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The differences between senior principal scientists and chemists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a senior principal scientist has an average salary of $119,042, which is higher than the $64,961 average annual salary of a chemist.
The top three skills for a senior principal scientist include chemistry, drug discovery and java. The most important skills for a chemist are chemistry, lab equipment, and test results.
| Senior Principal Scientist | Chemist | |
| Yearly salary | $119,042 | $64,961 |
| Hourly rate | $57.23 | $31.23 |
| Growth rate | 17% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 85,334 | 20,221 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 80% |
| Average age | 41 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 4 | - |
A Senior Principal Scientist is focused on providing technical and scientific expertise in a specific field. They conduct quantitative and qualitative research to enhance existing products or develop new ones.
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.
Senior principal scientists and chemists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Principal Scientist | Chemist | |
| Average salary | $119,042 | $64,961 |
| Salary range | Between $83,000 And $169,000 | Between $46,000 And $90,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Wilmington, DE |
| Highest paying state | California | Delaware |
| Best paying company | Amazon | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a senior principal scientist and a chemist in terms of educational background:
| Senior Principal Scientist | Chemist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 80% |
| Most common major | Chemistry | Chemistry |
| Most common college | Duke University | University of Southern California |
Here are the differences between senior principal scientists' and chemists' demographics:
| Senior Principal Scientist | Chemist | |
| Average age | 41 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 80.3% Female, 19.7% | Male, 59.6% Female, 40.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.3% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.5% Asian, 26.5% White, 53.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | 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 | 8% | 5% |