Investigator vs scientist

The differences between investigators and scientists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become an investigator, becoming a scientist takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a scientist has an average salary of $97,344, which is higher than the $71,406 average annual salary of an investigator.

The top three skills for an investigator include law enforcement agencies, management system and customer service. The most important skills for a scientist are chemistry, data analysis, and patients.

Investigator vs scientist overview

	Investigator	Scientist
Yearly salary	$71,406	$97,344
Hourly rate	$34.33	$46.80
Growth rate	6%	17%
Number of jobs	5,085	62,467
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 62%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Average age	44	41
Years of experience	6	4

What does an investigator do?

Criminal investigators play an essential role in criminal justice and law enforcement. Their job entails solving open cases that may take them weeks or even months to accomplish. Collecting evidence, interviewing witnesses, and arresting suspects are among their many tasks. They work at every level of criminal justice and law enforcement. For criminal investigators to succeed in their profession, they should have sound judgment, strong communication skills, ethical standards, physical fitness, and empathy. They also benefit from strong job prospects, in addition to an exciting and rewarding job.

What does a scientist do?

A scientist is responsible for researching and analyzing the nature and complexities of the physical world to identify discoveries that would improve people's lives and ignite scientific knowledge for society. Scientists' duties differ in their different areas of expertise, but all of them must have a broad comprehension of scientific disciplines and methods to support their experiments and investigations. They collect the sample for their research, record findings, create research proposals, and release publications. A scientist must know how to utilize laboratory equipment to support the study and drive results efficiently and accurately.

Investigator vs scientist salary

Investigators and scientists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Investigator	Scientist
Average salary	$71,406	$97,344
Salary range	Between $42,000 And $119,000	Between $67,000 And $140,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Redwood City, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Apple	Airbnb
Best paying industry	-	Technology

Differences between investigator and scientist education

There are a few differences between an investigator and a scientist in terms of educational background:

	Investigator	Scientist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 62%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Most common major	Criminal Justice	Chemistry
Most common college	California State University - Bakersfield	University of Southern California

Investigator vs scientist demographics

Here are the differences between investigators' and scientists' demographics:

	Investigator	Scientist
Average age	44	41
Gender ratio	Male, 56.6% Female, 43.4%	Male, 56.9% Female, 43.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 13.5% Unknown, 5.8% Hispanic or Latino, 19.2% Asian, 4.7% White, 56.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%	Black or African American, 6.5% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 26.3% White, 53.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between investigator and scientist duties and responsibilities

Investigator example responsibilities.

Participate in and lead the controlled purchase of illegal narcotics and firearms to apprehend suspects.
Manage all business reporting to include; payroll, taxes, client billing, account reconciliations and compliance reports.
Manage corporate-wide document production relative to complex litigation cases.
Receive multiple letters of commendation for effective investigations that lead to successful prosecutions.
Collaborate with federal agencies, including the FBI, DEA, ATF and IRS.
Write a detail case report, and attach all supporting documentation necessary to write up SAR's where necessary per BSA.

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Scientist example responsibilities.

Lead a cross-functional team to return an HIV combination product to market on random-access instrument.
Design the VERIS HIV-1 quantitative PCR assay which achieve Conformit Europ enne (CE) marking.
Manage an elemental analytical laboratory that include operating, maintaining and troubleshooting an ICP-OES, ICPMS, MXRF, and IC.
Develop and manage third party claim investigations and contractor remedial oversight for various insurance companies.
Manage study protocols and study conduct, intimately involve in the toxicology and pharmacokinetic study protocol development process.
Manage sample inventory via in-house laboratory information management system (LIMS) and implement additional systems for sample and chemical organization.

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Investigator vs scientist skills

Common investigator skills

Law Enforcement Agencies, 7%
Management System, 6%
Customer Service, 5%
Criminal Justice, 5%
Senior Level Management, 4%
Child Abuse, 4%

Common scientist skills

Chemistry, 9%
Data Analysis, 7%
Patients, 7%
Molecular Biology, 4%
Cell Culture, 4%
Java, 3%

Investigator vs. similar jobs

Investigator related careers

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Investigator jobs by location

Updated January 8, 2025

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