Chemical Engineer salary
What a chemical engineer actually earns, from 212 live job postings blended with the official US OEWS (Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics) wage anchor. Pick a market for its median and range, then read the seniority split, the trend, and the country comparison below. Updated 2026-07-23.
Switch the market above to see chemical engineer pay in the 2 countries our sources cover, each with its own cost of living. The trend, seniority, and state detail below are United States data, where the official record runs deepest.
What the number means
A chemical engineer earns a blended US median near 100,836 dollars, with the typical middle running from 81,085 dollars to 118,593 dollars. The official OEWS median is higher, 121,860 dollars, because job ads skew toward the roles that pay below the occupation-wide average. The official trend has moved up about 12 percent since 2019. By seniority, posted pay runs from roughly 80,132 dollars to 98,358 dollars. The nearest adjacent move on our skill graph is industrial engineer, at 43 percent coverage; the instrument maps the rest.
Open chemical engineer roles
Live openings tagged to this occupation, from company career pages and remote boards. Apply at the source.
- Chemical Process Engineer (Starship Launch Systems)SpaceX · Brownsville, TXJul 20
- Chemical EngineerU.S. Army Communications Electronics Command · Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania$105k–$137kJul 16
- Product and Process EngineerContinental · Nyíregyháza, HUJul 13
- Sr. Staff Process Engineer, DTIO ISM SolutionsServiceNow · West Palm Beach, USJul 13
- Process Development EngineerSpaceX · El Segundo, CAJun 26
- CHEMICAL ENGINEER - DIRECT HIRE AUTHORITYAir Force Elements, U.S. Strategic Command · Dahlgren, Virginia$57k–$159kMay 20
By seniority
Posted-median pay by seniority signal in the title, from our corpus. Noisy at the edges where sample sizes are small.
By country
- United States$81,085 – $118,593 · median $100,836
- United Kingdom$57,135 – $82,326 · median $69,126
Top-paying US states
OEWS median by state, highest first.
- Virginiamedian $132,550
- Washingtonmedian $130,830
- Marylandmedian $129,710
- Pennsylvaniamedian $107,040
- Michiganmedian $106,690
Is your offer fair?
Run a specific number through FairElephant, which weighs it against this data, your location, and remote market rates.
Related salaries
- Industrial Engineer salary$104,706 median
- Aerospace Engineer salary$130,007 median
- Electrical Engineer salary$115,651 median
Quick answers
How much does a chemical engineer make?
The blended US median is about 100,836 dollars, with a typical range from 81,085 dollars to 118,593 dollars, against an official OEWS median of 121,860 dollars.
What can a chemical engineer move into?
The nearest adjacent role on our skill graph is industrial engineer, at 43 percent skill coverage. Run the instrument for the full set of reachable moves.
Method: bands are the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles of live US postings with stated pay, shrunk toward the official OEWS anchor by sample size (the “blended” figure). Trend is the OEWS annual median for SOC (Standard Occupational Classification) code 17-2041. Unemployment is the 2025 BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) CPS (Current Population Survey) annual-average rate for “Chemical engineers.” Live corpus 212 observations, 2026-07-23. Definitions in the glossary.