Choose what to vary
Pick one component or processing setting to vary, plus readings that show improvement, so the comparison stays fair.
Career profile
Materials Scientist
Materials scientists learn why a substance behaves as it does and how to change it.
Why does one metal sample crack while another flexes? You connect inner structure and makeup to behavior, then plan tests to improve the material.
A day in the life
See inside a sample
For microscopy projects, prepare an electron microscope specimen, then examine its tiny structures and map its makeup.
Find where metal fails
Stretch a metal sample in a testing machine, then read the data to learn why it failed.
Make sense of the images
Check microscope results against the project's question, then show coworkers what they explain and what needs another experiment.
Quick facts
Bachelor’s degree
United States · 2025–2035
$117,790/year
United States · May 2025
8.3% projected growth
United States · 2025–2035
Quick orientation
Preparation, pay & outlook
Preparation
Bachelor’s degreeThe typical entry education for materials scientists.
Pay
$117,790/yearNational median for materials scientists; equivalent to $56.63 an hour.
Outlook
8.3% projected growthAbout 600 openings a year nationally, including replacement openings.
Fit, tradeoffs & changing tools
You might like this if…
- You want to explain why two similar-looking samples behave differently.
- You enjoy turning measurements into an explanation someone else can check.
- You like careful hands-on work as well as computer analysis.
Things to weigh
- Trial and error can be slow; an unsuccessful experiment still needs careful records.
- Chemical work requires protective equipment and safety procedures. Time-sensitive experiments sometimes extend beyond normal hours.
Where AI may help
In some experimental labs, robots mix and heat samples while artificial intelligence helps choose the next recipe. Demonstrations include solid powders and thin films.
What people still lead
Researchers design the larger investigation and develop the instruments and methods that make automated experiments possible.
What we can’t predict yet
How much of a whole experiment can run unattended remains an open question, especially when a new material needs different handling or measurements.
Pay in context
Earnings
The national median is a useful reference, not a starting-salary offer.
The national spread
Materials scientists had a median wage of $117,790 a year, equivalent to $56.63 an hour. The lowest-paid 10% earned below $66,820; the highest-paid 10% earned above $197,290. These are wage percentiles, not career stages.
What can affect an offer
Location, relevant experience, education, and training can influence starting pay. An advanced degree alone does not tell you what an employer will offer.
Openings over the next decade
Employment is projected to grow 8.3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 600 openings annually on average. Those openings include replacing people who leave the occupation, as well as growth.
Getting started
Build a materials foundation
- What the route involves
- Complete a relevant bachelor’s degree. Materials science and engineering programs combine chemistry, physics, mathematics, computing, and laboratory study of how processing changes properties.
- What it can lead to
- You build preparation for entry-level materials work and for graduate study.
Prepare for research-focused positions
- What the route involves
- After a relevant bachelor’s degree, pursue a master’s degree or Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) with specialized research.
- What it can lead to
- You can meet the advanced-education requirement of research jobs that require graduate preparation.
- What to check
- Some positions also require work experience; graduate education is not required for every materials-scientist job.
A bachelor’s degree is the usual starting point.
After entry
Career paths
This starts where the entry routes leave off: early work, growing capability, and advancement or specialization.
Get established
Learn your employer’s instruments from experienced scientists before relying on your own measurements.
Develop a method
Become reliable at a technique such as electron microscopy, then improve sample preparation and analysis methods.
Lead scientific work
One advancement option is science management, taking responsibility for other researchers’ work.
Where you can work
Industrial materials laboratories
In a glass or ceramics company’s characterization lab, you work with project teams to explain product failures and processing problems. Several projects may compete for your instrument time.
- Indoors
- Lab
National-laboratory research groups
In materials-discovery projects, you may work alongside students and other researchers to connect computer predictions with experiments. Building custom equipment can be part of answering the research question.
- Indoors
- Lab
Try it
See whether the job clicks before you commit to the path.
Compare equal strips of the same paper, leaving one flat and folding another lengthwise. Bridge each across the same gap between two books and add coins one at a time. Record when each sags, repeat, and explain what you changed. Did you enjoy designing a fair test and explaining the result?
Stay safe: Keep the setup low over a tabletop. This explores how shape affects behavior; it does not measure an intrinsic material property.
Sources
- O*NET OnLine. Materials Scientists — 19-2032.00. Accessed 2026-10-09.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Chemists and Materials Scientists — Occupational Outlook Handbook. Accessed 2026-10-09.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. May 2025 national wage estimates — SOC 19-2032; supplied pinned binding. Accessed 2026-09-29.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employment Projections Table 1.2, 2025–2035 — SOC 19-2032; supplied pinned binding. Accessed 2026-09-29.
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Materials Science & Engineering, Bachelor of Science — 2026–2027 Catalog. Accessed 2026-10-09.
- Corning. Senior Scientist, Electron Microscopy — requisition 78007. Accessed 2026-10-09.
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Meet the Autonomous Lab of the Future. Accessed 2026-10-09.
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Optimized Materials in a Flash. Accessed 2026-10-09.