Principal chemist vs associate chemist

The differences between principal chemists and associate chemists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a principal chemist has an average salary of $74,065, which is higher than the $61,544 average annual salary of an associate chemist.

The top three skills for a principal chemist include analytical chemistry, R and product development. The most important skills for an associate chemist are lab equipment, HPLC, and method development.

Principal chemist vs associate chemist overview

	Principal Chemist	Associate Chemist
Yearly salary	$74,065	$61,544
Hourly rate	$35.61	$29.59
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	42,121	7,387
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 73%	Bachelor's Degree, 82%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	-	-

What does a principal chemist do?

Principal chemists require a bachelor's or master's degree, or even a doctorate, with a post-doctoral fellowship to gain hands-on experience doing research and chemistry, math, science, communication, problem-solving, and analytical skills. They will be expected to conduct quantitative and qualitative experiments on chemical substances for quality control, as well as develop new products or knowledge about said products, and conduct a battery of experiments on organic and inorganic compounds.

What does an associate chemist do?

An Associate Chemist performs and analyzes chemical tests and procedures. They maintain the stock of drugs and ensure that they are stored in a secure place.

Principal chemist vs associate chemist salary

Principal chemists and associate chemists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Principal Chemist	Associate Chemist
Average salary	$74,065	$61,544
Salary range	Between $52,000 And $105,000	Between $39,000 And $97,000
Highest paying City	Richland, WA	Worcester, MA
Highest paying state	Washington	Virginia
Best paying company	Edwards Lifesciences	Alere
Best paying industry	-	Energy

Differences between principal chemist and associate chemist education

There are a few differences between a principal chemist and an associate chemist in terms of educational background:

	Principal Chemist	Associate Chemist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 73%	Bachelor's Degree, 82%
Most common major	Chemistry	Chemistry
Most common college	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	University of Southern California

Principal chemist vs associate chemist demographics

Here are the differences between principal chemists' and associate chemists' demographics:

	Principal Chemist	Associate Chemist
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 72.6% Female, 27.4%	Male, 54.9% Female, 45.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 5.8% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.5% Asian, 29.2% White, 51.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 8.0% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.5% Asian, 18.1% White, 59.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	5%	5%

Differences between principal chemist and associate chemist duties and responsibilities

Principal chemist example responsibilities.

Accomplish ISO and CFR certifications for laboratory operations.
Ensure compliance with regulate standards to comply with FDA regulations.
Train individuals on dissolution, HPLC, and other general analytical techniques.
Implement systems and procedures per FDA guidance, ICH requirements, and CFR regulations.
Establish statistical quality controls in the laboratory to bring data and laboratory practices in compliance with ISO regulations.
Evaluate efficacy of extraction solvents and dosing methodology for soil degradation studies, determining reduction of chemical compounds in control environment.

Associate chemist example responsibilities.

Achieve and maintain ISO 9001-2000 certification by creating and implementing policies and serving as management representative.
Utilize GC, UV/vis, FT-IR, pH meter, and titration
Assay ointments and liquids per company test methods and USP procedures.
Utilize and maintain, TLC, GC, IR, UV/VIS Spectro-photometer and Karl Fischer
Utilize GC, UV and FTIR spectroscopy for products identification of reaction of o-cresol with nitric acid.
Operate and maintain analytical instruments such as FTIR, DSC and TGA.

Principal chemist vs associate chemist skills

Common principal chemist skills

Analytical Chemistry, 13%
R, 10%
Product Development, 6%
HPLC, 6%
Sops, 5%
USP, 5%

Common associate chemist skills

Lab Equipment, 9%
HPLC, 8%
Method Development, 6%
Ms, 4%
Product Development, 4%
Analytical Methods, 4%

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Principal Chemist vs Associate Chemist

Updated January 8, 2025

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