Chemical engineer Salary
What is Chemical Engineering?
Chemical engineering is defined as one of the important branch in engineering which deals with creative application of physical and life sciences along with other branches like economics and mathematics. It makes use of conversion process while converting raw materials or chemicals into useful as well as valuable forms.
Chemical engineering vs. other disciplines
Chemical engineeringmainly comprises of design and maintenance of the chemical plants. Engineers in this department are being involved in chemical process development, thereby converting raw forms of materials or chemicals into valuable product forms, involving elimination of chemicals and waste materials that could enable large scale production.
It gathers various fields of chemical technology such as mineral range industries, petrochemical plants, petroleum refining plant types, synthetic fibers and pharmaceutical industries.
Chemical engineer – Role
Chemical engineers are central to any type of process industry, he is well known for applying wide range of theoretical and practical skills, thus he makes sure that all the processes are being operated economically, sustainably and safely.
Chemical engineers chief role is to design and operate chemical industry plants along with improvising the production methods for large manufacturing chemical units.
Level of Employment
Although chemical engineering is regarded as a smallest discipline out of four major engineering fields – civil, mechanical, electrical and chemical. It has got the wide variety of application and relevance in chemical industry. All the other engineering disciplines have to rely upon this field of engineering, in one form or the other. Thus chemical engineers lay foundation with other fields of engineering to cater chemical and economic base.
Chemical engineer Salary – Statistical Survey Report
Statistics vary as per the estimation of the annual salary package of the chemical engineer employed in US.
Highly paid chemical engineers can earn in the range USD 133,000 annually, based on their merit and education level. However, there are other criterion to consider like, experience, location and gender in some cases, for the case of employment.
According to 2009 survey by Labor Bureau of US
- Mean annual wage of chemical engineer – USD 91,700
- Middle range, of which 50% of chemical engineers has got a annual package of USD 88,260, or an hourly rate of USD 42.20
- Lowest 10% of them have been offered with USD 56,100, by an hourly rate of USD 26.97.
- While the highest 10% of them are able to earn USD 132,960 annually, or an hourly rate of USD 63.83.
Industry Type and Pay range
Chemical engineers has got varied pay package, as per the type of industry employed. While some companies can pay up to $ 54/hour other industries can pay only $ 18/hour. Hence, it all depends upon the industry.
Top paying companies or sectors for that matter are, oil and gas extraction, scientific research, scientific consulting. Whereas other type of industries within same range of pay is, technical sector, management and also motor vehicle parts manufacturing.
Normally chemical engineers can earn in the range of USD 20/hour to 55/hour on an average.
High pay masters are
- Scientific research – USD 46/hour on average for Master’s, Ph.D. degree Holders
- Oil Extraction – USD 55/hour on average
- Oil and Gas Extraction
- Management sector
- Technical field
- Scientific consulting
- Motor vehicle parts manufacturing
Salary differentiation for chemical engineer
As discussed earlier, there is differentiation among industries regarding the pay. Some of the companies like pharmaceutical or manufacturing concerns can offer a package of at least USD 45/hour for the new entrants.
Therefore, the person who has an expertise in chemical engineering with a bent towards manufacturing or pharmaceutical sector can expect a better salary. There is a huge demand in other sectors which are correlatedto the chemical process, along with demanding pay packages.
Industries which can pay up to USD 44/hour
- Pharmaceutical
- Manufacturing
- Professional Service
For some companies, there is low application of chemical base in the engineering feature. To them, there is little need of engineers who are well grounded with basics in chemical technology. Though one can expect a low pay in these types of business sectors, but there shall be huge demand once they gain experience in the core area.
Low paying industries are
Artificial manufacturing companies like
- Textile Industries
- Rubber companies
I. Starter Salary
Starting salaries of a chemical engineer
Chemical engineeringis the profession which has roaring demand in the job market.The companies are in urgent need of the young and fresh pass outs of college with thorough knowledge on the chemical technology and principles.
If you find yourself interested in the chemical technology arena, then chemical engineer is the relevant profession of your interest. Through application with advance technology you can make a base in the industry; all you need to do is, learn and apply the concepts and adapt to the changes in the industry.
Salaries for the new engineering graduates of chemical technology shall vary as per the sector they chose.
- Those who are in the field of academia, interested in teaching side can earn up to USD 36,500 if they have the bachelor’s degree. In addition they can get a package of USD 50,010 if they possess a Ph.D. degree.
- Individual who target government sector with bachelor’s degree, can expect a pay range of USD 41,020, whereas for the same person with Ph.D. level degree can earn up to USD 82,520.
