Laboratory associate vs senior laboratory technician

The differences between laboratory associates and senior laboratory technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a laboratory associate and a senior laboratory technician. Additionally, a senior laboratory technician has an average salary of $48,530, which is higher than the $42,756 average annual salary of a laboratory associate.

The top three skills for a laboratory associate include patients, specimen handling and phlebotomy. The most important skills for a senior laboratory technician are lab equipment, patients, and research projects.

Laboratory associate vs senior laboratory technician overview

	Laboratory Associate	Senior Laboratory Technician
Yearly salary	$42,756	$48,530
Hourly rate	$20.56	$23.33
Growth rate	-	9%
Number of jobs	50,050	63,876
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 64%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	12	12

What does a laboratory associate do?

A laboratory associate's responsibilities revolve around preparing test samples and subjecting them into different examination processes for scientific purposes. Aside from performing extensive analysis, they are also responsible for recording data, reviewing findings, collaborating with other scientists, and producing various reports and presentations. A laboratory associate can work for an institution or private company; they may also choose to contribute their studies in different publications and research activities. Furthermore, as a laboratory practitioner, it is essential to adhere to all the laboratory safety policies and regulations, ensuring a safe and healthy work environment.

What does a senior laboratory technician do?

A Senior Laboratory Technician is responsible for supervising and coordinating scientific investigations and experiments. They supervise staff, provide technical support, and construct, maintain, and operate standard laboratory equipment.

Laboratory associate vs senior laboratory technician salary

Laboratory associates and senior laboratory technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Laboratory Associate	Senior Laboratory Technician
Average salary	$42,756	$48,530
Salary range	Between $28,000 And $63,000	Between $34,000 And $67,000
Highest paying City	New Brunswick, NJ	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Alaska	California
Best paying company	Meta	Genentech
Best paying industry	Pharmaceutical	Manufacturing

Differences between laboratory associate and senior laboratory technician education

There are a few differences between a laboratory associate and a senior laboratory technician in terms of educational background:

	Laboratory Associate	Senior Laboratory Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 64%
Most common major	Biology	Biology
Most common college	New York University	New York University

Laboratory associate vs senior laboratory technician demographics

Here are the differences between laboratory associates' and senior laboratory technicians' demographics:

	Laboratory Associate	Senior Laboratory Technician
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 42.2% Female, 57.8%	Male, 58.6% Female, 41.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.0% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 17.5% Asian, 12.2% White, 54.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	Black or African American, 10.5% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 17.0% Asian, 12.0% White, 54.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between laboratory associate and senior laboratory technician duties and responsibilities

Laboratory associate example responsibilities.

Manage supply inventory and maintain cleanliness.
Manage patient, and corporate information with compassion and confidentiality.
Direct patient care, phlebotomy, medical billing, clinical laboratory specimen collection, reference laboratory coordinator, specimen courier.
Operate combines to harvest crops for yield-testing field crops.
Perform fluorescence in situ hybridization in a CLIA certify lab.
Utilize CoPath for receiving specimen and reporting out of test results.

Senior laboratory technician example responsibilities.

Lead aerobic, anaerobic and UV light testing, chemical residue testing and centrifuge to separate chemicals from water.
Operate a binary distillation column using LabView to separate a mixture of methanol and water.
Provide and sign certificate of analyses for wet chemistry and microbiology.
Perform CFU-blast, CFU-C, CFU-D, CFU-S assays.
Create raw material library on FTIR.
Perform manual titration, including testing bacteria and other water tests.

Laboratory associate vs senior laboratory technician skills

Common laboratory associate skills

Patients, 10%
Specimen Handling, 6%
Phlebotomy, 6%
Chemistry, 6%
Customer Service, 4%
Patient Care, 4%

Common senior laboratory technician skills

Lab Equipment, 9%
Patients, 8%
Research Projects, 5%
Cell Culture, 4%
Safety Procedures, 4%
Molecular Biology, 4%

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Laboratory Associate
Laboratory Associate vs Senior Laboratory Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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