Chemists & materials scientists

Detailed Occupation

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2020 Workforce

96.8k

Average Age

41.5

Average Salary

$87,133

Average Male Salary

$93,816

Average Female Salary

$77,004

About

Chemists & materials scientists are most often employed by the Pharmaceutical & medicine manufacturing industry. The average yearly wage for Chemists & materials scientists was $87,133 in 2020.

The locations that employ the most Chemists & materials scientists are Rockville, Gaithersburg Cities & North Potomac PUMA, MD, Imperial Calcasieu Regional Planning & Development District 2 (South) PUMA, LA, and Dane County (West) PUMA, WI. The locations with a relatively high concentration of Chemists & materials scientists are Imperial Calcasieu Regional Planning & Development District 2 (South) PUMA, LA, Rockville, Gaithersburg Cities & North Potomac PUMA, MD, and South Plainfield & Middlesex Boroughs PUMA, NJ.

Photo by U.S. Army RDECOM

Management, business, science, & arts occupations Computer, engineering, & science occupations Life, physical, & social science occupations

Employment and salary information for the Chemists & materials scientists workforce. Chemists & materials scientists workforce in 2020 was 96,835 people, of which 39.7% were women and 60.3% were men. Chemists & materials scientists are paid most in San Mateo (South) & Half Moon Bay Cities PUMA, CA but are relatively concentrated in Imperial Calcasieu Regional Planning & Development District 2 (South) PUMA, LA.

Employment Over Time

Metric

Grouping

58,344

Male Workforce

± 5.93k

38,491

Female Workforce

± 4.82k

The Chemists & materials scientists workforce in 2020 was 96,835 people (39.7% women and 60.3% men). This implies an average annual growth of 17% between 2014 (82,757) and 2020 (96,835).

Employment by Location

Level

Metric

This map shows the states in the United States shaded by average wage for Chemists & materials scientists.

During 2020, the states that concentrated the best average annual wage were Massachusetts ($108,980), Louisiana ($108,758), and Maryland ($106,643).

Yearly Wage Ranking

$87,133

AVERAGE WAGE

#78 in the ranking (2020)

$55,954

NATIONAL AVERAGE WAGE

For all occupations across the US

In 2020, Chemists & materials scientists earned an average of $87,133, $31,179 more than the average national salary of $55,954

The graph shows the ranking of Chemists & materials scientists in relation to all Detailed Occupation in 2020.

Wage Distribution

Gender

0.32

WAGE GINI

In 2020, Chemists & materials scientists had a wage GINI coefficient of 0.32, which is lower than the national average of 0.478. In other words, wages are distributed more evenly for Chemists & materials scientists (shown in red) than for the overall labor force (shown in gray).

The graphic shows the distribution of average salaries by buckets for Chemists & materials scientists compared to the entire workforce in the country.

Industry

Information on the industries that employ Chemists & materials scientists and on wages for those in the field. Pharmaceutical & medicine manufacturing is the industry that employs the most Chemists & materials scientists, both by share and by number, though the highest paid industry for Chemists & materials scientists, by average wage, is Nonferrous metal (except aluminum) production & processing ($146,817).

Occupations by Industries

Metric

Value

96.8k

2020 Workforce

± 7,637

5.11%

1 YEAR GROWTH

± 10.7%

This graphic shows the share of Chemists & materials scientists employed by various industries. Pharmaceutical & medicine manufacturing employs the largest share of Chemists & materials scientists at 42.5%, followed by Scientific research & development services with 30.7% and Industrial & miscellaneous chemicals with 26.8%.

Diversity

Demographic information on Chemists & materials scientists in the US. The workforce of Chemists & materials scientists in 2020 was 96,835 people, with 39.7% woman, and 60.3% men. The average age of male Chemists & materials scientists in the workforce is 42.9 and of female Chemists & materials scientists is 39.5, and the most common race/ethnicity for Chemists & materials scientists is White.

Gender and Age

Metric

The workforce of Chemists & materials scientists in 2020 was 96,835 people, with 39.7% woman, and 60.3% men.

The age ranges that concentrated the largest workforce were 25 to 29 years (16,438 people), 30 to 34 years (15,669 people), and 35 to 39 years (11,544 people). Among them they concentrated 45.2% of the total workforce.

Ethnicity

Gender

In 2020, 7.08% of Chemists & materials scientists workers were Hispanic and 92.9% non-Hispanic.

The treemap shows the distribution of Hispanic workers according to their origin, highlighting Mexican (62%), Puerto Rican (24.9)%, and Colombian (13.1)%

You can review this information by gender using the selectors above.

Races

In 2020, 70.4% of the Chemists & materials scientists workforce were White, of which 37.4% were women and 62.6% men. Other races that concentrated a significant number of workers were Asian (17.9%) and Black (6.6%).

Education & Skills

Data on higher education choices for Chemists & materials scientists from The Department of Education and Census Bureau. The most common major for Chemists & materials scientists is Physical Sciences but the most specialized major according to RCA in 2020 were Physical Sciences.

Among the necessary skills for Chemists & materials scientists, Science stands, but the revealed comparative advantage (RCA) shows that Chemists & materials scientists need more than the average amount of Science.

Majors

ACS PUMS data only shows the major for bachelor's degrees. However, we can filter the data based on highest degree obtained.

Type of Majors

Degree

The most common majors achieved by Chemists & materials scientists in 2020 (counting all academic degrees) were Physical Sciences (43,062 people), Biology (18,189 people), and Engineering (7,216 people).

You can review this information for different academic grades by modifying the option selected in the selector above.

Education Levels

Metric

The main educational levels achieved by the Chemists & materials scientists workers were Bachelors Degree (52,732 people), Graduate Degree (38,103 people), and Some college (2,320 people).

The graphic shows the Chemists & materials scientists workforce by gender and educational level.

Skills

Chart

Value

Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for Chemists & materials scientists from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Chemists & materials scientists need many skills, but most especially Science, Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking.