Bioinformatics Technicians
Also called Bioinformatics Analyst, Bioinformatics Specialist, Biotechnician, or Scientific Informatics Analyst
Updated · Source: O*NET 31.0
What Bioinformatics Technicians do
You use computers to make sense of biological data like DNA, so scientists can find answers hiding inside millions of rows of numbers.
Bioinformatics technicians sit where biology meets computing. Labs produce huge amounts of molecular data, like genetic sequences or information about proteins. That data is messy and far too large to read by eye. You clean it, store it, run it through software and statistics, and turn it into charts and results a researcher can actually use. You also build and look after the databases (organized digital storage) that hold it all.
The work supports drug companies, hospitals, medical technology firms, and research labs. You are not usually the person designing the experiment. You are the person who makes the data trustworthy, keeps records of every change, and helps write up what was found. Careful, patient, detail-focused work matters more here than speed.
A day in the life
You work indoors at a desk, sitting for long stretches in a climate-controlled office or lab building. Morning starts with email and a check on how the databases are running. Something slowed overnight, so you look into it and log what you changed. Then you pull a dataset, run quality checks, and find a batch of samples that looks wrong. You meet a researcher face to face to work out what happened, and later join a short team check-in about project timelines. Between those conversations you work on your own at the computer: running analysis software, testing a new tool and sending feedback to the people who built it, writing a section of a report.
This could fit you if you…
- ✓Like puzzles where the answer is buried in messy data
- ✓Enjoy both biology and computers and do not want to pick one
- ✓Take pride in careful records and accurate, orderly work
- ✓Can explain technical findings clearly in writing and in conversation
- ✓Want to keep learning new computational methods throughout your career
You might not like it if you…
- –Need to be on your feet and moving most of the day
- –Lose patience with checking, re-checking, and documenting small details
- –Prefer hands-on work with physical tools and samples, since the tinkering here is mostly with software, databases, and computer systems
- –Want a fast job hunt, since openings are fairly few at about 200 a year in the US, though the field is projected to grow +7.1% compared with +3.5% for all jobs
How people get in
- 1In high school, take as much biology, math, and computer science as you can, and practice writing clearly.
- 2Earn a bachelor's degree, which is the typical entry requirement. Programs like computational science, mathematics and computer science, applied mathematics, or mathematics often lead here.
- 3Learn to program and work with databases, and get comfortable with statistics software. Coursework, online practice, and class projects all count.
- 4Look for a research lab job, internship, or student assistant role on campus so you handle real biological data before you graduate.
- 5Build a small portfolio: a dataset you cleaned, an analysis you ran, a clear write-up of what you found.
- 6Apply to hospitals, universities, drug companies, and biotechnology firms, including roles titled bioinformatics analyst or bioinformatics specialist.
Who tends to enjoy it
Curious
People who like figuring things out, research, science, and solving problems.
Organizing
People who like keeping things accurate, orderly, and running on schedule.
Hands-on
People who like building, fixing, working with tools, machines, plants, or animals.
Official task list
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. (O*NET)
- 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.
- Document all database changes, modifications, or problems.
- Monitor database performance and perform any necessary maintenance, upgrades, or repairs.
- Participate in the preparation of reports or scientific publications.
- Maintain awareness of new and emerging computational methods and technologies.
- Test new or updated software or tools and provide feedback to developers.
A typical day involves
Skills that matter most
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Writing
- Critical Thinking
- Active Learning
- Complex Problem Solving
What you'll need to know
- Computers and Electronics
- Mathematics
- English Language
- Biology
- Design
How much Bioinformatics Technicians make
The median pay for Bioinformatics Technicians in the U.S. is $81,490 a year ($39.18 an hour). Most earn between $47,980 and $154,580. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025)
Pay depends a lot on where you live: the median is highest in California ($180,500) and lowest in Oklahoma ($36,820).
Pay by state and territory
| State | Median pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska | $78,580 | 90 |
| California | $180,500 | 120 |
| Illinois | $81,090 | 1,320 |
| Iowa | $49,020 | 30 |
| Maryland | $42,850 | 50 |
| New Jersey | $61,400 | 50 |
| New York | $79,460 | 70 |
| North Carolina | $101,850 | — |
| Oklahoma | $36,820 | 40 |
| Tennessee | $65,110 | — |
| Texas | $93,090 | — |
| Virginia | $59,990 | 180 |
| Washington | $65,840 | 320 |
Where to study for this
College programs that commonly lead to this career, and how many US colleges offer each.
- Mathematics 1,482 colleges
- Financial Mathematics 138 colleges
- Applied Mathematics 275 colleges
- Computational Science 104 colleges
- Mathematics and Computer Science 97 colleges
- Computational and Applied Mathematics 60 colleges
- Mathematics and Statistics, Other 52 colleges
- Computational Mathematics 39 colleges
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Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA), occupation 15-2099.01, used under CC BY 4.0 and modified by Whittle. Pay: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025), SOC 15-2099. Outlook and entry education: BLS Employment Projections 2025–35. Program links: NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. How we build these pages.