- Personswho wish to join the core industry, can earn somewhere around USD 38,410 with a bachelor’s degree, while with a Ph.D. he can earn in the range of USD 78,020
Median salaries of new chemical engineers in various departments as per 2009
Department Degree Salary package (P.A)
Government Bachelor’s USD 41,025
Ph.D. level USD 82,485
Academic Bachelor’s USD 36,425
Ph.D. level USD 50,015
Core Industry Bachelor’s USD 38,425
Ph.D. level USD 78,025
Starting salaries of fresh chemical engineers
Salaries can be also on the basis of gender apart from the degree earned, in the chemical engineering profession.
While in the bachelor’s level, women can earn up to USD 36,480 which will go further to USD 78,020 when it comes to doctoral level.
Men can earn USD 40,020 in the bachelor’s level, whereas in the Ph.D. level he can expect USD 75,280.
| Gender | Bachelor’s degree | Master’sDegree | Doctoral (Ph.D.)Degree |
| Women | USD 36,485 | USD 46,485 | USD 78,025 |
| Men | USD 40,025 | USD 60,005 | USD 75,285 |
II. Average Salary
Average salary of a chemical engineer
Though all the engineer salaries are almost in the same level of chemical technology, there are some variations according to the job title and level of work.
Some sort of chemical engineer who is in the process sector can earn in the range of 77,990 USD, where as the engineer in the development field can earn in the range of USD 110,010.
Chemical process engineer has the pay range of USD 89,008, while the process production engineer can earn in the range of USD 97,010 on an average. Meanwhile the process project engineer can have the pay range of USD 85,020.
Average Salaries of chemical engineer
| Job Title | Average Salary (P.A) |
| Process chemical engineer | USD 77,995 |
| Chemical engineer (development) | USD 110,015 |
| Chemical process engineer | USD 89,010 |
| Process production engineer | USD 97,015 |
| Process project engineer | USD 85,025 |
III. Experienced and salary levels
Experience and salary level of chemical engineer
Engineers in the chemical stream can earn in the range of USD 43,519 to 78,562 as an initial pay without any experience. While the person within the experience range of 1 to 4 years can expect the package around 45,332 USD to 81,074 USD per annum.
However, the individual within the experience range of 8 to 9 years can be offered up to 54,400 USD to 100,015 USD, whereas the person with the experience of 10 -19 years shall get the salary package of USD 60,797 to 125,875 USD.
Most experienced individuals, or the one who has the experience like 20 years and above can expect further package up to USD 150,316 annually.
Chemical engineer salaries as per experience level
| Years of experience | Salary Range |
| Below 1year | USD 43,520 – 78,565 |
| 1 – 4years of Exp. | USD 45,335 – 81,075 |
| 5 – 9 years of Exp. | USD 54,405 – 100,020 |
| 10 – 19 years of Exp. | USD 60, 800 – 125, 880 |
| 20years and above Exp. | USD 58, 560 – 150,320 |
Chemical engineers with no experience or with less than a year experience has the hourly pay range of USD 8.20 to 29.81
For the individuals, with 1 to 4 years experience shall expect a pay range within the limit of 13.10 USD to 34.19 USD on hourly basis, whereas the people with 5 to 9 years of experience can expect the pay in the range of 20.44 USD to 87.10 USD per hour.
The person with 10-19 years of experience can expect the hourly pay range of USD 23.25 to USD 29.34; however the individual with 20 years and above experience can expect the pay of USD 40.96 per hour to 95.02.
Chemical Engineer Salary hourly pay
| Years of experience | Hourly Pay |
| Below 1year | USD 8.25 – 29.85 |
| Within 1- 4years Exp. | USD 13.15 – 34.20 |
| Under 5 – 9years of Exp. | USD 20.45 – 87.15 |
| Exp. Of 10-19 years | USD 23.30 – 29.35 |
| 20 years and above Exp. | USD 41.00 – 95.05 |
IV. Intern Salary
Chemical engineer intern salary
Interns are very essential for some companies, as they play vital role in their production process. They are just fresh in their approach and with more creative and adaptive nature. Moreover, they are much grounded in the basics with deep rooted fundamentals.
Most companies such as Merck and Dow Corning hire interns on a regular basis; their projects are mostly well tuned with fresh talent. They have favorable pay systems for the internship fellows, where the base pay shall be in the range of 20 USD per hour for the well-known companies.Added to that, there are other perks and incentives as per the talent level and performance shown alongside.
