Field laboratory operator vs chemical analyst

The differences between field laboratory operators and chemical analysts can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a field laboratory operator and a chemical analyst. Additionally, a field laboratory operator has an average salary of $54,062, which is higher than the $53,769 average annual salary of a chemical analyst.

The top three skills for a field laboratory operator include lab equipment, chemistry and safety regulations. The most important skills for a chemical analyst are lab equipment, analytical methods, and analytical procedures.

Field laboratory operator vs chemical analyst overview

	Field Laboratory Operator	Chemical Analyst
Yearly salary	$54,062	$53,769
Hourly rate	$25.99	$25.85
Growth rate	4%	4%
Number of jobs	109,087	10,790
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 61%	Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	2	2

Field laboratory operator vs chemical analyst salary

Field laboratory operators and chemical analysts have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Field Laboratory Operator	Chemical Analyst
Average salary	$54,062	$53,769
Salary range	Between $37,000 And $77,000	Between $36,000 And $78,000
Highest paying City	-	Ossining, NY
Highest paying state	-	Maryland
Best paying company	-	Koppers
Best paying industry	-	Energy

Differences between field laboratory operator and chemical analyst education

There are a few differences between a field laboratory operator and a chemical analyst in terms of educational background:

	Field Laboratory Operator	Chemical Analyst
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 61%	Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Most common major	Business	Chemistry
Most common college	Stanford University	Stanford University

Field laboratory operator vs chemical analyst demographics

Here are the differences between field laboratory operators' and chemical analysts' demographics:

	Field Laboratory Operator	Chemical Analyst
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 62.6% Female, 37.4%	Male, 56.8% Female, 43.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.4% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 9.3% White, 62.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 7.1% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 9.0% White, 63.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between field laboratory operator and chemical analyst duties and responsibilities

Field laboratory operator example responsibilities.

Manage patient, and corporate information with compassion and confidentiality.
Perform lab testing, including automatic titration, GC, and HPLC.
Develop and validate analytical methods for HPLC, GC-MS, UV-Vis, and FT-IR.
Maintain and calibrate lab and field equipment and document calibration to ensure equipment run optimal.
Support laboratory quality control and safety initiatives and provide direct support to the microbiology, processing and emergency departments as needed.
Perform basic analyzer troubleshooting on centrifuge, label printers, and maintain quality controls on chemistry and hematology analyzer.

Chemical analyst example responsibilities.

Manage the scheduling and the FTIR analysis for all blend protocol gases.
Manage daily production schedule, monitor machine operation, addressed any etching machinery problems.
Perform finish product and release testing for prescription drugs in the pharmaceutical industry using UV/VIS, UV/PDA, and HPLC.
Develop, validate and support transfer of stability-indicative methods for solid and liquid dosage forms using HPLC, GC and GC/MS.
Perform routine maintenance and troubleshooting of FTIR instrumentation and GC instrumentation.
Follow cGMP, GLP, FDA, regulations.

Field laboratory operator vs chemical analyst skills

Common field laboratory operator skills

Lab Equipment, 24%
Chemistry, 22%
Safety Regulations, 11%
Test Results, 5%
QC, 5%
DNA, 3%

Common chemical analyst skills

Lab Equipment, 18%
Analytical Methods, 9%
Analytical Procedures, 6%
PH Meter, 5%
HPLC, 4%
R, 3%

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Field Laboratory Operator
Field Laboratory Operator vs Chemical Analyst

Updated January 8, 2025

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