Salary Survey

2019 AIChE
SALARY SURVEY
Median Salary by Year SNAPSHOT
Median Salary
$140,000

$132,000
$126KMedian salary

$124,000

$116,000 +1.6% from 2017

$108,000

$100,000

$92,000
$68,000
Median starting salary for
2016, 2017, 2018 graduates
$84,000

$76,000

$68,000
5 months
Average number of months to find a
job for 2016, 2017, 2018 graduates
$60,000
2000 2002 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019

p Figure 1. The median salary for chemical engineers increased slightly in 2019.

T
Year
he results of AIChE’s biennial salary survey are in,
revealing positive advances for the chemical engineer-
ing profession. The median annual salary of respon-
dents to the 2019 survey is $126,000 — a 1.6% increase over
the 2017 median of $124,000.
In comparison, the previous survey reported a 2.4%
decrease in median salary between 2015 and 2017
(Figure 1). The increase in median salary is part of an
overall trend of rising salaries. In 2000, chemical engineers
earned a median annual salary of $77,200 — since then,
salaries have risen steadily. This development can be
attributed to a variety of factors, including inflation and
economic growth.
This year, we took a closer look at recent graduates,
i.e., those entering the workforce in 2016, 2017, and 2018,
in an attempt to understand the transition from student to
young professional. The median starting salary for chemi-
cal engineers beginning their careers is $68,000, compared
to a median salary of $72,000 for all respondents under the
age of 26. On average, it takes recent graduates around five
months to obtain employment after graduation.
Median salaries range from $71,000 for respondents
with less than three years of experience to almost $165,000
for respondents with 40+ years of experience. Many other
factors, including age, gender, education, and job function,
influence salaries.

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Age and Gender
AGE
The age distribution of survey participants this year revealed that the largest cohort (33%) was those over age 55 (Figure 2).
Of 1,297 respondents, nearly a quarter are 30 and under (22%), 21% are 31–40 years of age, and a quarter are 41–55 years of age.
In 2017, the highest percentage of respondents were aged 41–55 (31%).

Age

<25–30 22%

21%
31–40

25%
41–55

33%
56+

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450

p Figure 2. Age distribution of salary survey participants. Number of Respondents

AGE + GENDER
Age and gender are important indicators of salary. In general, as age increases, so does salary (Figure 3). The median sal-
ary of chemical engineers under the age of 26 is $72,000, while chemical engineers aged 61–65 earn more than double that,
with a median salary of $152,000. Median salary for participants under 26 has increased since 2017, when it was $69,000. In
most age groups, men earn more than women. The largest discrepancy is found in the 41–45 age group. However, continuing
a trend reported in 2017, women aged 26–30 years earn more than men, with a median salary of $91,000 vs. $85,000.

MEDIAN
AGE MALE SALARY FEMALE

<26 $74,000 $72,000 $70,000

26–30 $85,000 $86,000 $91,000

31–35 $102,500 $103,000 $103,000

36–40 $123,000 $121,722 $114,000

41–45 $142,000 $135,050 $116,450

46–50 $151,300 $150,000 $130,000

51–55 $153,600 $150,000 $136,500

56–60 $158,650 $155,339 $137,713

61–65 $153,500 $152,000 $152,000

160,000 100,000 50,000 0 0 50,000 100,000 160,000
p Figure 3. Median salary by age and gender. Data for respondents aged 66+ is not included because there were too few respondents in that age group.

Copyright © 2019 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).

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Salary Survey

GENDER
The gender distribution of the survey participants is similar to that of the last survey — 20% are females, 79% are males,
and 1% preferred not to answer. The gender distribution of salary survey participants is a bit different than AIChE member-
ship statistics. As of the end of 2018, 68% of members selected male as their gender, 27% selected female, and 5% did not
specify their gender. These numbers have changed significantly since the end of 2016, when 81% of members selected male
as their gender, 15% selected female, and 4% did not specify their gender.

Women are
more likely to take time off
2.5x
8%
Percentage of Total Male or Female Respondents

7%
Men Women
6%
% of all
% of all male
5% N respondents N female
respondents
4%
To raise
7 0.7% 17 7%
3% children
Other family
2%
and medical
12 1.2% 6 2.5%
1% leave (i.e.,
FMLA)
0%
Further
15 1.5% 3 1.3%
education
Other 14 1.4% 5 2%
To raise Other family and Further Other
medical leave education
Total 48 5% 31 13%
children
(i.e., FMLA)

p Figure 4. Employees often take time off from work for a variety of reasons, including raising children or further education. The table and graph show the
number and percentage of all male respondents (977) and female respondents (240) who took time off for each reason. Of the male participants, 0.7% took
time off to care for children, while 7% of the female participants took time off to raise children.