For instance, Merck, one of the top pharmaceutical and chemical base companies, encourages interns very much, as they mainly believe in the raw talent and approach to work. Mostly they look out for the graduates in chemistry and relevant disciplines, who are well-versed with chemical engineering and technology, with sound knowledge on the chemical principles and their industrial application.
Intern salaries of chemical engineer
| Company Name | Hourly pay | |
| Marathon oil | USD 30 – 35 | |
| Merck | USD 30 -30 | |
| Dow Corning | USD 25-30 | |
| Eastman chemical | USD 20-20 | |
| ICL Industrial products | USD 15-20 |
V. by State
Chemical engineer Salary range by state
Not only in the engineering profile, every other job depends on the location criterion, as most of the states or geographical locations involves, affordable level of income to meet the minimum needs of survival on that particular location.
Basing on this aspect, there are certain records with which can give you, level of income for the chemical engineer as per the job location suggested. Just have a look; these are general amount of salary figures to be drawn, as per the location mentioned.
Chemical engineer’s salary as per the Job location
| Job location | Expected Salary (P.A) |
| South Dakota (SD) | USD 77,015 |
| Pennsylvania (PA) | USD 80,085 |
| South Carolina (SC) | USD 81,005 |
| Oklahoma (OK) | USD 81,045 |
| North Carolina (NC) | USD 85,015 |
| Virginia (VA) | USD 90,020 |
| New York (NY) | USD 104,020 |
| Mississippi (MS) | USD 112,015 |
VI. 5 companies’ salary in the field
Chemical engineer Salary as per the company
Companies shall pay as per the job demand and the level of technical base on the person, though the talent plays an active role in the chemical profession. There are certain other things which the person needs to imbibe before acquiring the job, especially in the knowledge of chemicals. Application and adaptability are primary for the chemical engineering; the person needs to apply the theoretical knowledge into practicals, with certain modifications as per the requirement.
Some companies like, BP have the highest package of USD 110,000 annually on an average, whereas other companies can provide the packages from USD 65,000 to USD 100,000 per annum.
Just have a look at the various pay masters in the chemical engineering discipline; please note that, they look out for overall knowledge of the personbefore offering him the role in their relevant department.
Chemical engineer salaries as per the company
| Name of the company | Average Salary (P.A) | Salary range |
| Software catalysts | USD 61, 845 | USD 50,025 – 90,015 |
| DuPont | USD 82,015 | USD 74,025 – 93,015 |
| Eastman Chemical | USD 74,475 | USD 66,005 – 85,010 |
| BP | USD 83,340 | USD 70,015 – 110,005 |
| Dow Corning | USD 80,910 | USD 67,005 – 93,025 |
| Merck | USD 72,135 | USD 68,025 – 77,020 |
VII.Factors that can affect salary
There are certain factors which can affect the chemical engineers profession, which are further mentioned below.
List of factors that can mainly affect the career of a chemical engineer
- Gender
- Age
- Education
- Experience
- Location
- Industry type
Gender- There are companies which are very keen on the gender criterion, as they might believe that males are more active in certain departments in the chemical technology, while females are not that active on the other aspects of chemical discipline.
As you can see, most of the chemical engineers who are womenhavethe maximum salary package in the research and academia department when compared to male category in the same segment, therefore reasoning and analysis along with application of theory into practical note differs mainly in this level of approach.
Age – While in most cases, companies are eager to hire the young graduates who are well equipped with relevant knowledge on the subject and who can fine-tune the market conditions. Hence, the persons who are in the age group of 18 – 25 years are well in demand in this engineering discipline.
Education–Chemical engineering requires candidates who have similar education, in addition to relevant certifications and courses shall land this dream job. Moreover, the skills shall further enhance with the education received, hence it is quite essential to pursue the degree in chemical engineering to have the completely fathom the theoretical and practical knowledge on the chemical technology.
Experience –Experience plays a vital role in every job, the companies will be always in search of a suitable person with some sort of experience in the relevant department before filling up the vacant position. Thus, it is suggested to have necessary experience, maybe as a part-timer or as an intern, which shall put you apart from the crowd of fresher graduates applying for the same vacantposition.
Location –You are more interested in the job, but the only thing which is bothering you might be the job location. For instance, the place of work may be quite far from your home or it requires higher levels of income for survival in that particular area; these are the cases which shall prevent you accepting the job offer. But think again, this could be your dream job and in a top-notch company, therefore make necessary arrangements for relocation.
Industry type – Initially, you might land a low-level company or the sector which has got very much correlation with chemical technology but pays you less, less than your expectation. But hold on, gain some experience and understand the concepts and work culture before saying – no, straight away. Experience in the relevant industry also carries, weightage on your resume, which shall further help you land your dream job.