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Best Biochemistry Schools by Graduate Salary & ROI (2026)

136 schools ranked by DegreeOutlook Score · Updated 2026

These are the top schools offering Biochemistry, ranked by DegreeOutlook Score. The score combines graduate earnings, AI automation resilience, job market demand, and return on tuition investment. The average Biochemistry graduate earns $37,918/yr across 136 schools.

What do Biochemistry graduates do? See career paths and salaries →

Why Cal Poly's "Learn by Doing" Wins in the Lab

Cal Poly SLO isn't #1 by accident; it's by design. The university’s "learn by doing" philosophy means biochemistry students spend significant time in labs, mastering the practical skills employers desperately need. This hands-on approach makes graduates immediately valuable, bypassing the steep on-the-job learning curve common in other programs. It’s this job-readiness that fuels their high starting salaries ($57,538/yr) and secures the top spot.

The Public School Lock on Biotech Value

Notice a pattern? 19 of the top 20 schools are public. This is a structural advantage. Large public research universities offer vast lab infrastructure and are funded to supply their state's key industries, like biotech. This model delivers impressive outcomes with reasonable tuition, leading to strong ROIs. Contrast this with Northeastern (#18), a private school whose graduates earn the most ($63,781/yr) but face a crushing 2.9x ROI due to sky-high tuition, proving that the highest salary doesn't always equal the best deal.

California's Golden Pipeline to Biotech

Seven of the top 20 programs are in California for one simple reason: a direct pipeline to one of the world's largest biotech economies. The state's public university system, from the CSU's practical focus to the UC's research power, is engineered to train the workforce for industry giants in the Bay Area and San Diego's "Biotech Beach." This tight integration between academia and industry creates a powerful cycle of recruitment, innovation, and high-paying jobs for graduates.

AI Won't Take Your Job, It Will Be Your Job

The near 50% AI task exposure in this field isn't a death sentence; it's a job description update. AI is becoming a powerful lab assistant, automating the tedious parts of data analysis and modeling. For you, this means less time on manual calculations and more time on creative problem-solving—designing novel experiments, interpreting complex AI-generated results, and making critical scientific judgments. Your value won't be in running the tests, but in telling the AI which tests to run and what the results mean.

Programs Ranked

136

Avg Earnings

$37,918/yr

Avg DW Score

40/100

AI Risk

High

50% task exposure

All Biochemistry Programs Ranked

Click any row for full AI scenario analysis, earnings projections, and career path breakdown.

