Physical scientist vs scientist

The differences between physical scientists and scientists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a scientist has an average salary of $97,344, which is higher than the $86,538 average annual salary of a physical scientist.

The top three skills for a physical scientist include chemistry, environmental compliance and DOD. The most important skills for a scientist are chemistry, data analysis, and patients.

Physical scientist vs scientist overview

	Physical Scientist	Scientist
Yearly salary	$86,538	$97,344
Hourly rate	$41.60	$46.80
Growth rate	5%	17%
Number of jobs	96,588	62,467
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Average age	40	41
Years of experience	-	4

What does a physical scientist do?

A physical scientist is responsible for investigating scientific problems by conducting laboratory examinations by collecting information, analyzing existing research studies, and formulating theories. Physical scientists follow scientific methods and processes strictly depending on their expertise and may perform field investigations to support their claims as necessary. They also operate different laboratory tools and equipment, requiring them to inspect and sterilize each before and after use to avoid contamination that can affect the accuracy of laboratory results.

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.

Physical scientist vs scientist salary

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

	Physical Scientist	Scientist
Average salary	$86,538	$97,344
Salary range	Between $53,000 And $138,000	Between $67,000 And $140,000
Highest paying City	Novato, CA	Redwood City, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Google	Airbnb
Best paying industry	Education	Technology

Differences between physical scientist and scientist education

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

	Physical Scientist	Scientist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Most common major	Geology	Chemistry
Most common college	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	University of Southern California

Physical scientist vs scientist demographics

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

	Physical Scientist	Scientist
Average age	40	41
Gender ratio	Male, 68.3% Female, 31.7%	Male, 56.9% Female, 43.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.7% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 8.4% Asian, 27.9% White, 54.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%	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 physical scientist and scientist duties and responsibilities

Physical scientist example responsibilities.

Develop and manage third party claim investigations and contractor remedial oversight for various insurance companies.
Devise numerous processing and data visualization tools for analysis and assessment of multi-beam data quality.
Validate personnel work supporting DoD mapping / charting programs.
Represent the USAPHC in departmental and interagency workgroups and committees.
Authore technical review correspondences to EPA and co-authore sections of several articles and reports.
Create a GIS project to link countrywide stream tracer experiments with various geological characteristics.

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.

Physical scientist vs scientist skills

Common physical scientist skills

Chemistry, 23%
Environmental Compliance, 20%
DOD, 16%
Hazardous Waste, 15%
Research Projects, 6%
Technical Reports, 5%

Common scientist skills

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

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Physical Scientist vs Scientist

Updated January 8, 2025

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