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Industrial chemist vs chemical engineer

The differences between industrial chemists and chemical engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a chemical engineer has an average salary of $89,449, which is higher than the $78,632 average annual salary of an industrial chemist.

The top three skills for an industrial chemist include titration, HPLC and R. The most important skills for a chemical engineer are chemistry, technical support, and co-op.

Industrial chemist vs chemical engineer overview

Industrial ChemistChemical Engineer
Yearly salary$78,632$89,449
Hourly rate$37.80$43.00
Growth rate6%14%
Number of jobs11,20942,176
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 76%Bachelor's Degree, 78%
Average age4241
Years of experience--

Industrial chemist vs chemical engineer salary

Industrial chemists and chemical engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Industrial ChemistChemical Engineer
Average salary$78,632$89,449
Salary rangeBetween $52,000 And $117,000Between $67,000 And $119,000
Highest paying City-Sugar Land, TX
Highest paying state-Texas
Best paying company-BP America Inc
Best paying industry-Energy

Differences between industrial chemist and chemical engineer education

There are a few differences between an industrial chemist and a chemical engineer in terms of educational background:

Industrial ChemistChemical Engineer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 76%Bachelor's Degree, 78%
Most common majorChemistryChemical Engineering
Most common collegeUniversity of Southern CaliforniaGeorgia Institute of Technology

Industrial chemist vs chemical engineer demographics

Here are the differences between industrial chemists' and chemical engineers' demographics:

Industrial ChemistChemical Engineer
Average age4241
Gender ratioMale, 66.2% Female, 33.8%Male, 74.1% Female, 25.9%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 18.2% White, 59.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 3.6% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.2% Asian, 21.3% White, 60.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage5%9%

Differences between industrial chemist and chemical engineer duties and responsibilities

Industrial chemist example responsibilities.

  • Write procedure deviations forms to justify valid results or outliers to accomplish GLP regulations.
  • Analyze industrial hygiene samples with HPLC and GC.
  • Perform HPLC analysis on air quality filter and badges.
  • Maintain various logbooks and records pertaining to GC, LC, and gravimetric instruments.
  • Perform soxhlet extractions and GC analyses of compound treat rodent feed used in toxicity studies.
  • Take initiative to be cross-train in chemistry methods used by the company to perform additional tests that ensure uninterrupt laboratory operation.
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Chemical engineer example responsibilities.

  • Manage and supervise projects on the production floor and QC department.
  • Lead small project teams of co-op students and interface effectively with plant operators.
  • Manage various cross functional teams to do the IQ, OQ, & PQ validation.
  • Accomplish extraction of heat and material balance data from HYSYS simulation and generating the relevant process flow diagram.
  • Work on windows server 2012 and SQL server 2008.
  • Modify FTIR optics for study of combusting flame.
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Industrial chemist vs chemical engineer skills

Common industrial chemist skills
  • Titration, 14%
  • HPLC, 13%
  • R, 12%
  • GMP, 10%
  • Laboratory Equipment, 8%
  • Analytical Support, 6%
Common chemical engineer skills
  • Chemistry, 10%
  • Technical Support, 5%
  • Co-Op, 4%
  • Chemical Process, 4%
  • Troubleshoot, 3%
  • Project Management, 3%

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