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The differences between graduate research assistants and research engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a research engineer has an average salary of $96,945, which is higher than the $34,230 average annual salary of a graduate research assistant.
The top three skills for a graduate research assistant include R, technical reports and research projects. The most important skills for a research engineer are python, java, and software development.
| Graduate Research Assistant | Research Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $34,230 | $96,945 |
| Hourly rate | $16.46 | $46.61 |
| Growth rate | 19% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 52,695 | 136,763 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Average age | 44 | 41 |
| Years of experience | - | 6 |
Graduate research assistants are students who work for senior researchers or professors. They help professors in their research. Usually, graduate research assistants are given allowances or stipends in exchange for their help. Graduate research assistants help the researcher in testing research tools, gathering data, and analyzing data. They may also help researchers in creating presentations, interpreting data through graphs, and crafting other collateral that the researcher may need. It is usually required that the graduate research assistant is studying a specific field related to the research topic.
Research Engineers are responsible for a wide range of duties, including researching and developing new technologies and prototypes, and finding solutions to improve techniques, procedures, and technologies.
Graduate research assistants and research engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Graduate Research Assistant | Research Engineer | |
| Average salary | $34,230 | $96,945 |
| Salary range | Between $22,000 And $52,000 | Between $67,000 And $138,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | Menlo Park, CA |
| Highest paying state | Pennsylvania | California |
| Best paying company | Los Alamos National Laboratory | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Education | Start-up |
There are a few differences between a graduate research assistant and a research engineer in terms of educational background:
| Graduate Research Assistant | Research Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Georgia Institute of Technology | Georgia Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between graduate research assistants' and research engineers' demographics:
| Graduate Research Assistant | Research Engineer | |
| Average age | 44 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 54.2% Female, 45.8% | Male, 81.7% Female, 18.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.0% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 17.6% Asian, 11.8% White, 53.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 16.9% White, 67.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 5% |