Chemists & materials scientists

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Total Workforce

95.4k

Average Age

41.1

Average Salary

$88,171

Average Male Salary

$93,825

Average Female Salary

$78,312

About

Chemists & materials scientists are most often employed by the Pharmaceutical & medicine manufacturing industry. The average yearly wage for Chemists & materials scientists was $88,171 in 2016. The top 3 most similar occupations to Chemists & materials scientists by wage are Construction managers, Producers & directors, and Firstline supervisors of nonretail sales workers.

Chemists & materials scientists are part of the Life, physical, & social science occupations, along with Agricultural & food scientists, Biological scientists, Conservation scientists & foresters, Medical scientists, & life scientists, all other, Astronomers & physicists, and 17 more.

The top 3 locations that employ the most Chemists & materials scientists are Kalamazoo County (Outer) PUMA, MI, Rockville, Gaithersburg Cities & North Potomac PUMA, MD, and Middlesex County (Southwest) PUMA, NJ. The top 3 locations with a relatively high concentration of Chemists & materials scientists are Kalamazoo County (Outer) PUMA, MI, Middlesex County (Southwest) PUMA, NJ, and Coatesville City PUMA, PA.

Photo by U.S. Army RDECOM

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

Employment

Information on the businesses and industries that employ Chemists & materials scientists and on wages and locations 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 Oil & gas extraction. Chemists & materials scientists are paid most in Coatesville City PUMA, PA but are relatively concentrated in Kalamazoo County (Outer) PUMA, MI.

Wages

Yearly Wage

$88,171

AVERAGE SALARY

± $5,531

In 2018, Chemists & materials scientists earned an average of $88,171, $34,283 more than than the average national salary of $53,888.

Firstline supervisors of nonretail sales workers make somewhat more than Chemists & materials scientists while Construction managers make somewhat less. This chart shows the various occupations closest to Chemists & materials scientists as measured by average annual salary in the US.

Wage Distribution

0.335

WAGE GINI

In 2018, Chemists & materials scientists had a wage GINI coefficient of 0.335, which is lower than than the national average of 0.479. In other words, wages are distributed more evenly for Chemists & materials scientists (shown in red) than for the overall labor force (shown in gray).

Wage by Location

HIGHEST PAYING PUMAS

This map shows the Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) in the United States shaded by average annual wage for Chemists & materials scientists.

Spatial Concentration

PUMAs with a Relatively High Concentration of Chemists & materials scientists

This map displays which Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) in the United States have a relatively high population of Chemists & materials scientists.

Industries

Most Common

The most common industries employing Chemists & materials scientists, by number of employees, are Pharmaceutical & medicine manufacturing, Scientific research & development services, and Industrial & miscellaneous chemicals.

Highest Paying

The highest paying industries for Chemists & materials scientists, by average wage, are Support activities for mining, Oil & gas extraction, Justice, public order, & safety activities , Management, scientific & technical consulting services, Pharmaceutical & medicine manufacturing, and Navigational, measuring, electromedical, & control instruments manufacturing.

Industries by Share

95.4k

2018 Workforce

± 7,579

13.2%

1 YEAR GROWTH

± 10.3%

The number of people employed as Chemists & materials scientists has been growing at a rate of 13.2%, from 84,253 people in 2017 to 95,355 people in 2018.

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 21.5%, followed by Scientific research & development services with 14% and Industrial & miscellaneous chemicals with 12.2%.

Diversity

Demographic information on Chemists & materials scientists in the US. The average age of male Chemists & materials scientists in the workforce is 41.4 and of female Chemists & materials scientists is 40.6, and the most common race/ethnicity for Chemists & materials scientists is White (Non-Hispanic).

Gender Composition

60.6k

MALE WORKFORCE

± 6,043

34.8k

FEMALE WORKFORCE

± 4,576

63.6% of Chemists & materials scientists are Male, making them the more common gender in the occupation. This chart shows the gender breakdown of Chemists & materials scientists.

Race & Ethnicity

Most Common Race or Ethnicity of Chemists & materials scientists

White (Non-Hispanic)
Asian (Non-Hispanic)
White (Hispanic)

64.5% of Chemists & materials scientists are White (Non-Hispanic), making that the most common race or ethnicity in the occupation. Representing 20.3% of Chemists & materials scientists, Asian (Non-Hispanic) is the second most common race or ethnicity in this occupation. This chart shows the racial and ethnic breakdown of Chemists & materials scientists.

Age by Gender

41.4

AVERAGE MALE AGE

± 1.37

40.6

AVERAGE FEMALE AGE

± 1.69

The median age of Chemists & materials scientists is 41.1, and Male employees are generally 0.788 years older than than their Female counterparts.

Education

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 a relatively high number of Chemists & materials scientists hold a major in Physical Sciences.

Majors

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

MOST COMMON MAJORS

MOST SPECIALIZED MAJORS

Skills

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 and Reading Comprehension. The revealed comparative advantage (RCA) shows that Chemists & materials scientists need more than the average amount of Science, Equipment Maintenance, and Repairing.