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Job outlook for chemistry supervisors in the United States
Are chemistry supervisor jobs in demand?
Chemistry supervisor job and salary trends over time
Chemistry supervisor jobs over time
Chemistry supervisor job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 378 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 387 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 387 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 381 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 382 | 0.00% |
Average chemistry supervisor salary over time
Chemistry supervisor salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $68,986 | $33.17 | +2.8% |
| 2024 | $67,111 | $32.27 | --0.7% |
| 2023 | $67,595 | $32.50 | +2.5% |
| 2022 | $65,917 | $31.69 | +2.0% |
| 2021 | $64,646 | $31.08 | +0.9% |
Chemistry supervisor jobs by state
Most common states for chemistry supervisors
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 29 | 4% |
| 2 | Nevada | 2,998,039 | 85 | 3% |
| 3 | Iowa | 3,145,711 | 84 | 3% |
| 4 | North Dakota | 755,393 | 23 | 3% |
| 5 | New York | 19,849,399 | 456 | 2% |
| 6 | Ohio | 11,658,609 | 268 | 2% |
| 7 | North Carolina | 10,273,419 | 238 | 2% |
| 8 | Pennsylvania | 12,805,537 | 226 | 2% |
| 9 | New Jersey | 9,005,644 | 209 | 2% |
| 10 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 168 | 2% |
| 11 | Indiana | 6,666,818 | 142 | 2% |
| 12 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 117 | 2% |
| 13 | Kentucky | 4,454,189 | 72 | 2% |
| 14 | Connecticut | 3,588,184 | 60 | 2% |
| 15 | Maine | 1,335,907 | 32 | 2% |
| 16 | West Virginia | 1,815,857 | 28 | 2% |
| 17 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 26 | 2% |
| 18 | Alaska | 739,795 | 18 | 2% |
| 19 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 17 | 2% |
| 20 | Vermont | 623,657 | 14 | 2% |
Most common cities for chemistry supervisors
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anaheim | 1 | 0% | $74,237 |
| 2 | Baltimore | 1 | 0% | $72,530 |
Chemistry Supervisor job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of chemistry supervisor experts
College of Idaho
SUNY at Albany
Ohio University Southern
Wake Forest University
University of Utah
Meredith College
Boston College
Point Loma Nazarene University
University of Minnesota, Morris
High Point University
Georgia College and State University
Maryville University
Elmira College
Oral Roberts University
Norfolk State University
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Rider University
Changqing Chen Ph.D.
Associate ProfessorWhat will help Chemistry Supervisors increase their earning potential?
Changqing Chen Ph.D.: Try to develop some business skills on product marketing and sales. Try to apply your scientific and engineering skills to business and become an all-around player.
What general advice would you give to a Chemistry Supervisor?
Bonnie Cantrell: Chemistry is the backbone to most protocols for the material, medical, and biological sciences.
Without chemistry, we would not know many of the things we know today. It will always be relevant in
helping change the scientific world as we know it. The advancements in science technology alone makes
chemistry today more exciting than ever. Just with balances from 1980's to now, we went from only
being able to weigh with counter balance weights to having a digital scale read accurately to 0.001
milligrams. Chemistry used to be more theoretical and only explainable from what we could make react
together. Now we have technology that can visualize the chemical composition and structure allowing
for us to create solutions to problems we could only dream of before. Whether you are wanting danger,
to save lives, or to help make this planet a better place to live, being a chemist can help you fuel your
passions.
What will help Chemistry Supervisors increase their earning potential?
Bonnie Cantrell: When a chemist enters the job field, there is three main options for them: academia,
government, or industry. In academia, there are two types of careers: lecturers and researchers. A
lecturer position usually teaches the introductory level classes and one or two advanced level courses. A
majority of their days revolve around creating course content, setting up teaching laboratories,
mentoring students, and grading. Research professors typically teach the upper level courses in their
research specialty, but overall teach less courses than a lecturer to allow time for research. A majority of
a researcher's days include the same tasks as the lecturer, but they also work on writing grants to
continue to fund their research and edit manuscripts for journal publication of their research. Both
positions are also required to participate on committees that create the structure for the school's future
directions. Faculty entering academia all work towards becoming tenured. Those that have made it,
have job security and more confidence in their jobs.
