Computer scientist vs rocket scientist

The differences between computer scientists and rocket 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 computer scientist and a rocket scientist. Additionally, a rocket scientist has an average salary of $107,053, which is higher than the $103,238 average annual salary of a computer scientist.

Computer scientist vs rocket scientist overview

	Computer Scientist	Rocket Scientist
Yearly salary	$103,238	$107,053
Hourly rate	$49.63	$51.47
Growth rate	16%	16%
Number of jobs	59,802	41,724
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 66%	Bachelor's Degree, 80%
Average age	41	41
Years of experience	4	4

Computer scientist vs rocket scientist salary

Computer scientists and rocket scientists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Computer Scientist	Rocket Scientist
Average salary	$103,238	$107,053
Salary range	Between $74,000 And $144,000	Between $69,000 And $164,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	-
Highest paying state	California	-
Best paying company	Meta	-
Best paying industry	Technology	-

Differences between computer scientist and rocket scientist education

There are a few differences between a computer scientist and a rocket scientist in terms of educational background:

	Computer Scientist	Rocket Scientist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 66%	Bachelor's Degree, 80%
Most common major	Computer Science	Engineering
Most common college	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Johns Hopkins University

Computer scientist vs rocket scientist demographics

Here are the differences between computer scientists' and rocket scientists' demographics:

	Computer Scientist	Rocket Scientist
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 78.8% Female, 21.2%	Male, 84.6% Female, 15.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.2% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 6.9% Asian, 18.8% White, 64.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 4.2% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 6.9% Asian, 18.8% White, 64.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between computer scientist and rocket scientist duties and responsibilities

Computer scientist example responsibilities.

Lead cost evaluation for incremental release plan of business intelligence and cloud technology infusion.
Accomplish relational database administration and implementation.
Experience in Linux and Unix servers.
Parallelize and optimize scientific models using C++ and MPI.
Award DOE-EMSL funding and establish multi-scale modeling project on HPC cluster (Fortran90/C++) implementing MPI strategies.
Prepare status reports for submission to DISA.

Rocket scientist example responsibilities.

Develop and implement tools in both IDL/ENVI and Erdas to automate preprocessing and enhancement of imagery data for exploitation and interpretation.
Require to acquire geospatial information and extract essential elements from a wide array of multi-intelligence data to include Sigint and Masint.
Used Endotoxin and viral contamination assays to detect contamination in cells freezes and identify organism by ribosomal RNA testing.

Computer scientist vs rocket scientist skills

Common computer scientist skills

Python, 13%
Computer System, 10%
Machine Learning, 10%
Architecture, 9%
DOD, 7%
Java, 5%

Common rocket scientist skills

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Updated January 8, 2025

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