TIME OFF
Many employees take time off from work at some point during their careers (Figure 4). Frequent reasons include travel, fur-
ther education, such as a master’s degree or a PhD, and medical or health reasons. Taking time off to care for sick family mem-
bers, or to raise children, is also common. Women are 2.5 times more likely to take time off overall, and 7% percent of female
respondents did so to spend more time at home with their children, compared to 0.7% of men.

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Education
Chemical engineers are highly educated — all respondents have a bachelor’s degree or higher — and about 23% are licensed
professional engineers. Figure 5 shows the median salaries of respondents according to their highest degree obtained. The
median salary for those with a bachelor’s degree is $110,000, with a master’s degree is $140,000, and with a PhD is $134,500.

PhD
Bachelor’s 32%
45% Master’s
23%

Bachelor’s Degree Master’s Degree PhD

$110,000 $140,000 $134,500

p Figure 5. The highest degree earned by salary survey participants.

The majority of participants received their degrees in chemical engineering (Figure 6). While chemistry is the second-most
popular discipline for bachelor’s degree and PhD holders, 21% of the master’s degrees were a Master of Business Adminis­tration
(MBA). Environmental engineering and other types of engineering are also popular disciplines.

BACHELOR’S DISCIPLINE MASTER’S DISCIPLINE PhD DISCIPLINE

2% 1% 3% 1%
4% 6% 1%
2% 2% 6% 1%

5%
4%
10% 5%

55%
21%

90% 81%

Chemical Engineering Chemical Engineering Chemical Engineering

Chemistry MBA Chemistry
Chem/Bio Engineering Other Engineering Chem/Bio Engineering
Other Engineering Environmental Engineering Other
Other Other Other Engineering
Chemistry Environmental Engineering
Chem/Bio Engineering Biological Engineering

p Figure 6. The majority of respondents received their degrees — bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD — in chemical engineering.

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Salary Survey

Experience and Position

EXPERIENCE + GENDER + SALARY
Work experience has a significant impact on salary. Figure 7 shows median salary as a function of years of experience. Those
with less than three years of experience earn a median salary of $71,000, while the median salary for those with more than 40
years of experience is $164,650.
As shown in Figure 8, women with less than three years of experience earn about the same as men in the same category, but
the discrepancy grows as experience increases. Among participants with 26–30 years of experience, men earn almost $30,000
more than women with similar experience.

Experience N Median Salary Mean Salary Experience N Median Salary Mean Salary

<3 years 196 $71,000 $72,693 21 to 25 years 105 $150,000 $157,966

3 to 5 years 99 $89,000 $89,383 26 to 30 years 110 $160,000 $166,551

6 to 10 years 138 $103,000 $108,108 31 to 35 years 157 $155,000 $160,600

11 to 15 years 113 $121,509 $125,879 36 to 40 years 135 $155,000 $164,127

16 to 20 years 97 $129,800 $141,082 40+ years 80 $164,650 $179,700

N = 1,230

p Figure 7. Median and mean salary by years of experience.

$194,500
$200,000

$180,000
$164,300
$161,000
$157,518 $155,000
$152,700
$160,000

$135,050 $152,200
$140,000
$122,361 $138,813
$135,000
$131,500
$120,000
$105,000
$113,300 $114,500

$100,000 $90,000
$101,050

$80,000 $71,750
$82,000
$70,000
$60,000
<3 3–5 6–10 11–15 16–20 21–25 26–30 31–35 36–40 40+

YEARS EXPERIENCE Male Female

p Figure 8. Median salary by experience and gender.

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SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES
Climbing the corporate ladder generally translates to more power and a higher salary, but not always (Figure 9).
Respondents with no regular supervisory duties reported a median salary of $106,350. Those who indirectly supervise
teams earned 13% more ($120,000) than non­supervisors, while engineers who supervise teams directly earn 27% more
($135,000) than the nonsupervisors.
With the exception of employees who directly supervise a project or section, those in upper-level management have
considerably higher salaries — the highest median salary is earned by those with general management responsibility for
their organizations ($192,000).

Those who indirectly supervise

teams earned 13% more $150,000
than non-supervisors, while $165,000
Owner or Partner
engineers who supervise teams
$192,000
directly earn 27% more
General Management
Responsibility for the
Organization
$169,800

Manage a Major
Department, Division,
or Program
$122,500

Directly Supervise
a Project or Section
$135,000

Directly

$192,000
Supervise a Team
$120,000
Indirectly
Supervise a Team
median salary of ChEs with
$106,350
general management
No Supervisory responsibility for the organization
Responsibility

p Figure 9. Median salary as a function of supervisory and management responsibilities.