Entry government positions and most of industry for a chemist would be a lot more directly
involved with laboratory work. The laboratory work you do though is almost always dictated by your
employer. This means you don't get to study what you are interested in, but you can focus more on the
chemistry as you don't have to teach and constantly apply for grants. Usually advancement in these
types of careers changes your day to day into more regulation and management responsibilities and less
hands-on involvement with chemicals.
What general advice would you give to a Chemistry Supervisor?
Dr. Kevin Francis: I am a firm believer that if you love your job you will never work a day in your life, so feel this
should not be the primary goal. Many of those I was in school with make triple or even more
than my salary but have expressed dissatisfaction with their jobs. Some have switched jobs
multiple times due to this dissatisfaction. At the same time, if you have invested in your
education and training you should at least make a living wage.
In Chemistry at least a Master's degree is needed for most decent paying jobs. I encourage
students not to fear graduate schools and remain confident. Apply to those offering intership
opportunities or other on the job trainings. Many of our graduate students complete these during
the summer. Many of the internships lead to good jobs in those companies upon graduation.
It is more important to enjoy your job though than to get paid a lot to do it.
Alan Chen Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Dept of Chemistry & the RNA Institute, University at AlbanySUNY at Albany
Chemistry
What Chemistry Supervisor skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Alan Chen Ph.D.: Our most successful students start research no later than sophomore year and many opt for our 5-year combined BS/MS track. These students outcompete BS-level applicants for entry-level jobs, and start at higher salary and responsibility levels as many companies will count time in graduate school as "prior experience". The MS degree is particularly versatile as it can also be earned part-time by current employees looking to advance, and unlike the PhD does not over-qualify you for the vast majority of entry level chemist positions. MS degrees typically enable early-career chemists to move up the ranks into management or team-leader positions after a few years. They are also a possible way for recent grads who were unable to get a job due to lack of research experience in undergrad, to get that crucial research experience during their MS thesis, and possibly even upgrade-in-place to our PhD program if they are doing really well. Basically, there seems to be no drawback to getting an MS in Chemistry at a research-intensive university for the vast majority of scientific career tracks.
Kyle Kemats Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of InstructionOhio University Southern
Chemistry Department
What hard/technical skills are most important for Chemistry Supervisors?
Kyle Kemats Ph.D.: As I mentioned in question 1, training/experience on various instruments is the most important for industry/research jobs. For teaching positions, experience with different pedagogical/education techniques will be helpful for a potential candidate.
What skills will help Chemistry Supervisors earn the most?
Kyle Kemats Ph.D.: Communication, original thinking, as well as hard skills (training on instruments).
Brian Mendenhall
Associate Director and Career CoachWake Forest University
Office of Personal and Career Development
What skills stand out on Chemistry Supervisor resumes?
Brian Mendenhall: Two things that stand out for me, regardless of whether the person is seeking employment in research or industry, are data analysis (Excel, Python, R) and presentation skills. Research specific skills would also include experimental design and specific relevant laboratory techniques & equipment experience.
What soft skills should all Chemistry Supervisors possess?
Brian Mendenhall: In the past, the most important attributes have been leadership and problem-solving skills. If the pandemic has taught us anything, the most important attribute is the ability to work with others and get along in multiple virtual and in-person environments. The rest seem elementary and are all dependent on each other. To work well on a team, you need to problem-solve, both on the topic and on how to share information. To solve problems, you need to be analytical and quantitative. Certainly, to do this well, you need to communicate across diverse audiences and levels of understanding. The National Association of Colleges and Employers surveys employers on these priorities and updates the results frequently. (see below for your reference)
Ability to work in a team 81.0%
Problem-solving skills 79.0%
Analytical/quantitative skills 76.1%
Communication skills (verbal) 73.2%
Communication skills (written)
https://www.naceweb.org/about-us/press/the-key-attributes-employers-seek-on-college-graduates-resumes/
Shelley Minteer Ph.D.
Dale and Susan Poulter Endowed Chair in Biological Chemistry, Associate Chair of ChemistryUniversity of Utah
Department Of Chemistry
What skills stand out on Chemistry Supervisor resumes?
Shelley Minteer Ph.D.: The skills that stand out are research experience, characterization instrumentation experience, and more recently, data science experience and coding experience, as machine learning and AI become more and more important in chemistry.
Alexandra (Sasha) Ormond Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Chemistry, Director of Dual Degree EngineeringMeredith College
Department of Chemistry, Physics, and Geoscience
What general advice would you give to a Chemistry Supervisor?
