Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between principal scientists and scientists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a principal scientist and a scientist. Additionally, a principal scientist has an average salary of $119,982, which is higher than the $97,344 average annual salary of a scientist.
The top three skills for a principal scientist include oncology, data analysis and drug discovery. The most important skills for a scientist are chemistry, data analysis, and patients.
| Principal Scientist | Scientist | |
| Yearly salary | $119,982 | $97,344 |
| Hourly rate | $57.68 | $46.80 |
| Growth rate | 17% | 17% |
| Number of jobs | 80,899 | 62,467 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 51% | Bachelor's Degree, 60% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A Principal Scientist is focused on leading scientific teams and conducting research. They ensure that their teams have the resources to properly perform research tasks.
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.
Principal scientists and scientists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Principal Scientist | Scientist | |
| Average salary | $119,982 | $97,344 |
| Salary range | Between $84,000 And $169,000 | Between $67,000 And $140,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Redwood City, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | PayPal | Airbnb |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Technology |
There are a few differences between a principal scientist and a scientist in terms of educational background:
| Principal Scientist | Scientist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 51% | Bachelor's Degree, 60% |
| Most common major | Chemistry | Chemistry |
| Most common college | Duke University | University of Southern California |
Here are the differences between principal scientists' and scientists' demographics:
| Principal Scientist | Scientist | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 76.8% Female, 23.2% | Male, 56.9% Female, 43.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.3% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.6% Asian, 26.4% White, 53.4% 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% |