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The differences between pharmaceutical scientists and 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 pharmaceutical scientist and a scientist. Additionally, a scientist has an average salary of $97,344, which is higher than the $79,535 average annual salary of a pharmaceutical scientist.
The top three skills for a pharmaceutical scientist include dosage forms, pharmaceutical sciences and formulation development. The most important skills for a scientist are chemistry, data analysis, and patients.
| Pharmaceutical Scientist | Scientist | |
| Yearly Salary | $79,535 | $97,344 |
| Hourly rate | $38.24 | $46.80 |
| Growth Rate | 17% | 17% |
| Number Of Jobs | 45,560 | 62,467 |
| Job Satisfaction | - | - |
| Most Common Degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 60% |
| Average Age | 41 | 41 |
| Years Of Experience | 4 | 4 |
Pharmaceutical scientists must have master's degrees or doctorates in pharmacology, chemistry, biology, anatomy, or math. Paid around $86K per year, those who choose this career path perform drug discovery research, development, and testing. They also execute experiments for system-based research projects aimed at introducing new drugs to the marketplace.
A scientist is responsible for researching and analyzing the nature and complexities of the physical world to identify discoveries that would improve people's lives and ignite scientific knowledge for society. Scientists' duties differ in their different areas of expertise, but all of them must have a broad comprehension of scientific disciplines and methods to support their experiments and investigations. They collect the sample for their research, record findings, create research proposals, and release publications. A scientist must know how to utilize laboratory equipment to support the study and drive results efficiently and accurately.
Pharmaceutical scientists and scientists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Pharmaceutical Scientist | Scientist | |
| Average Salary | $79,535 | $97,344 |
| Salary Range | Between $55,000 And $115,000 | Between $67,000 And $140,000 |
| Highest Paying City | South San Francisco, CA | Redwood City, CA |
| Highest Paying State | California | California |
| Best Paying Company | BASi | Airbnb |
| Best Paying Industry | Pharmaceutical | Technology |
There are a few differences between a pharmaceutical scientist and a scientist in terms of educational background:
| Pharmaceutical Scientist | Scientist | |
| Most Common Degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 60% |
| Most Common Major | Pharmacy | Chemistry |
| Most Common College | Duke University | University of Southern California |
Here are the differences between pharmaceutical scientists' and scientists' demographics:
| Pharmaceutical Scientist | Scientist | |
| Average Age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender Ratio | Male, 63.0% Female, 37.0% | Male, 56.9% Female, 43.1% |
| Race Ratio | Black or African American, 6.5% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 26.3% White, 53.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 6.5% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 26.3% White, 53.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 8% |