#	School	DW Score	Earnings	ROI
1	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA · Public	61 58–62	$57,538/yr	15.4x
2	California State University-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA · Public	61 58–61	$50,428/yr	23.3x
3	University of California-Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA · Public	60 57–61	$49,100/yr	14.2x
4	North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, NC · Public	60 59–61	$44,101/yr	23.1x
5	University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Milwaukee, WI · Public	56 54–57	$43,936/yr	16.7x
6	Purdue University-Main Campus West Lafayette, IN · Public	56 55–56	$41,625/yr	18.2x
7	California State University-Fullerton Fullerton, CA · Public	55 56–56	$38,869/yr	26.0x
8	University of California-Davis Davis, CA · Public	55 54–56	$42,266/yr	13.4x
9	Iowa State University Ames, IA · Public	55 53–56	$43,520/yr	15.7x
10	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI · Public	55 53–56	$44,074/yr	14.9x
11	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA · Public	54 52–55	$45,066/yr	11.6x
12	Indiana University-Bloomington Bloomington, IN · Public	54 51–54	$45,526/yr	13.1x
13	University of Massachusetts-Boston Boston, MA · Public	54 51–55	$50,352/yr	10.2x
14	University of Missouri-St Louis Saint Louis, MO · Public	54 51–55	$49,509/yr	11.3x
15	California State University-San Marcos San Marcos, CA · Public	54 51–55	$57,682/yr	17.6x
16	University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO · Public	53 50–54	$50,474/yr	9.5x
17	Towson University Towson, MD · Public	53 55–54	$36,842/yr	18.9x
18	Northeastern University Boston, MA · Private nonprofit	53 50–54	$63,781/yr	2.9x
19	University of New Hampshire-Main Campus Durham, NH · Public	53 50–53	$47,236/yr	9.1x
20	Rutgers University-Camden Camden, NJ · Public	53 51–54	$46,122/yr	10.3x
21	Rutgers University-New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ · Public	53 51–54	$46,122/yr	10.2x
22	Arizona State University Campus Immersion Tempe, AZ · Public	52 50–53	$43,333/yr	12.8x
23	University of Kansas Lawrence, KS · Public	52 51–53	$41,487/yr	14.0x
24	University of Massachusetts-Amherst Amherst, MA · Public	52 50–53	$44,324/yr	10.2x
25	University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Stevens Point, WI · Public	52 50–53	$46,155/yr	14.9x
26	California State University-Long Beach Long Beach, CA · Public	51 53–52	$36,841/yr	23.6x
27	Texas State University San Marcos, TX · Public	51 49–51	$44,824/yr	12.1x
28	University of California-Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA · Public	50 50–51	$40,320/yr	12.0x
29	Central Connecticut State University New Britain, CT · Public	50 50–51	$41,790/yr	12.4x
30	Washington State University Pullman, WA · Public	50 48–51	$46,514/yr	10.7x
31	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA · Public	50 50–50	$38,985/yr	13.4x
32	University of Washington-Bothell Campus Bothell, WA · Public	50 50–50	$38,985/yr	13.5x
33	California State University-Sacramento Sacramento, CA · Public	49 46–49	$46,689/yr	14.4x
34	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD · Public	49 46–50	$48,721/yr	10.8x
35	California State University-Northridge Northridge, CA · Public	48 46–49	$45,453/yr	15.0x
36	Western Washington University Bellingham, WA · Public	48 47–49	$42,025/yr	13.9x
37	University of San Diego San Diego, CA · Private nonprofit	47 44–47	$48,728/yr	2.8x
38	MCPHS University Boston, MA · Private nonprofit	47 44–48	$51,942/yr	3.6x
39	CUNY City College New York, NY · Public	47 45–47	$44,175/yr	14.0x
40	Temple University Philadelphia, PA · Public	47 44–47	$45,994/yr	6.4x
41	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA · Public	46 49–47	$35,210/yr	13.0x
42	University of Nevada-Reno Reno, NV · Public	46 49–46	$33,983/yr	17.7x
43	Rowan University Glassboro, NJ · Public	46 47–46	$38,799/yr	10.2x
44	Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH · Public	46 48–47	$36,427/yr	12.8x
45	Colorado State University-Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO · Public	45 46–46	$38,484/yr	11.2x
46	Florida State University Tallahassee, FL · Public	45 50–46	$31,074/yr	29.2x
47	University of Iowa Iowa City, IA · Public	45 50–46	$29,991/yr	19.0x
