Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between scientific programmers and senior programmers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-8 years to become both a scientific programmer and a senior programmer. Additionally, a senior programmer has an average salary of $105,509, which is higher than the $83,969 average annual salary of a scientific programmer.
The top three skills for a scientific programmer include python, visualization and linux. The most important skills for a senior programmer are macro, SAS, and database.
| Scientific Programmer | Senior Programmer | |
| Yearly salary | $83,969 | $105,509 |
| Hourly rate | $40.37 | $50.73 |
| Growth rate | -7% | -7% |
| Number of jobs | 120,563 | 209,882 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 70% |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 8 | 8 |
Scientific programmers are professionals who meet with scientists and researchers to determine and understand their program needs. By using their skills in scientific programming, these programmers must write programs from scratch or create by extensively customizing existing tools. They are required to work with senior programmers so that they can enhance their application development knowledge and skills. They must also assist in product testing with research students and collaborate with design engineers and production technicians when conducting system troubleshooting.
A Senior Programmer develops operations solutions through guiding the development of program specifications and leading programmers. They develop, test, and implement IT solutions.
Scientific programmers and senior programmers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Scientific Programmer | Senior Programmer | |
| Average salary | $83,969 | $105,509 |
| Salary range | Between $57,000 And $122,000 | Between $78,000 And $141,000 |
| Highest paying City | Newark, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Tech Data | Cornerstone Research |
| Best paying industry | Retail | Pharmaceutical |
There are a few differences between a scientific programmer and a senior programmer in terms of educational background:
| Scientific Programmer | Senior Programmer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 70% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between scientific programmers' and senior programmers' demographics:
| Scientific Programmer | Senior Programmer | |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 81.4% Female, 18.6% | Male, 81.0% Female, 19.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 19.1% White, 62.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 4.8% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 8.4% Asian, 19.2% White, 62.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |