# Microbiologists

US SOC code 19-1022. Markdown version of https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/19-1022

Also called: Clinical microbiologist, Medical microbiologist, Industrial microbiologist, Research microbiologist, Environmental microbiologist.

## In brief

In May 2025, [BLS](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip) counted **18,940** US microbiologists, with median pay of **$87,990** a year. Of the BLS counts since 2003, the highest was **21,870**, in May 2017. The earliest figure here is [an estimate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Society_for_Microbiology) of **150** from 1900, not measured the same way as today's count. The last full technology era for microbiologists: Next-generation sequencing, 2005 to 2018.

## What the sources say

### Official outlook

BLS projects employment to grow 6.2% from 2025 to 2035. Source: [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=19-1022&ioType=o).

### AI exposure studies

- **31.3%** of this job's tasks are exposed to large language models. Not a forecast of job losses. [Eloundou and others, 2023](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv)

Data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35. BLS publishes these counts as yearly survey snapshots and cautions against reading them as a precise trend. In May 2021 BLS changed how it estimates these counts (a model-based method using three years of survey data) and moved fully to the 2018 occupation codes, so part of a change across 2021 can come from the method rather than the work.

## Microbiologists employment and pay by year

- On record since: 1882
- Latest US employment: 18,940 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [6]
- Latest US median pay: $87,990 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [9]
- Outlook: +6.2% by 2035. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 [24]

### All 28 years of cited US data

| Year | US employment | Annual pay (median unless marked) | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1900 | 150 (estimate) | n/a | Est., American Society for Microbiology [1] |
| 1940 | 2,500 (estimate) | n/a | Est., ACS Landmark [2] |
| 1960 | 10,000 (estimate) | $7,500 (estimate) | Est., National Institutes of Health (employment) [3]; Est., University of Missouri Libraries (pay) [7] |
| 1980 | 14,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., Encyclopaedia Britannica [4] |
| 2000 | 15,880 | $48,890 | BLS OEWS 2000 [5] |
| 2003 | 14,110 | $52,450 | BLS OEWS May 2003 [6] |
| 2004 | 13,880 | $54,840 | BLS OEWS May 2004 [6] |
| 2005 | 15,250 | $56,870 | BLS OEWS May 2005 [6] |
| 2006 | 15,730 | $57,980 | BLS OEWS May 2006 [6] |
| 2007 | 14,610 | $60,680 | BLS OEWS May 2007 [6] |
| 2008 | 15,750 | $64,350 | BLS OEWS May 2008 [6] |
| 2009 | 16,260 | $66,580 | BLS OEWS May 2009 [6] |
| 2010 | 18,330 | $65,920 | BLS OEWS May 2010 [6] |
| 2011 | 17,660 | $65,230 | BLS OEWS May 2011 [6] |
| 2012 | 18,550 | $66,260 | BLS OEWS May 2012 [6] |
| 2013 | 19,880 | $67,840 | BLS OEWS May 2013 [6] |
| 2014 | 20,670 | $67,790 | BLS OEWS May 2014 [6] |
| 2015 | 21,210 | $67,550 | BLS OEWS May 2015 [6] |
| 2016 | 21,670 | $66,850 | BLS OEWS May 2016 [6] |
| 2017 | 21,870 | $69,960 | BLS OEWS May 2017 [6] |
| 2018 | 20,030 | $71,650 | BLS OEWS May 2018 [6] |
| 2019 | 18,270 | $75,650 | BLS OEWS May 2019 [6] |
| 2020 | 19,710 | $84,400 | BLS OEWS May 2020 [6] |
| 2021 | 19,430 | $79,260 | BLS OEWS May 2021 [6] |
| 2022 | 19,710 | $81,990 | BLS OEWS May 2022 [6] |
| 2023 | 21,540 | $85,470 | BLS OEWS May 2023 [6] |
| 2024 | 19,760 | $87,330 | BLS OEWS May 2024 [6] |
| 2025 | 18,940 | $87,990 | BLS OEWS May 2025 [6] |

## Sources (86)

### Employment series

1. [American Society for Microbiology — History and founding of the Society of American Bacteriologists (1899)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Society_for_Microbiology), American Society for Microbiology / Wikipedia
2. [ACS Landmark — Alexander Fleming Discovery and Development of Penicillin (wartime microbiologist workforce context)](https://www.acs.org/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/flemingpenicillin.html), American Chemical Society
3. [National Institutes of Health — History of NIH funding growth (1945-1970 context for life-science employment)](https://www.nih.gov/about-nih/what-we-do/nih-almanac/appropriations-section-2), National Institutes of Health
4. [Encyclopaedia Britannica — Microbiology (history and scope of the profession through the 20th century)](https://www.britannica.com/science/microbiology), Encyclopaedia Britannica
5. [BLS OES 2000 national estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oes00nat.zip), Bureau of Labor Statistics
6. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)

### Wage series

7. [University of Missouri Libraries — Prices and Wages by Decade: 1960-1969 (BLS professional/scientist earnings reference)](https://libraryguides.missouri.edu/pricesandwages/1960-1969), University of Missouri Libraries / BLS historical sources
8. [BLS OES 2000 national estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oes00nat.zip), Bureau of Labor Statistics
9. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)
10. [BLS OEWS May 2024, national cross-industry estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

### Tool eras

11. [CDC MMWR — Historical Perspectives: Centennial: Koch's Discovery of the Tubercle Bacillus (1982)](https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00000222.htm), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
12. [ACS Landmark — Alexander Fleming Discovery and Development of Penicillin (wartime collaborative production)](https://www.acs.org/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/flemingpenicillin.html), American Chemical Society
13. [ACS Landmark — Selman Waksman and Antibiotics (streptomycin discovery, Rutgers 1943)](https://www.acs.org/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/selmanwaksman.html), American Chemical Society
14. [Biology LibreTexts — Instruments of Microscopy (electron microscope history, 1931 Ruska and Knoll)](https://bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Microbiology/Microbiology_%28OpenStax%29/02:_How_We_See_the_Invisible_World/2.03:_Instruments_of_Microscopy), OpenStax Microbiology / Biology LibreTexts
15. [Wikipedia — Recombinant DNA (Boyer and Cohen 1973, history of genetic engineering)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recombinant_DNA), Wikipedia
16. [Wikipedia — History of polymerase chain reaction (Mullis, Cetus, 1983)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_polymerase_chain_reaction), Wikipedia
17. [Thermo Fisher Scientific — The History of PCR (timeline of PCR development)](https://www.thermofisher.com/us/en/home/brands/thermo-scientific/molecular-biology/molecular-biology-learning-center/molecular-biology-resource-library/spotlight-articles/history-pcr.html), Thermo Fisher Scientific
18. [Human Genome Project — History (DOE Office of Science, formal launch October 1990)](https://doe-humangenomeproject.ornl.gov/history/), US Department of Energy Office of Science
19. [PMC — The emergence of commercial genomics: 1990-2004 (analysis of genomics industry growth)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3971346/), PubMed Central
20. [Wikipedia — Illumina (company) — sequencing technology history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illumina,_Inc.), Wikipedia
21. [AlphaFold Protein Structure Database 2025 -- redesigned interface (PMC12807749)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12807749/), PubMed Central
22. [Copan WASPLab + PhenoMATRIX -- AI-assisted culture plate reading for clinical microbiology](https://www.copanusa.com/laboratory-automation/microbiology-laboratory-automation-ai/phenomatrix/), Copan Diagnostics
23. [AIM: AI for Microbiology -- PMC 2025 comprehensive review (PMC12189210)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12189210/), PubMed Central

### Forecasts and exposure studies

24. [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35, National Employment Matrix: 19-1022 Microbiologists (2025: 20.1 thousand; 2035: 21.4 thousand; +6.2%)](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=19-1022&ioType=o), Bureau of Labor Statistics
25. [Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), "GPTs are GPTs", occupation-level exposure data occ\_level.csv (O\*NET-SOC 19-1022.00, human-rated β 0.313)](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv), OpenAI

### Historical notes

26. [CDC MMWR -- Centennial: Koch's Discovery of the Tubercle Bacillus (March 24, 1882)](https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00000222.htm), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
27. [American Society for Microbiology -- History: founding of the Society of American Bacteriologists, 1899](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Society_for_Microbiology), American Society for Microbiology / Wikipedia
28. [HISTORY -- "Penicillin discovered by Sir Alexander Fleming" (September 3, 1928)](https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/september-3/penicillin-discovered), HISTORY
29. [Wikipedia -- DNA (history of discovery, Watson and Crick 1953)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA), Wikipedia
30. [Wikipedia -- History of polymerase chain reaction (Mullis, 1983)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_polymerase_chain_reaction), Wikipedia
31. [Human Genome Project -- History (completion announced April 14, 2003)](https://doe-humangenomeproject.ornl.gov/history/), US Department of Energy Office of Science
32. [PMC -- Global SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance: lessons learned (PMC9847326)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9847326/), PubMed Central

### Predecessors & successors

33. [University of Michigan Medical School -- History of Microbiology and Immunology (Frederick Novy, full-time bacteriologist from medicine)](https://medresearch.umich.edu/departments/microbiology-immunology/about/history), University of Michigan Medical School
34. [Encyclopaedia Britannica -- Microbiology (history: Pasteur and Koch backgrounds in chemistry and medicine)](https://www.britannica.com/science/microbiology), Encyclopaedia Britannica

### Present-day analysis

- [O\*NET 30.3 — Microbiologists (19-1022.00)](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/19-1022.00), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Eloundou et al. 2024 — GPTs are GPTs (Science)](https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130), accessed 2026-05-24
- [AIM: AI for microbiology — PMC 2025 review](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12189210/), accessed 2026-05-24
- [ASM 2025 — Harnessing AI to Revolutionize Antibiotic Discovery](https://asm.org/articles/2025/august/ai-next-frontier-antibiotic-discovery), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Illumina DRAGEN v4.4 — press release May 2025](https://www.illumina.com/company/news-center/press-releases/2025/95d0e4d7-5d23-4d9f-a9a0-38b84f3674ff.html), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Copan WASPLab + PhenoMATRIX — lab automation AI for clinical microbiology](https://www.copanusa.com/laboratory-automation/microbiology-laboratory-automation-ai/phenomatrix/), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Microbiology 2.0 — AI applications for interpretive culture plate reading (Frontiers in Microbiology 2022)](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.976068/full), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Oxford Nanopore Bonito/Dorado — 2025 basecaller accuracy study (Nature Comms)](https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-025-08811-4?error=cookies_not_supported&code=f190cfd1-a119-4263-82b5-35c5f8253923), accessed 2026-05-24
- [AI for antimicrobial resistance prediction — Frontiers in Microbiology 2025](https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/14/2/394), accessed 2026-05-24

How to read these figures: https://futurehistory.earth/methodology. Every figure links to its own source; gaps stay gaps.