Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between chemists 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 $64,961 average annual salary of a chemist.
The top three skills for a chemist include chemistry, lab equipment and test results. The most important skills for a scientist are chemistry, data analysis, and patients.
| Chemist | Scientist | |
| Yearly salary | $64,961 | $97,344 |
| Hourly rate | $31.23 | $46.80 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 17% |
| Number of jobs | 20,221 | 62,467 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 80% | Bachelor's Degree, 60% |
| Average age | 42 | 41 |
| Years of experience | - | 4 |
Chemists are generally responsible for observing and investigating chemical substances to create new and safe compounds essential for practical applications. They are often grouped depending on a particular area of specialization to focus and understand the complexities of the matter. A chemist usually takes time performing research and conducting experiments to test and further improve the quality and usage of a specific chemical substance. Chemists are expected to write on their observations and findings to establish scientific results.
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.
Chemists and scientists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Chemist | Scientist | |
| Average salary | $64,961 | $97,344 |
| Salary range | Between $46,000 And $90,000 | Between $67,000 And $140,000 |
| Highest paying City | Wilmington, DE | Redwood City, CA |
| Highest paying state | Delaware | California |
| Best paying company | Meta | Airbnb |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Technology |
There are a few differences between a chemist and a scientist in terms of educational background:
| Chemist | Scientist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 80% | Bachelor's Degree, 60% |
| Most common major | Chemistry | Chemistry |
| Most common college | University of Southern California | University of Southern California |
Here are the differences between chemists' and scientists' demographics:
| Chemist | Scientist | |
| Average age | 42 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 59.6% Female, 40.4% | Male, 56.9% Female, 43.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 7.8% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 18.2% White, 59.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | 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 | 5% | 8% |