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The differences between project leaders and principal investigators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a project leader, becoming a principal investigator takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a project leader has an average salary of $98,559, which is higher than the $84,635 average annual salary of a principal investigator.
The top three skills for a project leader include project management, work ethic and C++. The most important skills for a principal investigator are patients, data collection, and project management.
| Project Leader | Principal Investigator | |
| Yearly salary | $98,559 | $84,635 |
| Hourly rate | $47.38 | $40.69 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 221,165 | 44,475 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 53% |
| Average age | 44 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 4 |
A project leader is responsible for supervising the team and managing the distribution of tasks to ensure the project's success with the highest efficiency and accuracy. Duties of a project leader include motivating the team, managing the team's needs and concerns, providing effective strategies to improve the team's performance, creating reports, monitoring the team's progress, and maintaining the coordination between team members. A project leader should have exceptional leadership skills to handle the team's operation and identify areas of improvement to deliver excellent results.
A Principal Investigator is the primary person who is responsible for designing, conducting, and reporting a research project. They report to a designated official such as the department head or division chief.
Project leaders and principal investigators have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Project Leader | Principal Investigator | |
| Average salary | $98,559 | $84,635 |
| Salary range | Between $70,000 And $138,000 | Between $59,000 And $120,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Boston Consulting Group | Incyte |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Technology |
There are a few differences between a project leader and a principal investigator in terms of educational background:
| Project Leader | Principal Investigator | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 53% |
| Most common major | Business | Psychology |
| Most common college | Stanford University | University of Michigan - Ann Arbor |
Here are the differences between project leaders' and principal investigators' demographics:
| Project Leader | Principal Investigator | |
| Average age | 44 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 69.0% Female, 31.0% | Male, 52.2% Female, 47.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 10.3% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.0% Asian, 4.3% White, 66.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 16% |