48	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI · Public	45 46–46	$38,243/yr	10.1x
49	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX · Public	45 49–46	$33,846/yr	14.8x
50	Brigham Young University Provo, UT · Private nonprofit	45 49–45	$31,225/yr	24.6x
51	University of Arizona Tucson, AZ · Public	44 47–45	$35,607/yr	11.7x
52	California State University-Chico Chico, CA · Public	44 43–45	$42,886/yr	12.3x
53	Metropolitan State University of Denver Denver, CO · Public	44 42–45	$45,799/yr	9.6x
54	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN · Public	44 45–44	$37,830/yr	9.5x
55	University of Missouri-Columbia Columbia, MO · Public	44 44–45	$40,492/yr	9.6x
56	University of Cincinnati-Main Campus Cincinnati, OH · Public	44 41–44	$48,348/yr	7.9x
57	University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, NE · Public	43 47–44	$33,520/yr	15.1x
58	University of Houston Houston, TX · Public	43 46–43	$34,648/yr	14.5x
59	University of North Texas Denton, TX · Public	43 46–44	$34,657/yr	13.3x
60	University of Delaware Newark, DE · Public	42 40–43	$47,912/yr	6.4x
61	Stony Brook University Stony Brook, NY · Public	42 47–43	$29,649/yr	16.5x
62	Middle Tennessee State University Murfreesboro, TN · Public	42 46–42	$28,642/yr	18.1x
63	Utah State University Logan, UT · Public	42 41–43	$42,236/yr	10.4x
64	University of Georgia Athens, GA · Public	41 44–42	$34,212/yr	12.6x
65	Brigham Young University-Idaho Rexburg, ID · Private nonprofit	41 43–41	$35,779/yr	18.2x
66	University of Maryland-Baltimore County Baltimore, MD · Public	41 46–42	$30,275/yr	13.9x
67	Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX · Public	41 45–42	$32,027/yr	13.4x
68	University of Vermont Burlington, VT · Public	41 43–42	$36,680/yr	8.2x
69	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA · Public	41 43–41	$35,927/yr	9.5x
70	Kennesaw State University Kennesaw, GA · Public	41 46–42	$29,938/yr	23.9x
71	University of Illinois Chicago Chicago, IL · Public	40 44–41	$34,308/yr	10.5x
72	Binghamton University Vestal, NY · Public	40 39–41	$41,305/yr	9.0x
73	Saint Joseph's University Philadelphia, PA · Private nonprofit	40 39–41	$44,442/yr	2.5x
74	University of California-Irvine Irvine, CA · Public	39 38–39	$42,200/yr	6.4x
75	University of Minnesota-Duluth Duluth, MN · Public	39 44–40	$31,150/yr	11.5x
76	University of New Mexico-Main Campus Albuquerque, NM · Public	39 41–40	$23,648/yr	19.1x
77	Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus Atlanta, GA · Public	38 41–39	$25,623/yr	14.2x
78	Portland State University Portland, OR · Public	38 38–39	$40,230/yr	7.9x
79	Arizona State University Digital Immersion Scottsdale, AZ · Public	38 37–39	$43,333/yr	—
80	University of California-Riverside Riverside, CA · Public	37 42–38	$30,077/yr	11.1x
81	Stevenson University Owings Mills, MD · Private nonprofit	37 35–38	$46,637/yr	1.9x
82	Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA · Private nonprofit	37 35–37	$42,474/yr	1.8x
83	Boston University Boston, MA · Private nonprofit	37 36–38	$42,850/yr	1.9x
84	University of Michigan-Flint Flint, MI · Public	37 41–37	$32,221/yr	10.2x
85	Mississippi State University Mississippi State, MS · Public	37 41–37	$30,565/yr	13.5x
86	Montclair State University Montclair, NJ · Public	37 37–38	$41,068/yr	6.0x
87	Stockton University Galloway, NJ · Public	37 37–38	$40,855/yr	5.6x
88	University of North Carolina at Greensboro Greensboro, NC · Public	37 39–38	$36,783/yr	11.1x
89	Oklahoma State University-Main Campus Stillwater, OK · Public	37 42–38	$29,720/yr	13.8x
90	University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg Greensburg, PA · Public	37 41–38	$33,554/yr	9.6x
91	University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown Johnstown, PA · Public	37 41–38	$33,554/yr	9.6x
92	Brandeis University Waltham, MA · Private nonprofit	36 34–37	$47,410/yr	0.8x
93	SUNY College at Geneseo Geneseo, NY · Public	36 38–37	$37,206/yr	9.4x
94	Georgia Southern University Statesboro, GA · Public	35 39–36	$33,408/yr	13.1x
95	Grinnell College Grinnell, IA · Private nonprofit	35 35–35	$38,598/yr	2.0x
96	Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY · Private nonprofit	35 33–36	$45,599/yr	0.7x
