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The differences between quality assurance chemists and laboratory chemists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a laboratory chemist has an average salary of $62,702, 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 laboratory chemist are lab equipment, chromatography, and analytical methods.
| Quality Assurance Chemist | Laboratory Chemist | |
| Yearly salary | $59,242 | $62,702 |
| Hourly rate | $28.48 | $30.15 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 66,457 | 41,322 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| 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.
Laboratory Chemists are licensed scientists who work with chemicals. They are usually found in academic institutions or research facilities. Laboratory Chemists create experiments based on the needs of the institution or company. They mix different chemicals to make the desired results. They would also analyze compounds borne out of the different mixtures and record their observations. They tabulate the results and present these to the body. Laboratory Chemists should have good organization skills. They should be able to document their experiments properly. This would help the company and future researchers.
Quality assurance chemists and laboratory chemists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Quality Assurance Chemist | Laboratory Chemist | |
| Average salary | $59,242 | $62,702 |
| Salary range | Between $42,000 And $82,000 | Between $45,000 And $86,000 |
| Highest paying City | East Windsor, NJ | Nutley, NJ |
| Highest paying state | Virginia | Virginia |
| Best paying company | Clariant | BASF |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a quality assurance chemist and a laboratory chemist in terms of educational background:
| Quality Assurance Chemist | Laboratory 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 laboratory chemists' demographics:
| Quality Assurance Chemist | Laboratory Chemist | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 60.1% Female, 39.9% | Male, 63.9% Female, 36.1% |
| 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, 7.7% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.3% Asian, 18.3% White, 60.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |