Lead laboratory technician vs laboratory assistant

The differences between lead laboratory technicians and laboratory assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a lead laboratory technician and a laboratory assistant. Additionally, a lead laboratory technician has an average salary of $54,230, which is higher than the $34,168 average annual salary of a laboratory assistant.

The top three skills for a lead laboratory technician include patients, lab equipment and customer service. The most important skills for a laboratory assistant are patients, phlebotomy, and customer service.

Lead laboratory technician vs laboratory assistant overview

	Lead Laboratory Technician	Laboratory Assistant
Yearly salary	$54,230	$34,168
Hourly rate	$26.07	$16.43
Growth rate	3%	9%
Number of jobs	77,096	50,853
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 55%	Bachelor's Degree, 64%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	12	12

What does a lead laboratory technician do?

A Lead Laboratory Technician coordinates the operations of a laboratory. They supervise the preparation of specimens for tests, collection of blood, examination of blood samples, and other duties performed by the technician team.

What does a laboratory assistant do?

Laboratory assistants work for researchers, scientists, or professors in the laboratory setting. They are expected to have a solid background in the field of study of the laboratory they are assigned to. They do a variety of tasks in the laboratory, such as setting up equipment, observing experiments, analyzing results, creating reports, and recommending improvements to the testing. They may also be assigned to clean and sanitize laboratory equipment as needed. Laboratory assistants should have good research skills, analytical skills, and organizational skills.

Lead laboratory technician vs laboratory assistant salary

Lead laboratory technicians and laboratory assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Lead Laboratory Technician	Laboratory Assistant
Average salary	$54,230	$34,168
Salary range	Between $33,000 And $86,000	Between $26,000 And $44,000
Highest paying City	South San Francisco, CA	Boston, MA
Highest paying state	New Jersey	Massachusetts
Best paying company	Meta	UST Global
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Manufacturing

Differences between lead laboratory technician and laboratory assistant education

There are a few differences between a lead laboratory technician and a laboratory assistant in terms of educational background:

	Lead Laboratory Technician	Laboratory Assistant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 55%	Bachelor's Degree, 64%
Most common major	Biology	Biology
Most common college	New York University	New York University

Lead laboratory technician vs laboratory assistant demographics

Here are the differences between lead laboratory technicians' and laboratory assistants' demographics:

	Lead Laboratory Technician	Laboratory Assistant
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 58.2% Female, 41.8%	Male, 43.6% Female, 56.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.9% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 17.6% Asian, 12.0% White, 54.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 17.0% Asian, 13.9% White, 53.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between lead laboratory technician and laboratory assistant duties and responsibilities

Lead laboratory technician example responsibilities.

Manage patient, and corporate information with compassion and confidentiality.
Set up, adjust, calibrate, clean, maintain, and troubleshoot laboratory instruments.
Assist with FDA and OSHA audits, coordinate the center for all audits and inspections.
Accession patient information, doctor information, and testing information accurately and promptly into the NovoPath LIS system.
Develop and execute IQ/OQ/PQ at manufacturing site.
Maintain, troubleshoot, verify and calibrate laboratory equipment.

Laboratory assistant example responsibilities.

Comfort frighten patients and maintain an exceptionally bright professional demeanor to accomplish a procedure that makes most people very uncomfortable.
Maintain and QC check laboratory equipment.
Preform laboratory duties using microscopes, centrifuges and a host of other laboratory equipment.
Provide excellent customer service to patients while accurately updating patient demographics, insurance and billing information in LabCorp LCM program.
Provide continuing education in the form of periodic in-services relating the phlebotomy procedures, tests and proper specimen collection requirements.
Process eyewear to meet national ANSII and OSHA standards.

Lead laboratory technician vs laboratory assistant skills

Common lead laboratory technician skills

Patients, 12%
Lab Equipment, 11%
Customer Service, 9%
Ongoing Maintenance, 5%
Patient Care, 4%
Chemistry, 4%

Common laboratory assistant skills

Patients, 15%
Phlebotomy, 12%
Customer Service, 6%
Lab Procedures, 5%
Specimen Collection, 5%
Patient Care, 5%

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Healthcare Practitioner and Technical Industry
Lead Laboratory Technician
Lead Laboratory Technician vs Laboratory Assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

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