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The differences between chemical engineers and scientists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a scientist has an average salary of $97,344, which is higher than the $89,449 average annual salary of a chemical engineer.
The top three skills for a chemical engineer include chemistry, technical support and co-op. The most important skills for a scientist are chemistry, data analysis, and patients.
| Chemical Engineer | Scientist | |
| Yearly salary | $89,449 | $97,344 |
| Hourly rate | $43.00 | $46.80 |
| Growth rate | 14% | 17% |
| Number of jobs | 42,176 | 62,467 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 78% | Bachelor's Degree, 60% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | - | 4 |
A chemical engineer provides support for chemical operations and testing new processes. The processes they successfully come up with are used to make different products from gas, oil, food, and drink. It is their job to assist in designing new chemical processes and make improvements. They implement fresh ideas to improve standard quality and efficiency. They must be good planners and schedulers of project activities to help chemical technicians to achieve their project objectives and provide technical support to maintain safe, stable, and reliable operations.
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.
Chemical engineers and scientists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Chemical Engineer | Scientist | |
| Average salary | $89,449 | $97,344 |
| Salary range | Between $67,000 And $119,000 | Between $67,000 And $140,000 |
| Highest paying City | Sugar Land, TX | Redwood City, CA |
| Highest paying state | Texas | California |
| Best paying company | BP America Inc | Airbnb |
| Best paying industry | Energy | Technology |
There are a few differences between a chemical engineer and a scientist in terms of educational background:
| Chemical Engineer | Scientist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 78% | Bachelor's Degree, 60% |
| Most common major | Chemical Engineering | Chemistry |
| Most common college | Georgia Institute of Technology | University of Southern California |
Here are the differences between chemical engineers' and scientists' demographics:
| Chemical Engineer | Scientist | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 74.1% Female, 25.9% | Male, 56.9% Female, 43.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.6% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.2% Asian, 21.3% White, 60.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | 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 | 9% | 8% |