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Water

How do chemists’ salaries stack up?

ACS’s annual employment survey shows unemployment down and salaries steady in 2016

by Andrea Widener
November 14, 2016 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 94, Issue 45
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Unemployment dropped in 2016 among ACS members...

Note for all graphics: Survey of 6,321 U.S. ACS members taken between March and April 2016. Salaries reflect the median salary for full-time employees who say their work specialty is chemistry, with the exception of chemical engineers.

...while salaries were essentially flat in most sectors.

Note: The money stacks in each category reflect 2016 salaries. A single full stack represents $40,000.

Men continue to make significantly more than women...

...and chemical engineers make more than chemists.

What you make depends a lot on where you live.

These are the ACS members who took the 2016 survey.

Note: Numbers do not add to 100 because Hispanic is asked separately.
a Permanent resident or other visa.

Here are the top 10 industries where they work.

Those in education fields work in a large variety of jobs.

Chemical & Engineering News
ISSN 0009-2347
Copyright © 2025 American Chemical Society

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