Architecture and Engineering · Holland code RIC
Chemical Engineers
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.
Also called: Chemical Engineer, Development Engineer, Engineer, Process Engineer, Engineering Scientist, Process Control Engineer, Project Engineer, Refinery Process Engineer.
O*NET 17-2041.00
At a glance
- US median annual pay
- $125,040
- Middle half earn $97,820 to $157,190. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Most common education
- Bachelor's Degree
- 91% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
- Preparation needed
- Job Zone 4 of 5
- Considerable preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
- US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034
- +3% · As fast as average
- 21,600 jobs in 2024, projected 22,100. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Chemical engineers".
What the work involves
The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.
- 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.
Skills and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Science4.1 / 5
- Critical Thinking4.1 / 5
- Reading Comprehension4.0 / 5
- Active Learning3.9 / 5
- Mathematics3.8 / 5
- Speaking3.5 / 5
Knowledge areas
- Engineering and Technology4.8 / 5
- Chemistry4.7 / 5
- Mathematics4.3 / 5
- Design4.0 / 5
- Physics4.0 / 5
- Production and Processing4.0 / 5
Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.
Who tends to enjoy it
How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.
- Realistic88
- Investigative79
- Artistic13
- Social0
- Enterprising14
- Conventional59
The same work abroad
Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.
European occupation titles (ESCO)
- chemical production manager · DE Leiter in der Chemieproduktion/Leiterin in der Chemieproduktion · FR directeur de production dans l'industrie chimique/directrice de production dans l'industrie chimique
- chemist · DE Chemiker/Chemikerin · FR chimiste
- analytical chemist · DE Analytischer Chemiker/Analytische Chemikerin · FR chimiste analytique
- chemical application specialist · DE Applikationsspezialist Chemie/Applikationsspezialistin Chemie · FR spécialiste d’application produits chimiques
- fragrance chemist · DE Duftchemiker/Duftchemikerin · FR aromaticien parfumeur/aromaticienne parfumeuse
- process engineer · DE Ingenieur Verfahrenstechnik/Ingenieurin Verfahrenstechnik · FR ingénieur process/ingénieure process
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- Production managers and directors in manufacturing (1121)227,800 employed
- Chemical scientists (2111)25,100 employed
- Production and process engineers (2125)56,900 employed
Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.
Japan
Japan classifies jobs in its own way. The closest category that names the same work is “化学技術者”, which may be narrower or broader than this occupation.
- Median monthly pay
- ¥343,900
- Middle half earn ¥284,400 to ¥432,300 a month.
- Workers in the category
- 71,110
- Regular employees in firms of ten or more.
Scheduled monthly pay before tax, excluding overtime and bonuses, so it is not comparable to the annual figures above. Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025, via e-Stat, under the Japanese Government Standard Terms of Use. The category match was made by hand.
Pay across Europe, for the whole group
Median annual earnings of all employees in “Professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.
| Country | Median pay |
|---|---|
| Belgium | €61,714 |
| Germany | €59,529 |
| Ireland | €56,877 |
| Austria | €55,374 |
| Netherlands | €53,595 |
| Sweden | €43,567 |
| France | €41,515 |
| Spain | €35,735 |
| Italy | €33,649 |
| Portugal | €26,072 |
| Poland | €14,380 |
Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.
Exposure to AI
This occupation sits in the higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +1.34. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.
Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.
Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (17-2041).
Related careers
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