Career profile · SOC 19-2031

Chemists

Conduct qualitative and quantitative chemical analyses or experiments in laboratories for quality or process control or to develop new products or knowledge.

Median salary
$84,150
per year
Growth outlook
Average
BLS 10-yr
Education
Bachelor's degree
AI exposure
4.9/10
automation risk

Salary distribution (US)

Real salary data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The p10–p90 spread tells you more than the median alone.

Bottom 10%
$46,760
25th %ile
$62,340
Median
$84,150
75th %ile
$111,000
Top 10%
$141,850

Top skills

Critical Thinking Science Active Learning Reading Comprehension Complex Problem Solving Mathematics Writing Active Listening Quality Control Analysis Operations Analysis

Knowledge you'll build

  • Chemistry
  • Mathematics
  • English Language
  • Computers and Electronics
  • Production and Processing
  • Biology
  • Engineering and Technology
  • Education and Training

A day in the life

You start the morning suiting up in a lab coat and safety goggles, calibrating instruments like mass spectrometers and HPLC machines before running a series of experiments. By mid-morning you are synthesizing a new compound, carefully measuring reagents and monitoring reaction temperatures while documenting every step in a lab notebook. Afternoons might be spent analyzing spectra data, meeting with a product team to troubleshoot why a paint formula is not drying correctly, or writing up results for a peer-reviewed journal. The thrill of chemistry is the detective work—figuring out molecular puzzles that have real-world applications in medicine, materials, and food science.

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