Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
Job outlook for analytical chemists in the United States
Analytical chemist job growth summary. After extensive research, interviews, and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
The projected analytical chemist job growth rate is 6% from 2018-2028.
About 5,700 new jobs for analytical chemists are projected over the next decade.
Analytical chemist salaries have increased 8% for analytical chemists in the last 5 years.
There are over 80,570 analytical chemists currently employed in the United States.
There are 14,661 active analytical chemist job openings in the US.
The average analytical chemist salary is $61,573.
Are analytical chemist jobs in demand?
Analytical chemist job and salary trends over time
Analytical chemist jobs over time
Analytical chemist job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 80,570 | 0.02% |
| 2020 | 83,350 | 0.02% |
| 2019 | 84,219 | 0.03% |
| 2018 | 84,876 | 0.03% |
| 2017 | 84,616 | 0.03% |
Average analytical chemist salary over time
Analytical chemist salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $61,573 | $29.60 | +2.2% |
| 2025 | $60,277 | $28.98 | +1.0% |
| 2024 | $59,702 | $28.70 | +2.9% |
| 2023 | $58,033 | $27.90 | +1.4% |
| 2022 | $57,256 | $27.53 | +3.5% |
Analytical chemist jobs by state
Most common states for analytical chemists
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 830 | 12% |
| 2 | Delaware | 961,939 | 63 | 7% |
| 3 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 48 | 7% |
| 4 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 383 | 6% |
| 5 | New Jersey | 9,005,644 | 465 | 5% |
| 6 | Washington | 7,405,743 | 354 | 5% |
| 7 | California | 39,536,653 | 1,669 | 4% |
| 8 | Pennsylvania | 12,805,537 | 539 | 4% |
| 9 | Wisconsin | 5,795,483 | 206 | 4% |
| 10 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 186 | 4% |
| 11 | Connecticut | 3,588,184 | 133 | 4% |
| 12 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 56 | 4% |
| 13 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 39 | 4% |
| 14 | New York | 19,849,399 | 575 | 3% |
| 15 | Illinois | 12,802,023 | 408 | 3% |
| 16 | North Carolina | 10,273,419 | 328 | 3% |
| 17 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 194 | 3% |
| 18 | Missouri | 6,113,532 | 186 | 3% |
| 19 | Iowa | 3,145,711 | 107 | 3% |
| 20 | New Mexico | 2,088,070 | 63 | 3% |
Most common cities for analytical chemists
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Midland | 2 | 5% | $59,206 |
| 2 | Alameda | 3 | 4% | $62,922 |
| 3 | Burbank | 3 | 3% | $56,592 |
| 4 | Plymouth | 2 | 3% | $57,751 |
| 5 | Madison | 6 | 2% | $52,729 |
| 6 | Durham | 4 | 2% | $54,086 |
| 7 | Ann Arbor | 3 | 2% | $59,271 |
| 8 | Battle Creek | 1 | 2% | $58,792 |
| 9 | Gilbert | 2 | 1% | $53,340 |
| 10 | Saint Louis | 2 | 1% | $64,912 |
| 11 | Bethlehem | 1 | 1% | $54,408 |
| 12 | Baltimore | 2 | 0% | $73,999 |
| 13 | Indianapolis | 2 | 0% | $55,782 |
| 14 | Philadelphia | 2 | 0% | $54,412 |
Analytical Chemist job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of analytical chemist experts
Queens University of Charlotte
California State University - East Bay
Elmira College
Justin Moss
Assistant ProfessorQueens University of Charlotte
Chemistry
What general advice would you give to an Analytical Chemist?
Justin Moss: Chemistry is a good profession to enter due to its evolving and interdisciplinary nature, job demand, competitive salaries, and rewarding work.
What Analytical Chemist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Justin Moss: Likes: Ability to contribute positively to world advances, rewarding & intellectually stimulating work, ability to be creative. Dislikes: Investment of time to earn an advanced degree, continuous on-the-job training, amount of math involved.
What will help Analytical Chemists increase their earning potential?
Justin Moss: The primary duties of a research chemist include designing and conducting experimental procedures, preparing solutions, using specialized equipment, data analytics software, observing safety protocols, reporting work in written documents, and communicating orally in group meetings. Work is done independently and in a team setting.
What general advice would you give to an Analytical Chemist?
Monika Sommerhalter: Know your worth and look for opportunities to grow. Set yourself professional goals, whether it is a large goal (such as getting a promotion) or smaller goals (attending a workshop to master a new skill) on an ongoing basis. Keep your resume up-to-date so that it is easier for you to apply for new job opportunities within or outside of your company.
What Analytical Chemist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Monika Sommerhalter: Expand and take care of your professional network throughout your career. Start by keeping in touch with your peers and mentors from university. Personal connections can help you find more job openings and professional development opportunities. If you surround yourself with a supportive professional network, your career path will also feel more rewarding.
What will help Analytical Chemists increase their earning potential?
Monika Sommerhalter: The skill of learning itself! Being able to acquire new skills will become more important as technological progress speeds up. With more automation and machine assisted analysis, more data will be generated. The ability to distinguish relevant and meaningful information from superfluous data without getting overwhelmed will therefore also matter. Communication skills will always be relevant. Research and production teams need group members who can communicate their findings in an efficient and clear manner. With respect to Chemistry: Most analytical chemistry techniques, for example High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), will remain important for many years to come, but there will always be extensions and new developments, such as Ultra(HPLC) and new chromatography materials and detection methods. Having a solid foundation and to understand the basic principles of essential laboratory techniques in Chemistry combined with a curious and open mind to appreciate or even come-up with novel developments is a great recipe for success!
What general advice would you give to an Analytical Chemist?
Dr. Betsy Smith: I would advise students just graduating to be flexible and open-minded in their job search. Chemistry is a challenging major, and students who succeed in it have learned how to learn, so they shouldn't assume that pure chemistry is the only thing they can do. One growing field is biomedical research, and chemistry majors are often qualified for jobs in that area. If you have other strengths like writing, there are often jobs that can combine them as a technical writer or work for a science journal. There are jobs out there that might be perfect for you that you haven't heard of until you see an ad for it, so be open to different possibilities.
What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Analytical Chemists in the next 3-5 years?
Dr. Betsy Smith: Honestly, I think anytime a scientist tries to predict what will be "big" in a few years, they're likely to fail. That said, I think there's a growing interest among consumers for more "green" products, so research into those areas will likely grow. For instance, we might see attempts to develop new plastics that are safer for the environment and humans, perhaps biodegradable. Organic chemistry traditionally uses harsh solvents and chemicals that are difficult to dispose of safely, so there is an effort to find alternatives to these. Analytical chemistry techniques for separating and identifying compounds, like GC-MS (gas chromatography-mass spectrometry), will likely continue to be necessary. CRISPR, the relatively new gene-editing technology, is likely to become even more widely used on the biochemistry side of things.
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Analytical Chemists?
Dr. Betsy Smith: I am sure the pandemic is going to have lasting effects on everything, chemistry included. I think all industries are going to continue allowing more working from home when it's appropriate. For bench chemists, that will rarely mean fully at-home because of lab work, but it might mean going in, setting up an automated reactor, and monitoring it from home while analyzing data. There will be a lot more research into coronaviruses and how to treat coronavirus infections. That seems like it would be more biological or medical, but there's a lot of chemistry involved in drugs and drug design, and a lot of overlap between chemistry and biology.