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The differences between bioinformaticians and scientists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a bioinformatician and a scientist. Additionally, a scientist has an average salary of $97,344, which is higher than the $71,359 average annual salary of a bioinformatician.
The top three skills for a bioinformatician include python, data analysis and next-generation sequencing. The most important skills for a scientist are chemistry, data analysis, and patients.
| Bioinformatician | Scientist | |
| Yearly salary | $71,359 | $97,344 |
| Hourly rate | $34.31 | $46.80 |
| Growth rate | 17% | 17% |
| Number of jobs | 16,034 | 62,467 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 43% | Bachelor's Degree, 60% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
Bioinformaticians are experts who are responsible for developing and conducting research by using methods and software tools to collect and analyze complex biological data. By combining their research in biology, medicine, and health-related studies with information technology, these bioinformaticians are required to interpret data that covers areas such as genetics or pharmaceutics. They must develop databases to compile a large amount of information from activities such as gene expression profiling and protein expression. Bioinformaticians must also maintain laboratory documents and keep updated with scientific or medical journals.
A scientist is responsible for researching and analyzing the nature and complexities of the physical world to identify discoveries that would improve people's lives and ignite scientific knowledge for society. Scientists' duties differ in their different areas of expertise, but all of them must have a broad comprehension of scientific disciplines and methods to support their experiments and investigations. They collect the sample for their research, record findings, create research proposals, and release publications. A scientist must know how to utilize laboratory equipment to support the study and drive results efficiently and accurately.
Bioinformaticians and scientists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Bioinformatician | Scientist | |
| Average salary | $71,359 | $97,344 |
| Salary range | Between $40,000 And $127,000 | Between $67,000 And $140,000 |
| Highest paying City | Branford, CT | Redwood City, CA |
| Highest paying state | Rhode Island | California |
| Best paying company | AstraZeneca | Airbnb |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Technology |
There are a few differences between a bioinformatician and a scientist in terms of educational background:
| Bioinformatician | Scientist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 43% | Bachelor's Degree, 60% |
| Most common major | Biostatistics | Chemistry |
| Most common college | University of Southern California | University of Southern California |
Here are the differences between bioinformaticians' and scientists' demographics:
| Bioinformatician | Scientist | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 83.1% Female, 16.9% | Male, 56.9% Female, 43.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 5.8% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 8.9% Asian, 39.0% White, 42.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 6.5% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 26.3% White, 53.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 8% |