Jacksonville, FL (population: 822,401) has four biology schools within its city limits. University of North Florida, the highest ranked school in the city with a biology program, has a total student population of 16,477. It is the 289th highest ranked school in the USA and the 8th highest in the state of Florida (#1 is University of Miami). To learn more about biology programs in Jacksonville, ratemyprofessors.com has reviews of biology professors at University of North Florida such as Gregory Ahearn, Lynn Albright, David Beall, Gretchen Bielmyer, Doria Bowers, and Denise Bristol.
Biology students from Jacksonville schools who go on to become biologists, marine biologists, wildlife biologists, molecular biologists, etc. have a good chance at finding employment. For example, there are 29,630 people working as biological scientists alone in the US, and their average annual salary is $69,430. Also, Zoologists and wildlife biologists make on average $60,670 per year and there are about 17,460 of them employed in the US today. In fact, in the Jacksonville area alone, there are 50 employed zoologists and wildlife biologists earning an average salary of $54,950. Biological scientists in this area earn $74,990/yr and there are 150 employed.
Jacksonville lies in Duval county, which is one of the 49 counties in Florida. Overall, the Jacksonville area has 581,450 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 1% unemployment rate, $19/hr average worker wage, and a $39,460 average annual salary. Thus, about 0 out of every 1000 jobs in Jacksonville are held by biological scientists, and 0/1000 are held by zoologists and wildlife biologists.
Of the 4 biology schools in Jacksonville, only 2 have a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, Jacksonville University comes out as the most expensive ($21,456/yr) for biology students, with Florida Community College at Jacksonville as the lowest, reported at only $6,668/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from Jacksonville |
| Orange Park | FL | - | 3 | 22.5405 | 26 | 11.7 miles |
| Saint Augustine | FL | - | 2 | 46.0117 | 74 | 36.6 miles |
| Palm Coast | FL | 76,000 | 0 | - | 0 | 59.1 miles |
| Gainesville | FL | 116,277 | 8 | 23.682 | 358 | 61.2 miles |
| Waycross | GA | - | 2 | 12.3956 | 59 | 73.7 miles |
| Ocala | FL | 57,520 | 3 | 20.3525 | 108 | 83.8 miles |
| Daytona Beach | FL | 63,815 | 4 | 31.0595 | 184 | 86.9 miles |
| South Daytona | FL | - | 1 | 30.9321 | 7 | 89.6 miles |
| Deland | FL | - | 2 | 24.7322 | 98 | 92.6 miles |