Engineering
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.
Median salary
$121,860
Typical range
$79k – $182k
Job outlook
+3% (about average)
AI exposure
Plan a path to Chemical Engineers
Education
Typical entry: Bachelor's degree
Plan my path to this →Typical progression
Chemical Engineers Intern
Internship
$39,260
~4 mos to advance
Junior Chemical Engineers
Entry / Junior
$78,520
~2 yrs to advance
Chemical Engineers
Established
$121,860
~3 yrs to advance
Senior Chemical Engineers
Senior
$152,005
Internships are a common on-ramp here — they speed up landing that first role and improve your odds, which is why the Safe and High-ceiling plans build one in.
Key skills
A typical day
- •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.
Fields of study
Any field
Top colleges for Engineering
Explore all- Massachusetts Institute of Technology4% admit · $124,000 grad pay
- Stanford University4% admit · $122,000 grad pay
- University of California, Berkeley11% admit · $97,000 grad pay
- Georgia Institute of Technology16% admit · $99,000 grad pay
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign45% admit · $80,000 grad pay
Reputation-based selection; stats shown are outcome data per school.