Process chemist vs scientist

The differences between process chemists 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 $81,542 average annual salary of a process chemist.

The top three skills for a process chemist include lab equipment, HPLC and R. The most important skills for a scientist are chemistry, data analysis, and patients.

Process chemist vs scientist overview

	Process Chemist	Scientist
Yearly salary	$81,542	$97,344
Hourly rate	$39.20	$46.80
Growth rate	6%	17%
Number of jobs	29,813	62,467
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Average age	42	41
Years of experience	-	4

What does a process chemist do?

Process chemists are lab professionals who perform qualitative and quantitative analyses of chemicals in laboratories for quality control or to develop new products. These chemists are required to develop synthetic plans and run experiments to test their suitability for large-scale use. They must use different analytical methods and modeling software to monitor the reaction processes of chemicals as well as determine how changes in the process affect the final product. Process chemists must also be familiar with regulations from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA).

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.

Process chemist vs scientist salary

Process chemists and scientists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Process Chemist	Scientist
Average salary	$81,542	$97,344
Salary range	Between $54,000 And $121,000	Between $67,000 And $140,000
Highest paying City	Wilmington, DE	Redwood City, CA
Highest paying state	Delaware	California
Best paying company	Bio-Rad Laboratories	Airbnb
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Technology

Differences between process chemist and scientist education

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

	Process Chemist	Scientist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Most common major	Chemistry	Chemistry
Most common college	University of Southern California	University of Southern California

Process chemist vs scientist demographics

Here are the differences between process chemists' and scientists' demographics:

	Process Chemist	Scientist
Average age	42	41
Gender ratio	Male, 77.3% Female, 22.7%	Male, 56.9% Female, 43.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.1% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.5% Asian, 20.5% White, 57.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	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	5%	8%

Differences between process chemist and scientist duties and responsibilities

Process chemist example responsibilities.

Manage synthesis and production of specialty chemicals for carpet and textile industry.
Support new, modify and existing chemical processes by developing and validating HPLC and GC methods with a rapid turnaround time.
Analyze unknown materials with FTIR, Raman, and SEM-EDS.
Display improving working knowledge of business processes as they relate to GMP manufacturing.
Create titration solution and other solutions such as stock solutions used in analysis.
Show a desire to learn about and understand advance chemistry principles underlying project assignments.

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.

Process chemist vs scientist skills

Common process chemist skills

Lab Equipment, 7%
HPLC, 6%
R, 5%
GMP, 5%
NMR, 4%
Sigma, 4%

Common scientist skills

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

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Process Chemist
Process Chemist vs Scientist

Updated January 8, 2025

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