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The differences between senior scientific associates and senior principal scientists 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 $81,712 average annual salary of a senior scientific associate.
The top three skills for a senior scientific associate include data analysis, assays and FDA. The most important skills for a senior principal scientist are chemistry, drug discovery, and java.
| Senior Scientific Associate | Senior Principal Scientist | |
| Yearly salary | $81,712 | $119,042 |
| Hourly rate | $39.28 | $57.23 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 17% |
| Number of jobs | 8,808 | 85,334 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Average age | 42 | 41 |
| Years of experience | - | 4 |
A senior scientific associate works in an administrative department. They conduct research projects and coordinate with team members to run experiments. They perform data analysis, evaluate research experiments, and write reports.
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.
Senior scientific associates and senior principal scientists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Scientific Associate | Senior Principal Scientist | |
| Average salary | $81,712 | $119,042 |
| Salary range | Between $51,000 And $129,000 | Between $83,000 And $169,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | California |
| Best paying company | Chevron | Amazon |
| Best paying industry | Pharmaceutical | Technology |
There are a few differences between a senior scientific associate and a senior principal scientist in terms of educational background:
| Senior Scientific Associate | Senior Principal Scientist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Most common major | Chemistry | Chemistry |
| Most common college | University of Southern California | Duke University |
Here are the differences between senior scientific associates' and senior principal scientists' demographics:
| Senior Scientific Associate | Senior Principal Scientist | |
| Average age | 42 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 51.0% Female, 49.0% | Male, 80.3% Female, 19.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.5% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 26.5% White, 52.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | 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% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 8% |