Contract chemist vs field chemist

The differences between contract chemists and field chemists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a contract chemist has an average salary of $67,064, which is higher than the $66,162 average annual salary of a field chemist.

The top three skills for a contract chemist include laboratory equipment, method development and R. The most important skills for a field chemist are CDL, non-hazardous waste, and customer sites.

Contract chemist vs field chemist overview

	Contract Chemist	Field Chemist
Yearly salary	$67,064	$66,162
Hourly rate	$32.24	$31.81
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	11,286	51,922
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 84%	Bachelor's Degree, 82%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	-	-

Contract chemist vs field chemist salary

Contract chemists and field chemists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Contract Chemist	Field Chemist
Average salary	$67,064	$66,162
Salary range	Between $44,000 And $100,000	Between $43,000 And $101,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between contract chemist and field chemist education

There are a few differences between a contract chemist and a field chemist in terms of educational background:

	Contract Chemist	Field Chemist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 84%	Bachelor's Degree, 82%
Most common major	Chemistry	Chemistry
Most common college	University of Southern California	University of California, Berkeley

Contract chemist vs field chemist demographics

Here are the differences between contract chemists' and field chemists' demographics:

	Contract Chemist	Field Chemist
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 58.7% Female, 41.3%	Male, 82.6% Female, 17.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.7% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.3% Asian, 18.3% White, 59.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 8.1% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.5% Asian, 18.1% White, 59.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	5%	5%

Differences between contract chemist and field chemist duties and responsibilities

Contract chemist example responsibilities.

Lead QA, engineering, and operations training events.
Develop HPLC methods for the analysis of drugs and relate substances in a GMP environment.
Analyze polymer materials using ASTM methods.
Review routine and validation projects under GMP guidelines.
Blend specialty carrier gases, complete GMP and safety checklists.
Log in samples into LIMS and generate reports for customers.

Field chemist example responsibilities.

Manage and audit projects to ensure compliance of state, federal and OSHA regulations.
Manage projects involving the development of GC/MS methods, particle collection systems, and Raman spectral database creation.
Achieve and maintain ISO 9001-2000 certification by creating and implementing policies and serving as management representative.
Utilize analytic testing on new compounds using the following techniques: GC-MS, HPLC and ICP.
Test products for QC using standard procedures.
Analyze air samples by HPLC following EPA methods.

Contract chemist vs field chemist skills

Common contract chemist skills

Laboratory Equipment, 17%
Method Development, 13%
R, 10%
Analytical Data, 7%
HPLC, 7%
Ms, 4%

Common field chemist skills

CDL, 39%
Non-Hazardous Waste, 7%
Customer Sites, 7%
Household Hazardous Waste, 6%
OSHA, 5%
Laboratory Equipment, 5%

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Contract Chemist
Contract Chemist vs Field Chemist

Updated January 8, 2025

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