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The differences between senior staff scientists and associate scientists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a senior staff scientist and an associate scientist. Additionally, a senior staff scientist has an average salary of $123,740, which is higher than the $76,461 average annual salary of an associate scientist.
The top three skills for a senior staff scientist include data analysis, FDA and next-generation sequencing. The most important skills for an associate scientist are chemistry, patients, and cell culture.
| Senior Staff Scientist | Associate Scientist | |
| Yearly salary | $123,740 | $76,461 |
| Hourly rate | $59.49 | $36.76 |
| Growth rate | 17% | 17% |
| Number of jobs | 113,265 | 54,950 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 59% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A Senior Staff Scientist is responsible for supervising projects and activities of a company. They manage the technical, budgetary, and scheduling aspects of scientific research projects.
An Associate Scientist assists in various experiments and research, working under the direction of a lead scientist. Their specialties may include biological life sciences, geo-science, atmospheric physics, and computing.
Senior staff scientists and associate scientists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Staff Scientist | Associate Scientist | |
| Average salary | $123,740 | $76,461 |
| Salary range | Between $86,000 And $177,000 | Between $53,000 And $109,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Airbnb | Phillips 66 |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a senior staff scientist and an associate scientist in terms of educational background:
| Senior Staff Scientist | Associate Scientist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 59% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Most common major | Chemistry | Biology |
| Most common college | Duke University | University of Southern California |
Here are the differences between senior staff scientists' and associate scientists' demographics:
| Senior Staff Scientist | Associate Scientist | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 74.7% Female, 25.3% | Male, 48.6% Female, 51.4% |
| 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, 6.4% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.7% Asian, 26.3% White, 53.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 8% |