720 respectively -- while positions in general medical and surgical hospitals brought average compensation of $76,520.
  
  

Salary by Location

• Where in the United States a medical research scientist finds work can also impact upon the salary level she hopes to achieve. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics a medical research scientist working in Vermont is likely to be among the best-paid practitioners in the country, offering as it does an average salary of $120,850. New Jersey and Illinois offer salaries of $112,870 and $111,870 respectively. Massachusetts and California were listed with similar pay levels -- $89,750 and $88,140 -- while Washington had average salary levels of just $71,270.
  
  

Prospects

• Medical research scientists are expected to witness a buoyant job market in the immediate future. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that employment opportunities for medical scientists in the United States will increase by approximately 40 percent from 2008 through 2018. This far outstrips the rate across all professions in the country -- expected to be between seven and 13 percent. Medical research scientists contribute greatly to the development of treatments to improve public health. With environmental considerations such as urban overcrowding and the increased frequency of international travel likely to cause diseases to spread as well as give rise to new ones, there will continue to be a great demand for their services. As such, salary levels should remain excellent, according to the BLS.