Occupation salary profile

Chemical Engineers

SOC 17-2041 BLS OEWS May 2025 H-1B LCAs, last 12 months

Design chemical plant equipment and devise processes for manufacturing chemicals and products, such as gasoline, synthetic rubber, plastics, detergents, cement, paper, and pulp, by applying principles and technology of chemistry, physics, and engineering.

National median · BLS
$125,040
▲ +2.61% YoY
H-1B sponsor median
$114,400
▲ +0.35% YoY · 953 LCAs
Average salary · BLS
$129,980
Mean annual wage
U.S. employment
21,070
Jobs (BLS)
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Enter your pay and a location to see where you stand against BLS and H-1B pay, your estimated take-home pay, and your purchasing power.

Pay range for Chemical Engineers

Annual base pay at each percentile. BLS covers all U.S. workers in this occupation; H-1B covers 953 certified Labor Condition Applications filed by sponsoring employers in the last 12 months.

Percentile All U.S. workers (BLS) H-1B sponsored
10th — entry pay$79,420$76,536
25th$97,820$90,026
Median (50th)$125,040$114,400
75th$157,190$140,000
90th — top pay$182,880$162,651
H-1B sponsors pay a median of $114,400 for Chemical Engineers — 8.5% below the BLS national median of $125,040.

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Based on hrs/week × weeks/year = 2,080 hrs
Projections 2025–2035

Job outlook for Chemical Engineers

BLS projects employment of chemical engineers to grow 4.7% from 2025 to 2035, faster than the 3.5% average for all occupations. About 1,100 openings are projected each year, on average, from new jobs and from replacing workers who retire or move to other occupations.

Jobs 2025 → 2035
21,900 → 22,900
+1,000 jobs
Projected change
+4.7%
All occupations: +3.5%
Openings per year
1,100
Average, 2025–2035
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
No related experience required
Self-employed
2.4% of workers (2025)
Preparation needed (O*NET Job Zone 4)
Considerable Preparation Needed. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
Fastest-growing jobs → Best-paying jobs that need a bachelor's degree →

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–2035 · BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook →

H-1B sponsored pay

Pay by H-1B wage level

Employers assign every H-1B filing a Department of Labor prevailing-wage level, from Level I (entry) to Level IV (fully competent). Pay rises steeply with level.

H-1B median $114,400
Change vs prior year +0.35%
After inflation (CPI-U) -2.7%
Wage level LCAs Share P25 Median P75
Level I 236 24.8% $74,176 $84,115 $95,000
Level II 258 27.1% $101,315 $110,000 $125,218
Level III 182 19.1% $120,098 $132,894 $149,356
Level IV 181 19% $138,258 $155,980 $178,651
H-1B job titles

Salaries by job title in Chemical Engineers

The 12 most-filed job titles inside SOC 17-2041, from 953 H-1B filings. Seniority words and level numbers are grouped (“Senior Data Engineer II” counts as Data Engineer). Tap a title for its full range, wage levels and the exact titles employers used.

Job title LCAs Share P25 Median P75 YoY
Process Engineer 109 11.44% $90,000 $118,976 $138,403 +4%
Chemical Engineer 48 5.04% $88,915 $107,955 $120,332 +5.94%
Engineer generic 27 2.83% $95,342 $108,000 $127,018 -13.25%
Postdoctoral Research Associate 19 1.99% $63,120 $65,000 $67,144 +5.81%
Principal Engineer 16 1.68% $135,396 $159,300 $177,300 +6.19%
Staff Engineer 16 1.68% $109,574 $137,500 $151,070 +5.77%
Scientist generic 16 1.68% $103,251 $127,067 $140,755 +2.89%
Process Development Engineer 14 1.47% $105,239 $113,880 $132,000 +9.5%
Project Engineer 14 1.47% $84,978 $104,500 $145,329 -8.39%
Postdoctoral Associate 13 1.36% $65,416 $71,000 $74,000 +6.05%
Research Specialist 13 1.36% $112,248 $119,142 $119,142 -3.05%
Research Engineer 12 1.26% $94,369 $108,612 $118,219 +11.08%

Titles are cleaned from the employer's own LCA text (codes and typos removed, nothing invented). Rows need 10+ filings in this SOC.

Skills & tools

Skills needed for Chemical Engineers

How important each skill and knowledge area is for this job, rated by O*NET on a 1–5 scale from surveys of workers and occupational analysts.

Top skills
  • Critical Thinking4.1
  • Science4.1
  • Complex Problem Solving4.0
  • Reading Comprehension4.0
  • Active Learning3.9
  • Judgment and Decision Making3.9
  • Systems Analysis3.9
  • Systems Evaluation3.9
  • Mathematics3.8
  • Operations Analysis3.6
Top knowledge areas
  • Engineering and Technology4.8
  • Chemistry4.7
  • Mathematics4.3
  • Design4.0
  • Physics4.0
  • Production and Processing4.0
  • English Language3.7
  • Computers and Electronics3.2
Software and technology used
Autodesk AutoCADMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft Office softwareMicrosoft PowerPointCC++Dassault Systemes SolidWorksMicrosoft AccessMicrosoft ProjectMicrosoft VisioMicrosoft Visual BasicMicrosoft WordRSAP softwareStructured query language SQLThe MathWorks MATLABAbsorption process simulation softwareApplied Flow Technology AFT Arrow

Highlighted = in demand: frequently listed in employer job postings for this occupation (O*NET).

Source: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.

About the job

What chemical engineers do

  • Develop safety procedures to be employed by workers operating equipment or working in close proximity to ongoing chemical reactions.
  • Troubleshoot problems with chemical manufacturing processes.
  • Monitor and analyze data from processes and experiments.
  • Evaluate chemical equipment and processes to identify ways to optimize performance or to ensure compliance with safety and environmental regulations.
  • Design and plan layout of equipment.
  • Prepare estimate of production costs and production progress reports for management.
  • Perform tests and monitor performance of processes throughout stages of production to determine degree of control over variables such as temperature, density, specific gravity, and pressure.
  • Conduct research to develop new and improved chemical manufacturing processes.
Also called
Chemical EngineerDevelopment EngineerEngineerProcess EngineerEngineering ScientistProcess Control EngineerProject EngineerRefinery Process EngineerResearch Chemical EngineerScientist
More job titles for this occupation (23)
Absorption and Adsorption EngineerBlending CoordinatorChemical Design Process EngineerChemical Process EngineerChemical Research EngineerChemical Test EngineerControl Systems EngineerControls EngineerExplosives EngineerFuel EngineerGas Combustion EngineerLubricating EngineerOxidation EngineerPharmaceutical Process EngineerPlant EngineerPlastics EngineerPolymerization EngineerProcess Application EngineerProcess Design Chemical EngineerProcess Development EngineerProcess Improvement EngineerWeapons DesignerWeapons Engineer

Source: O*NET 31.0 (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0). These are general job titles, not H-1B filings; for titles employers actually filed, see “Job titles” above.