97	Colgate University Hamilton, NY · Private nonprofit	34 32–35	$44,089/yr	0.6x
98	University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus Pittsburgh, PA · Public	34 37–34	$33,554/yr	6.2x
99	Brown University Providence, RI · Private nonprofit	34 32–34	$43,637/yr	0.6x
100	The University of Texas at El Paso El Paso, TX · Public	34 34–35	$19,546/yr	14.2x
101	Middlebury College Middlebury, VT · Private nonprofit	34 32–35	$44,142/yr	0.7x
102	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA · Private nonprofit	33 37–34	$34,468/yr	2.3x
103	New York University New York, NY · Private nonprofit	33 35–33	$36,440/yr	2.2x
104	Texas A & M University-College Station College Station, TX · Public	33 38–34	$28,338/yr	10.6x
105	The University of Texas at Dallas Richardson, TX · Public	33 37–33	$30,207/yr	9.2x
106	University of Idaho Moscow, ID · Public	32 35–33	$34,251/yr	8.7x
107	Loyola University Chicago Chicago, IL · Private nonprofit	32 33–32	$38,487/yr	2.2x
108	Princeton University Princeton, NJ · Private nonprofit	32 32–33	$41,848/yr	0.8x
109	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI · Public	31 35–32	$26,151/yr	8.5x
110	Ursinus College Collegeville, PA · Private nonprofit	31 31–32	$40,294/yr	0.7x
111	Cornell College Mount Vernon, IA · Private nonprofit	30 31–31	$39,164/yr	0.9x
112	University at Albany Albany, NY · Public	30 33–30	$33,266/yr	7.0x
113	Oregon State University Corvallis, OR · Public	30 33–31	$34,566/yr	5.4x
114	Oregon State University-Cascades Campus Bend, OR · Public	30 33–31	$34,566/yr	5.9x
115	Augustana College Rock Island, IL · Private nonprofit	29 30–30	$38,436/yr	0.9x
116	University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, HI · Public	28 32–29	$32,599/yr	5.7x
117	Clemson University Clemson, SC · Public	27 32–28	$28,120/yr	7.7x
118	State University of New York at Oswego Oswego, NY · Public	26 30–26	$29,135/yr	7.3x
119	California State University-Fresno Fresno, CA · Public	25 29–26	$26,380/yr	8.4x
120	Kansas State University Manhattan, KS · Public	25 30–26	$29,651/yr	5.8x
121	Grand Valley State University Allendale, MI · Public	25 29–25	$30,141/yr	4.2x
122	Dickinson College Carlisle, PA · Private nonprofit	25 28–26	$35,305/yr	0.4x
123	University of Richmond University of Richmond, VA · Private nonprofit	25 28–25	$34,796/yr	0.4x
124	University of St Thomas Saint Paul, MN · Private nonprofit	24 28–25	$34,299/yr	0.6x
125	University of Mississippi University, MS · Public	23 26–23	$24,972/yr	5.6x
126	Lewis & Clark College Portland, OR · Private nonprofit	23 27–23	$33,002/yr	0.3x
127	Baylor University Waco, TX · Private nonprofit	23 28–24	$30,496/yr	2.1x
128	University of Denver Denver, CO · Private nonprofit	22 26–23	$32,613/yr	0.4x
129	University of Miami Coral Gables, FL · Private nonprofit	22 23–22	$21,666/yr	-0.1x
130	Syracuse University Syracuse, NY · Private nonprofit	22 23–22	$22,693/yr	-0.1x
131	Old Dominion University Norfolk, VA · Public	22 26–23	$25,819/yr	4.3x
132	University of South Carolina-Columbia Columbia, SC · Public	21 23–22	$23,763/yr	3.7x
133	Hendrix College Conway, AR · Private nonprofit	19 23–20	$28,322/yr	0.9x
134	Point Loma Nazarene University San Diego, CA · Private nonprofit	18 23–19	$27,604/yr	0.6x
135	Lipscomb University Nashville, TN · Private nonprofit	17 19–17	$23,075/yr	0.5x
136	Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH · Private nonprofit	16 17–16	$22,390/yr	1.5x

Scores calculated using College Scorecard, BLS, and AI task-exposure data. See full methodology →

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best school for Biochemistry?

Based on our DegreeOutlook Score, California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo ranks #1 for Biochemistry with a score of 61/100 and graduate earnings of $57,538/yr.

How much do Biochemistry graduates earn?

Across 136 schools, Biochemistry graduates earn an average of $37,918/yr in their first year. The highest-earning program reports $63,781/yr.

Is Biochemistry a good major for AI resistance?

Biochemistry has an average AI task exposure of 50%, rated "High". This field has moderate AI exposure — some career paths are more resilient than others.