Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between contract researchers and research consultants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a contract researcher and a research consultant. Additionally, a research consultant has an average salary of $83,492, which is higher than the $50,230 average annual salary of a contract researcher.
The top three skills for a contract researcher include R, database management and data collection. The most important skills for a research consultant are data collection, medicaid, and business development.
| Contract Researcher | Research Consultant | |
| Yearly salary | $50,230 | $83,492 |
| Hourly rate | $24.15 | $40.14 |
| Growth rate | 19% | 19% |
| Number of jobs | 18,223 | 61,865 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Average age | 37 | 37 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A Contract Researcher provides research support services for various industries, such as pharmaceutical and biotechnology. They are contracted by companies to lead the company's trials, duties, and functions.
A research consultant is an individual who is responsible for collecting and analyzing multiple types of data across a variety of formats and present research reports for research and analytics companies, public institutions, and private businesses. Research consultants are required to design research strategies to complete the needs of research projects as well as create a basic plan of action for finding data. They may use online resources, phone surveys, and other data-collection methods to find and collect data. Research consultants must also assign investigative teams to verify and double-check the collected data.
Contract researchers and research consultants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Contract Researcher | Research Consultant | |
| Average salary | $50,230 | $83,492 |
| Salary range | Between $20,000 And $122,000 | Between $60,000 And $115,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | - | New York |
| Best paying company | - | Microsoft |
| Best paying industry | - | Education |
There are a few differences between a contract researcher and a research consultant in terms of educational background:
| Contract Researcher | Research Consultant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Most common major | Business | Psychology |
| Most common college | University of Georgia | University of Georgia |
Here are the differences between contract researchers' and research consultants' demographics:
| Contract Researcher | Research Consultant | |
| Average age | 37 | 37 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 51.5% Female, 48.5% | Male, 48.2% Female, 51.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.8% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 11.4% Asian, 14.5% White, 64.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 4.7% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 11.1% Asian, 14.0% White, 65.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 10% |