Water chemist vs senior research chemist

The differences between water chemists and senior research chemists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a senior research chemist has an average salary of $95,520, which is higher than the $57,165 average annual salary of a water chemist.

The top three skills for a water chemist include water samples, QC and laboratory equipment. The most important skills for a senior research chemist are R, chemistry, and product development.

Water chemist vs senior research chemist overview

	Water Chemist	Senior Research Chemist
Yearly salary	$57,165	$95,520
Hourly rate	$27.48	$45.92
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	8,829	55,511
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 73%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	-	-

Water chemist vs senior research chemist salary

Water chemists and senior research chemists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Water Chemist	Senior Research Chemist
Average salary	$57,165	$95,520
Salary range	Between $39,000 And $83,000	Between $69,000 And $130,000
Highest paying City	-	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	-	Washington
Best paying company	-	Crunchbase
Best paying industry	-	Pharmaceutical

Differences between water chemist and senior research chemist education

There are a few differences between a water chemist and a senior research chemist in terms of educational background:

	Water Chemist	Senior Research Chemist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 73%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Most common major	Chemistry	Chemistry
Most common college	University of Southern California	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Water chemist vs senior research chemist demographics

Here are the differences between water chemists' and senior research chemists' demographics:

	Water Chemist	Senior Research Chemist
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 59.1% Female, 40.9%	Male, 79.1% Female, 20.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 18.2% White, 59.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 6.5% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 27.5% White, 52.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	5%	5%

Differences between water chemist and senior research chemist duties and responsibilities

Water chemist example responsibilities.

Administer various laboratory safety audits with regard to OSHA rules and regulations to maintain adherence and manage necessary corrective actions.
Operate and maintain lab instrumentation such as pH meter, titration apparatus, spectrophotometer, etc.
Design FTIR chemical mapping/imaging experiments to evaluate sample heterogeneity, contamination, diffusion kinetics, dispersion quality and polymer cure uniformity.
Conduct laboratory analysis through the use of atomic absorption spectroscopy, titrations, and spectrophotometry.

Senior research chemist example responsibilities.

Manage an analytical laboratory, which include SEM-EDS, GC-MS, GPC, FT-IR, ICP-MS, TGA and DSC equipment.
Conduct HPLC analysis of two main products to support equivalency programs.
Establish the fast HPLC column screening system and serve as super user.
Calculate amounts of unknown components of a distillation bottoms mixture using NMR.
Train over twenty plant operators and scientists to use the FTIR system.
Act as leading analyst to provide analytical services to several GMP API productions.

Water chemist vs senior research chemist skills

Common water chemist skills

Water Samples, 14%
QC, 13%
Laboratory Equipment, 12%
Water Treatment Plant, 12%
Water Quality, 11%
Laboratory Procedures, 9%

Common senior research chemist skills

R, 16%
Chemistry, 14%
Product Development, 8%
Analytical Laboratory, 6%
Organic Synthesis, 4%
Polymer, 4%

Water Chemist vs. similar jobs

Water Chemist related careers

Water Chemist related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Life, Physical, and Social Science Industry
Water Chemist
Water Chemist vs Senior Research Chemist

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse life, physical, and social science jobs