City of Baltimore / Public Works - Water & Waste Water / Microbiologist I
Job-title file
Carry out the duties of this position in support of the agency's public mission.
1 employees hold this title in Public Works - Water & Waste Water. Median total compensation for the role is $64,087, below the department median of $76,741.
Compared with the local labor market
Across all employers in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD area, the median wage for Microbiologists — about 290 people — is $85,120. Public Works - Water & Waste Water pays a median base salary of $68,593 for this role, 19% below that figure — about the 24th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
The bar is the range of annual wages for Microbiologists across every employer in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Public Works - Water & Waste Water’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Microbiologists — about 18,940 people — is $87,990. Public Works - Water & Waste Water’s median base salary is 22% below that national figure, about the 27th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at Public Works - Water & Waste Water is $68,593, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.
Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.
Compare departments
Microbiologist I is held in 2 City of Baltimore departments. In Public Works - Water & Waste Water, the median of $64,087 ranks #1 of 2.
Median total compensation for the Microbiologist I role in other City of Baltimoredepartments (highest first). Each bar links to that department’s page for this role.
Compare jurisdictions
This role is reported in 9 jurisdictions. In City of Baltimore, the median of $57,640 ranks #6 of 9. See Microbiologist across all of City of Baltimore →
Median total compensation for comparable Microbiologist roles in other jurisdictions. Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for the role.
Record list
Page 1
Microbiologist I/Public Works - Water & Waste Water
Source-specific fields
Karen Campbell holds the role of Microbiologist I at Public Works - Water & Waste Water. They have served since 1996 (about 25 years). In 2021, their total compensation was $64,087.