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Salary Survey

Industry
SNAPSHOT
Highest-Salary Industry:
Petrochemicals and Petroleum Products $153,500
MEDIAN SALARIES
(Industry categories with at least 30 respondents)
Petrochemicals and Petroleum Products $153,500
Petroleum Production and Refining $151,300
Engineering, Procurement, and Construction $141,675
Chemicals, Commodity $140,000
Catalysis $139,750
Polymers (including plastics) $133,350
Chemicals, Specialty $129,600
MEDIAN SALARIES
(Categories with <30 respondents)
Agrochemicals $128,900
Consulting, Firm $123,000 Aerospace | Aeronautics | Astronautics $110,950
Alternative Energy $108,300
Pharmaceuticals $111,000
Automotive $80,000
Education $110,000
Biomedical and Life Sciences $92,000
Environment and Sustainability Services $107,752
Bio-Based Energy $138,426
Bioengineering, Biotech, and Bioprocessing $107,300 Business | Finance | Law | Insurance $195,000
Materials $101,500 Consulting, Individual $375,000
Food Products and Processing $98,000 Electronics | Semiconductors $88,500
Equipment Manufacturing $134,784
p Figure 10. Median salary according to industry for categories with
at least 30 respondents. Forest Products | Pulp and Paper $120,000
Instrumentation and Automation $117,250
INDUSTRY Industrial Gases $151,950
Figure 10 shows the median salaries for industry Nanotechnology $125,000
categories with more than 30 respondents — at least Natural Gas $152,000
30 responses are required for statistical accuracy. The
Nuclear Energy $143,000
highest-paying industries are petrochemicals and petro-
leum products ($153,500), petroleum production and Oilfield Services and Exploration $78,500
refining ($151,300), and engineering, procurement, and Personal Care Products $106,500
construction ($141,675). Other industries with median Process Safety $143,825
salaries above the overall median salary of $126,000 are: Safety and Health $130,000
commodity chemicals ($140,000), catalysis ($139,750),
Software and IT $128,400
polymers, including plastics ($133,350), specialty chemi-
cals ($129,600), and agrochemicals ($128,900). Utilities $120,000
Water Management $115,900

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 Job Function
MEDIAN SALARIES
(Job function categories with at least 30 respondents)

Management – Corporate/General $212,000

Education – Consulting $155,000
Plant Management $146,750
Process Safety, Health, and Loss Prevention $145,700 SNAPSHOT
Operations and Maintenance $139,500
Consulting $134,250
Other $132,000 Highest-Salary
Project Management $131,500 Job Function:
Research and Development $130,500 Management

$212,000
Construction, Engineering, and Procurement $123,000
Education – Non-consulting $114,500
Process Engineering $112,120
Government/Regulatory Affairs $109,950 median salary
Project Engineering $102,500

p Figure 11. Median salary according to job function for categories with at least 30 respondents.

JOB FUNCTION MEDIAN SALARIES

As shown in Figure 11, the highest-salaried (Categories with <30 respondents)
job function (of those with at least 30 respon-
dents) is corporate/general management. This
Design $108,000
was also the highest-paid function in 2017, but
the median salary has significantly increased Environmental Engineering $120,000

— from $180,950 to $212,000, a jump of Equipment Manufacturing $119,850

17%. This category is followed by education Finance | Law | Licensing $195,000
with consulting ($155,000), plant management Information Management $93,700
($146,750), and process safety, health, and loss
Instrumentation and Control Engineering $134,250
prevention ($145,700).
The median salaries of the most-popular Planning and Economics $149,500
jobs (i.e., the functional areas with the largest Product Engineering $95,000
number of respondents) are: process engineer- Purchasing $154,500
ing, $112,120 (19% of the 1,230 respondents);
Quality Control $68,500
research and development, $130,500 (18%); and
consulting, $134,250 (7%). Sales and Marketing $143,825
Technical Services $149,500

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Salary Survey

Salary + Location
The 2019 salary survey divides the U.S. states into nine regions: New England, Middle Atlantic, Southeast, Gulf, Mid-
west, Plains, Rocky Mountain, Pacific, and other (Figures 12a and 12b). The highest median salaries are reported in the Gulf
($146,000), Middle Atlantic ($132,350), and Pacific ($130,000) regions. In 2017, the Gulf region was also at the top of the list,
with a median salary of $140,000.
While the Rocky Mountain ($120,050) and Plains ($125,000) regions have lower median salaries, the median salary for
both regions has increased by more than $10,000 since 2017. The Southeast, which placed among the top three in 2017, is now
outranked by the Middle Atlantic, Pacific, and New England regions. The Middle Atlantic’s median salary increased by 6% since
the last survey, and the Pacific has increased by 8%. The largest gain was seen in New England, which increased by 18%, from
$108,050 in 2017 to $127,000 this year.

Gulf $146,000

Middle Atlantic $132,350

Pacific $130,000

New England $127,000

Plains $125,000

Southeast $125,000

Rocky Mountain $120,000

Midwest $110,000
p Figure 12a. Median salary according to region.

