Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between product development 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 product development scientist and a scientist. Additionally, a scientist has an average salary of $97,344, which is higher than the $84,817 average annual salary of a product development scientist.
The top three skills for a product development scientist include chemistry, project management and data analysis. The most important skills for a scientist are chemistry, data analysis, and patients.
| Product Development Scientist | Scientist | |
| Yearly salary | $84,817 | $97,344 |
| Hourly rate | $40.78 | $46.80 |
| Growth rate | 17% | 17% |
| Number of jobs | 147,027 | 62,467 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 60% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A product development scientist is responsible for conducting in-depth scientific research and method analysis to develop medical technologies, medications, and foods, depending on the industry. Product development scientists may also perform enhancements on existing products by studying its components and improve its features. They evaluate the manufacturing processes of a product, providing recommendations on additional resources to generate revenues and profits. A product development scientist often works in a laboratory, requiring them to follow strict safety protocols and ensuring the cleanliness and orderliness of the area to prevent contamination and result inconsistencies.
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.
Product development scientists and scientists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Product Development Scientist | Scientist | |
| Average salary | $84,817 | $97,344 |
| Salary range | Between $62,000 And $115,000 | Between $67,000 And $140,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Redwood City, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Amazon | Airbnb |
| Best paying industry | Education | Technology |
There are a few differences between a product development scientist and a scientist in terms of educational background:
| Product Development Scientist | Scientist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 60% |
| Most common major | Chemistry | Chemistry |
| Most common college | University of Southern California | University of Southern California |
Here are the differences between product development scientists' and scientists' demographics:
| Product Development Scientist | Scientist | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 59.3% Female, 40.7% | Male, 56.9% Female, 43.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.7% Asian, 26.3% White, 53.3% 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% |