How Much Money does a Marine Biologist Make?
US Bureau of Labor Statistics says the median salary for a marine biologist holding a PhD is about $52,000 yearly. This is not easy to answer as the variation is great. If you were an average Ph.D. entering a university job these days as an assistant professor, you would earn a salary of ca. 45,000-65,000 USA dollars for the academic year and then could earn a summer salary as well, mainly from grants. Salaries of public school teachers are generally lower and the variation is great. Consulting firms start also in the 40s and above. The upper end is extremely variable but in universities, marine biologists’ salaries usually correspond to the average for science professors. A full professor these days in a university is earning 65,000-100,000 and more for the academic year.
