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The differences between experts and subject matter experts can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a subject matter expert has an average salary of $103,749, which is higher than the $94,068 average annual salary of an expert.
The top three skills for an expert include sales floor, strong customer service and product knowledge. The most important skills for a subject matter expert are SME, project management, and DOD.
| Expert | Subject Matter Expert | |
| Yearly salary | $94,068 | $103,749 |
| Hourly rate | $45.23 | $49.88 |
| Growth rate | - | 11% |
| Number of jobs | 11,893 | 58,235 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 50% | Bachelor's Degree, 57% |
| Average age | 41 | 44 |
| Years of experience | - | 4 |
An expert has extensive knowledge on a subject gained from a significant amount of experience. Although the tasks will vary on the line of work or organization, an expert's role will often revolve around sharing expertise through discussion, evaluation, and influencing. There's also an opportunity for teaching, training, selling, and even promoting. Being an expert requires a great deal of communication and coordination; the duties will always involve engaging with other people and building rapport.
A subject matter expert is someone who has special knowledge and expertise about a specific process or service, providing advice to other team members or directly assisting customers with their inquiries and concerns. Subject matter experts coordinate on planning strategic procedures to improve the work processes and ensure customer satisfaction. They are also active in participating in learning programs and training sessions to share their knowledge and best practices for their specialization. Subject matter experts identify potential business opportunities to generate more revenues for the business and achieve its profitability goals.
Experts and subject matter experts have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Expert | Subject Matter Expert | |
| Average salary | $94,068 | $103,749 |
| Salary range | Between $54,000 And $161,000 | Between $73,000 And $146,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | McKinsey & Company Inc | Apple |
| Best paying industry | - | Energy |
There are a few differences between an expert and a subject matter expert in terms of educational background:
| Expert | Subject Matter Expert | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 50% | Bachelor's Degree, 57% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between experts' and subject matter experts' demographics:
| Expert | Subject Matter Expert | |
| Average age | 41 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 55.6% Female, 44.4% | Male, 63.8% Female, 36.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.2% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 19.2% Asian, 8.3% White, 56.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% | Black or African American, 8.2% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 9.0% Asian, 12.1% White, 66.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 12% |