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The differences between quality assurance chemists and chemists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a chemist has an average salary of $64,961, which is higher than the $59,242 average annual salary of a quality assurance chemist.
The top three skills for a quality assurance chemist include lab equipment, R and HPLC. The most important skills for a chemist are chemistry, lab equipment, and test results.
| Quality Assurance Chemist | Chemist | |
| Yearly salary | $59,242 | $64,961 |
| Hourly rate | $28.48 | $31.23 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 66,457 | 20,221 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 83% | Bachelor's Degree, 80% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
Quality Assurance Chemists generally offer pay of around $54K per year and require strong skills in analysis and instrumentation and general knowledge of chemistry, attention to detail, and various organizational skills. Also, they must be able to investigate and analyze problems whenever they crop up. This career choice requires a bachelor's or advanced degree in chemistry, depending on the industry, and will often be offered in pharmaceutical fields, where standard duties consist of the measurement and testing of lab materials and products according to industry standards.
Chemists are generally responsible for observing and investigating chemical substances to create new and safe compounds essential for practical applications. They are often grouped depending on a particular area of specialization to focus and understand the complexities of the matter. A chemist usually takes time performing research and conducting experiments to test and further improve the quality and usage of a specific chemical substance. Chemists are expected to write on their observations and findings to establish scientific results.
Quality assurance chemists and chemists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Quality Assurance Chemist | Chemist | |
| Average salary | $59,242 | $64,961 |
| Salary range | Between $42,000 And $82,000 | Between $46,000 And $90,000 |
| Highest paying City | East Windsor, NJ | Wilmington, DE |
| Highest paying state | Virginia | Delaware |
| Best paying company | Clariant | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a quality assurance chemist and a chemist in terms of educational background:
| Quality Assurance Chemist | Chemist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 83% | Bachelor's Degree, 80% |
| Most common major | Chemistry | Chemistry |
| Most common college | University of Southern California | University of Southern California |
Here are the differences between quality assurance chemists' and chemists' demographics:
| Quality Assurance Chemist | Chemist | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 60.1% Female, 39.9% | Male, 59.6% Female, 40.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 18.2% White, 59.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 7.8% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 18.2% White, 59.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |