Phenomenal earnings of a chemical engineer is just one of the motivators that drives students to pursue this discipline of engineering. In this write-up, we will talk about various aspects of the salary of a chemical engineer along with some focus upon the job.
Long before the world witnessed the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, the need of chemicals and dyes was met by making chemicals with the help of manual processes like mixing ingredients, heating and pressurizing them to get the desired product. This phenomenon was called batch processing. Owing to the Industrial Revolution, around the end of 19th century, chemical processors were established for meeting the requirements of various industries. And since then, chemical engineering has become one of the most important and diversified disciplines of engineering.
Moreover, career opportunities in this field have been immense and it is undoubtedly a rewarding profession in terms of money and career growth. Chemical engineer salary, as most of you wish to know, is by far, one of the highest and most decent in the engineering fraternity especially, if it’s related to chemical engineer starting salary. Let us know more about the job description of a chemical engineer before we proceed to know their earning potential.
Average Salary
A chemical engineer’s salary depends on many factors like work experience, job location, educational qualifications and type of employer. The chemical engineer starting salary is between USD 50,000 and USD 65,000. Definitely, a very decent start for freshers with no work experience! The chemical engineer salary for those having work experience of more than one year and less than four years is between USD 55,000 to USD 70,000. With further advancements in the work experience, that is with real work experience of about 10 plus years, the salary range is between USD 75,000 and USD 102,000.
The job location of the chemical engineers plays a pivotal role in determining their salaries. For example, areas where the cost of living is very high, the salary of a chemical engineer is generally higher than compared to those areas with lower cost of living. After some 20 years of work experience, the chemical engineers salary range is between USD 83,000 to USD 125,000, that is certainly one of the most decently paid salaries. Generally, chemical engineers having work experience of about 20 years are at managerial positions in big chemical corporations and industries. Here is the general salary of chemical engineers in various types of job set ups.
| Salary Range | |
| Years of Work Experience | Salaries in USD (approx) per year |
| Chemical Manufacturing | 68,000 to 85,000 |
| Engineering Consulting | 65,000 to 80,000 |
| Oil and Gas | 70,000 to 88,000 |
| Pharmaceuticals | 70,000 to 88,000 |
| Petroleum Refining | 76,000 to 95,000 |
| Government/Federal agencies | 50,000 to 100,000 |
Job Description
Chemical engineers are responsible for managing various activities related to management of chemicals and other products in chemical factories. This management is effectively done through monitoring products, testing them, supervising production processes, designing equipment and understanding various effective techniques for chemical manufacturing on large scale. Besides being employed in their core job, that is in chemical plants and industries, chemical engineers also work in producing energies, electronics industry, food, clothing and paper works. Some other areas where the chemical engineers are employed is biotechnology and health care units.
Using the principles of sciences like mathematics, physics, chemistry, mechanical and electrical engineering concepts, chemical engineers carry out large set of duties and responsibilities. Since chemical engineers have a broad range of tasks and duties to work with, they specialize in various branches like polymerization and oxidation. With the advent of nanotechnology, chemical engineers have various opportunities to work on nano material also. Chemical engineers work for understanding the effect of chemicals on the environment and they streamline safety measures and ensure that all manufacturing process is well within the established laws and measures.
The chemical engineer salary as we all now know, is one of the best in engineering discipline and promises for excellent career development path. Students interested in chemical engineering must go ahead towards their goal from high school itself. Curiosity and keen interest in chemistry and science subjects is necessary to develop a love for this field.