Rocky Mountain
Mean: $127,195 Plains
Median: $120,000 Mean: $124,931
Midwest
(N=87) Median: $125,000
Mean: $119, 872 New England
(N=29)
Median: $110,000 Mean: $135,483
(N=249) Median: $127,000
Pacific
Mean: $131,897 (N=74)
Median: $130,000
(N=101)
Middle Atlantic
Mean: $134,175
Median: $132,350
(N=244)

District of Columbia (Other)

Alaska
(Pacific) Southeast
Mean: $124,745
Median: $125,000
(N=163)

Gulf Other
Hawaii
Mean: $151,026 Mean: $106,174
(Pacific)
Median: $146,000 Median: $93,756 Puerto Rico
(N=261) (N=17) (Other)

p Figure 12b. Median and mean salaries according to region.

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Career Prospects
According to the May 2018 Occupational Employment
Statistics (OES) survey, published by the U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics (BLS; Washington, D.C., www.bls.gov),
the average American worker earns an average base salary
of $51,960,
Engineers typically earn almost double that amount.
There are nearly 1.8 million engineers working in the U.S.,
the BLS reports, with a mean salary of $99,230. In May
2016, the BLS reported 31,990 chemical engineers in the
workforce, with a mean salary of $105,420 and a median
salary of $98,340.
Since then, chemical engineers have made progress as
a profession. As of May 2018, 32,060 chemical engineers
were in the workforce, with a mean salary of $114,470 and a
median salary of $104,910.
Engineers today. According to the BLS, most chemi-
cal engineers work in the chemical manufacturing sector
— within this category, around 10,000 chemical engineers
earn a mean salary of $118,710. Second in popularity is the
scientific research and development sector, with a mean
salary of $119,190.
Petroleum and coal products manufacturing, with
2,080 workers, is also popular (mean salary, $120,860).
Many chemical engineers (3,160) work in architectural,
engineering, and related services, with an average salary
of $113,770.
Oil and gas extraction is one of the least popular sectors
for chemical engineers, with only 220 employees reported
by the BLS, but it ranks high in salary — an average of
$150,550. It closely follows the management sector, which
pays a mean salary of $151,740. Pharmaceutical and
medicine manufacturing, with 1,330 workers, ranks last in
salary ($107,180).
The majority of chemical engineers work in Texas
(7,870 respondents), California (2,100), Louisiana (1,710),
Ohio (1,640), and New Jersey (1,430), the BLS reports.
However, the top-paying states do not necessarily corre-
spond to these areas.
Texas does rank first, with an annual mean salary of
$146,720, followed by Alaska ($134,440), which is home
to only 70 chemical engineers. New Jersey is next with an
average salary of $122,210, then Delaware ($120,280), and
the District of Columbia ($117,470).
Future prospects. The BLS expects employment for
chemical engineers to grow 8% between 2016 and 2026,
or 1.8% per year. This projection is equal to the growth
expected for engineers overall, and slightly higher than the
average growth expected for all occupations (7%).
According to the BLS, demand for chemical engineering
services depends on demand for products of manufactur-
ing, and the ability of chemical engineers to adapt and adopt
emerging technologies. The organization speculates that the
profession will continue to migrate into fields such as nano-
technology, alternative energy, and biotechnology.
BLS cautions that overall growth in employment may be
limited by a decline in employment in some manufacturing
sectors, and it foresees the integration of chemical and bio-
logical sciences to address areas in the medical and pharma-
ceutical fields. Those with a background in biology will have
better chances to gain employment, the BLS reports. CEP

SURVEY METHODOLOGY
T he biennial AIChE Salary and Employment Survey was conducted by an outside consulting firm. All active AIChE members
with email addresses on file at the end of December 2018 were asked to participate in the online survey. Full-time students and
international members were excluded.
The survey was completely confidential, and we asked no questions that could be used to identify the respondent. We
took several steps to preserve participant anonymity, and only see and report results in the aggregate. The survey itself was a
straightforward series of questions answered online. Most questions were mandatory, and many required an answer in order
to move on in the survey — a feature installed for accuracy purposes.
The data provided by respondents to this year’s salary survey were analyzed to determine the impact of numerous factors —
including age, gender, years of experience, degree, level of supervisory responsibility, and industry, among others.
The membership of AIChE is a self-selected population and may not be representative of the overall population of chemical
engineers. Surveys in prior years have reported results within the margin of error in the findings of other employment surveys
reporting on chemical engineers conducted at the same time. This is consistent with what is generally seen in homogenous
populations. However, in keeping with sampling theory, the results reported are not projectable as population parameters.
Salary data were provided by 1,297 respondents. In most tables, the total number reported is less, since not every respon-
dent who provided salary data provided the other criteria used to generate the table. The data reported are raw and have not
been weighted, as the respondent profile is consistent with that of overall AIChE membership.

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