Side-by-side distribution
Chemist
$84,606
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 29.5%
- Live roles
- 241
Researcher
$105,292
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 36.2%
- Live roles
- 3,512
Highest-paying jobs
Clinical Chemist/Clinical Pathologist - Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Clinical Chemist
Medicinal Chemist
Synthetic Chemist
Computational Medicinal Chemist
Senior / Principal Chemist, AI Safety
Process Chemist
DARPA SETA Physical Chemist/Materials Scientist SME
Clinical Chemist
Computational Chemist - GPU Acceleration
Highest-paying jobs
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Post Doctoral Research Fellow
Lead, Quant Engineer
Senior Clinical Research Associate - Oncology (US)
Researcher, Training
Researcher, Training - London
Vice President, Quantitative Researcher, Infrastructure & Real Assets
Researcher, Alignment
Researcher, Safety - Frontier Assurance
Researcher, Safety Training, National Security
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Entegris
|
$91,500 | 6 |
Republic Services
|
$72,020 | 6 |
Abbott
|
$59,488 | 6 |
| IT ITW | $102,040 | 3 |
Cardinal Health
|
$78,260 | 3 |
|
Inductive Bio
|
$230,000 | 2 |
|
Agilent Technologies
|
$117,042 | 2 |
Mariana Minerals
|
$106,250 | 2 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| NU Northeastern University | $72,754 | 73 |
The University of Texas at Austin
|
$55,000 | 42 |
| WC Worldwide Clinical Trials | $145,000 | 37 |
IQVIA
|
$131,100 | 36 |
ICON plc
|
$124,335 | 29 |
| SJ St. Jude Children's Research Hospital | $72,500 | 23 |
USC
|
$71,892 | 21 |
| MG Mass General Brigham | $70,875 | 19 |
Chemist salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Boston | $185,000 | 4 |
| San Francisco | $149,000 | 4 |
| Austin | $83,250 | 3 |
Chemist vs Researcher: which pays more?
The median for Chemist is $84,606 per year (typically $66,101–$119,215), versus $105,292 for Researcher ($72,754–$162,500). That puts Researcher about 24% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Chemist and Researcher are compared on equal terms regardless of the currency each role was originally posted in. Only roles that publish a salary range feed the medians; numbers refresh every few hours as new roles post and older ones close, so this comparison reflects the market right now rather than a fixed survey. Use it as a directional benchmark when weighing one path against the other.