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Salaries

What US chemists made in 2022, according to the ACS salary survey

Chemists saw increased salaries overall and a record-low unemployment rate

by Andrea Widener
October 17, 2022 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 100, Issue 37
Credit: Shutterstock
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Across all employment sectors, US chemists fared well in the third year of the pandemic, according to the American Chemical Society’s latest salary survey. Median salaries were up across the board, the survey shows. The survey was sent to 125,048 people affiliated with ACS and was open May 3–31, 2022. The response rate was 8.24%.

Unemployment also hit a record low, a likely response to booming demand for chemistry workers in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors. But when salaries were adjusted for inflation, they remained largely flat since 1985, with an extra dip in 2022 likely due to recent high inflation rates.

ACS publishes C&EN, but C&EN remains editorially independent of ACS. C&EN publishes the ACS salary survey because similar data on chemists’ salaries are not available from other sources. C&EN does not play a role in designing the survey questions, conducting the survey, or analyzing the results. C&EN requested specific data from the ACS salary survey team.

 

Salary and unemployment by demographics

 

Note: Salary data for 2022 are from 5,411 ACS members and reflect the median annual salaries of full-time employees who are not students, in emeritus roles, retired, or over age 70. ACS considers data calculated from fewer than 50 responses unreliable. C&EN included small groups to help make all members visible. Unemployment numbers reflect respondents' status as of March 1 in the indicated year. The margin of error for the 2022 overall unemployment rate is ±1.33 percentage points, and in 2021 it was ±1.5. The margin of error for 2020 is not available.

 

In 2022, unemployment among US respondents fell to the lowest rate ACS has ever recorded

2022
0.6%
2021
1.8%
2020
1.5%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Salaries and unemployment by region


Note: Data are from 5,109 ACS members and reflect the median annual salaries of full-time employees who are not students, in emeritus roles, retired, or over age 70. ACS considers data calculated from fewer than 50 responses unreliable. C&EN included small groups to help make all members visible. Unemployment numbers reflect respondents' status as of March 1.

The New England and Pacific regions have the highest salaries. In some cases, bachelor's degree recipients made more than those with a master's degree


Pacific

(Number of responses)
Bachelor’s (80)
$95,000
Master’s (99)
$98,000
Doctorate (510)
$134,500
Regional median (690)
$123,000
Unemployment
0.56%

Mountain

(Number of responses)
Bachelor’s (42)
$92,000
Master’s (50)
$72,550
Doctorate (222)
$105,000
Regional median (315)
$100,000
Unemployment
0.61%

West North Central

(Number of responses)
Bachelor’s (53)
$92,500
Master’s (67)
$75,000
Doctorate (243)
$98,000
Regional median (363)
$91,383
Unemployment
0.27%

West South Central

(Number of responses)
Bachelor's (56)
$66,190
Master's (36)
$64,500
Doctorate (289)
$110,000
Regional median (382)
$100,050
Unemployment
0.25%

East North Central

(Number of responses)
Bachelor's (146)
$80,228
Master's (166)
$87,000
Doctorate (601)
$109,000
Regional median (919)
$99,630
Unemployment
0.21%

East South Central

(Number of responses)
Bachelor's (28)
$83,600
Master's (34)
$60,372
Doctorate (158)
$97,003
Regional median (220)
$86,093
Unemployment
0.00%

South Atlantic

(Number of responses)
Bachelor's (101)
$80,000
Master's (120)
$87,484
Doctorate (647)
$113,000
Regional median (874)
$106,912
Unemployment
0.78%

Middle Atlantic

(Number of responses)
Bachelor's (86)
$89,909
Master's (155)
$87,000
Doctorate (578)
$109,000
Regional median (823)
$105,208
Unemployment
1.42%

New England

(Number of responses)
Bachelor's (52)
$100,000
Master's (78)
$89,814
Doctorate (390)
$134,000
Regional median (523)
$125,000
Unemployment
0.56%
 

Which members took the survey in 2022?


Note: Data are from 5,411 ACS members who are full-time employees and not students, in emeritus roles, retired, or over age 70.

Only a small fraction identified as having a disability

4.5%

UPDATE

This article was updated on Nov. 1, 2022, to include percentages of 0.2% and below in the graph " More men than women or nonbinary people were faculty at colleges or universities." Limitations of the graphing software prevented the numbers from appearing in the original bars. The missing percentages are 0.2% of nonbinary people for full professor, 0.1% of nonbinary people and 0.1% of people marking “Self-describe” for associate professor, and 0.1% of people marking “Self-describe” for assistant professor.

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

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