Biostatistician
Sample Subheading
Also known as: ["Biometrician", "biostatistical consultant", "biostatistician", "statistical scientist", "statistician", "applied statistician"]
Biostatisticians are the data detectives of the life sciences, uncovering patterns and making sense of complex biological data. They develop and apply mathematical models to study everything from disease spread to treatment outcomes, helping scientists and healthcare professionals make evidence-based decisions that save lives.
Duties
- Apply statistical methods Biostatisticians use math and statistics to test whether a new medicine really works, whether a habit raises disease risk, or whether a pattern in the data is real or just luck. Picking the right method for each question is what makes the answer trustworthy.
- Design research studies Before a single patient joins a study, a biostatistician helps plan it. How many people are needed? Who gets the new treatment, and who gets the placebo? Like an architect drawing blueprints, a strong design makes sure the study can actually answer its question without wasting time, money, or volunteers' effort.
- Clean and manage health data Real health data is messy, full of missing answers, typos, and records that don't match up. Biostatisticians organize, check, and protect this data so it's accurate and ready for analysis. Since it's often private patient information, keeping it secure is just as important as keeping it clean.
- Communicate findings Numbers only matter if people understand them. Biostatisticians turn complex results into clear charts, reports, and presentations for doctors, scientists, and government agencies.
- Partner with research teams Biostatisticians rarely work alone. They team up with doctors, epidemiologists, and lab scientists as the go-to expert on all things data. They also help keep clinical trials honest and on track, and they keep learning new methods as the field evolves.
Education
Minimum qualification: Master’s degree
Biostatistician
A mindmap-style diagram shows both typical and alternative pathways to enter into this role. It maps out different education and career steps, with routes that intersect. Select each step in the diagram to learn more.
Salary
- Entry level: 111000
- Mid level: 133000
- Senior level: 154000
Job outlook
Job openings: 2300
Demand: Rapid growth
- More data means more need for experts who can analyze and explain it clearly. (The global bioinformatics market will hit $45.7B by 2030 (CAGR 13.4%).)
- Tailored treatments rely on strong stats to prove they work safely and effectively. (Precision medicine market to reach $175.6B by 2030, CAGR 11.5%.)
- Public health projects need biostatisticians to model outbreaks and analyze trends. (Biostatistician roles projected to grow 28% from 2022–2032.)
Quote
Even if you don't know what you want for a career now, it is important to learn so that you are prepared when the opportunity hits upon you.
Jing Ma, PhD, Biostatistician, and Assistant Professor at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Read Jing Ma's story
Jing Ma analyzes massive datasets from over 30,000 dogs across America to understand how we age. As a biostatistician on the Dog Aging Project, she discovered that feeding dogs once daily leads to better health outcomes and mapped how disease networks change as dogs grow older. She grew up on a farm in rural China as a first-generation college student, using math as her pathway from village life to becoming a research scientist at Fred Hutch Cancer Center.
Related careers
Sources
, Boston University School of Public Health. (2021). Scarlett Bellamy, ScD. , Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. (2025, August 28). Occupational outlook handbook: Mathematicians and statisticians. U.S. Department of Labor. , Grand View Research. (2025). Bioinformatics market size, share & growth report, 2030. , Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. (2024). Massachusetts curriculum frameworks. , Precedence Research. (2025, April 5). Precision medicine market size.