Field guide

How to become a materials scientist

A materials scientist works on the structure and properties of materials such as metals, polymers, ceramics and batteries, and how to make them better. It is a small, applied field, and many roles sit in manufacturing, energy and electronics companies.

Median pay (US)
$117,790
Middle 50%
$89,990 to $150,550
Employed (US)
8,470
Usual entry level
Bachelor's degree

What the work looks like

Work ranges from making and testing samples to scaling a process up for production. It overlaps with chemistry, physics and engineering, and employers often hire from all three.

The official O*NET job description lists tasks such as:

  • Conduct research on the structures and properties of materials, such as metals, alloys, polymers, and ceramics, to obtain information that could be used to develop new products or enhance existing ones.
  • Test metals to determine conformance to specifications of mechanical strength, strength-weight ratio, ductility, magnetic and electrical properties, and resistance to abrasion, corrosion, heat, and cold.
  • Test material samples for tolerance under tension, compression, and shear to determine the cause of metal failures.

The route in

  1. Major in materials science, chemistry, physics or chemical engineering.
  2. Learn characterization tools such as electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction.
  3. Look for internships in manufacturing or energy.
  4. Consider a PhD for research roles, which are common in this field.
The catch. The field is small, so your job search may depend on a limited set of employers and places. Keeping an engineering-friendly profile widens the options.

Pay in the US

The May 2025 national figures for materials scientists run from $66,820 at the 10th percentile to $197,290 at the 90th, with a median of $117,790 and a mean of $126,180. BLS projects employment growth of 7% over 2025-35 (much faster than average), with about 6,500 openings a year.

If you do a PhD in this area

In 2025 the median research doctorate recipient in physical sciences took 6.8 years from bachelor's degree, 6.0 years from starting graduate school and 5.8 years from starting the doctoral program.

In 2025, of 5,332 research doctorate recipients in physical sciences, 3,058 reported a definite postgraduation commitment and 1,538 of those were postdoctoral study positions in the United States. That is 50.3% of those with a commitment.

In the UK

In the UK, materials roles are spread across aerospace, automotive and energy firms, and some are linked to university research centers.

ONS ASHE 2026 (provisional) gives median annual gross pay of £52,044 for full-time employees in SOC 2020 group 2114, physical scientists. This is a provisional figure from a small sample, so treat it as a rough guide.

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Related fields

Pay: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, SOC 19-2032, May 2025, national, all industries, retrieved 2026-11-03. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, retrieved 2026-11-03. NSF NCSES, Survey of Earned Doctorates 2025, Table 1-12 (NSF 26-326), retrieved 2026-11-03. NSF NCSES, Survey of Earned Doctorates 2025, Table 6-1 (NSF 26-326), retrieved 2026-11-03. ONS ASHE Table 14.7a (Occupation SOC20 4-digit, Annual pay - Gross, Full-Time sheet) and 14.7b (CV), retrieved 2026-11-03. Tasks from the O*NET 31.0 Database by USDOL/ETA, used under CC BY 4.0.