Alexandra (Sasha) Ormond Ph.D.: Chemistry graduates should be open minded, and ready to absorb and use information. They should be confident in themselves, and since they're still learning, they should not hesitate to ask for help and advice. If students haven't learned how to fail, they should go into a career ready for potential failures, and they will need to be ready to handle failures and move on.
What will help Chemistry Supervisors increase their earning potential?
Alexandra (Sasha) Ormond Ph.D.: Using automation and AI are becoming more important to do more with less people and less time. Working in interdisciplinary teams where you are the only expert in your field, and you will need to communicate to others who may not understand the content on the same level as you.
Dunwei Wang Ph.D.
Margaret A & Thomas A Vanderslice Chair in Chemistry, Professor of Chemistry, Chairperson of Chemistry DepartmentBoston College
Chemistry Department
What skills stand out on Chemistry Supervisor resumes?
Dunwei Wang Ph.D.: Skills to identify and solve problems.
What soft skills should all Chemistry Supervisors possess?
Dunwei Wang Ph.D.: Problem-solving skills. When presented with a problem, knowing where to go to find information to solve it.
What hard/technical skills are most important for Chemistry Supervisors?
Dunwei Wang Ph.D.: Chemistry is a diverse field. As a foundational discipline, it enables several sub-fields and supports emerging new fields. As one example, our graduates become experts in medical research, health care, and scientists and engineers in many other fields. Depending on the different career goals, what is important can be drastically different. Generally speaking, doing bench work (either in the lab or on a computer) should be a good skill to have at graduation.
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Chemistry Supervisors?
Dr. Matthieu Rouffet Ph.D.: We have tried to avoid that as much as possible. Still, we know that for one semester (Fall 2020), students did not acquire many hands-on skills in chemistry courses because everything was done remotely. We are not quite sure if this will have an enduring impact on graduates as we have tried to play "catch up" this semester, but it may well have. Another aspect to consider, in my opinion, is the increased level of stress, anxiety, and depression linked to isolation which might also impact our graduates.
What technical skills for a Chemistry Supervisor stand out to employers?
Dr. Matthieu Rouffet Ph.D.: Our PLNU graduates have a lot of hands-on experience (most courses have a lab component, and many of our students do summer research with a faculty member for two summers allowing them to spend over 800 hours in a lab), so employers regularly comment on the fact that they are ready to go from day one.
What experience really stands out on Chemistry Supervisor resumes?
Alyssa Pirinelli Ph.D.: Research experience as an undergraduate, even literature-based research experiences where lab-based ones are not available. Preferably at least a year, if possible, including summer research, with the presentation of their work via a poster session or talk to their peers. Getting research experience can sometimes start with a simple conversation with their faculty members or mentors and a conversation with their advisors/mentors on what field/area of research may be appropriate/applicable for the student's career plan.
Dr. Brian Augustine Ph.D.
Professor of Chemistry and ChairHigh Point University
Department of Chemistry
What type of skills will young Chemistry Supervisors need?
Dr. Brian Augustine Ph.D.: Students always need foundational technical skills. In addition to skills specific to chemistry and biochemistry, strong communication and interpersonal skills such as writing, speaking, and collaboration are vital, as are quantitative reasoning skills such as data analytics, statistical analysis, and programming.
What experience really stands out on Chemistry Supervisor resumes?
Peter Rosado: A while ago, I was a manager in cosmetics manufacturing before I became a professor and was in charge of hiring some new personnel, so I can attest that hiring managers are looking for candidates that are well rounded. That meaning is not just content knowledgeable, but candidates who can hold a conversation and interact with customers, clients, and peers. Knowledge about the world is also a plus.
Our company would do business in many countries and even national companies. Every time I would see a resume from a candidate with these qualities, I would pay close attention to it. Being able to interact with others, have leadership skills, and follow-through is a big positive. Problem-solving skills are hopefully acquired by obtaining a chemistry degree, but these other soft skills are developed by being involved in situations outside of the classroom/lab.
I recommend aspiring candidates to be involved in local organizations that pertain to their fields, maybe hold officer positions, interact with the public, etc. I encourage them to be involved in their field of study rather than spectating it.
What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Chemistry Supervisors in the next 3-5 years?
Peter Rosado: Right now, with COVID-19, I feel that the field of medicinal chemistry/biotechnology is going to see a boom. Materials science is also on the rise with alternative energies and new restorative therapies. The area of chemistry is not a more extended purist and more integrated/interdisciplinary. No longer can you call yourself an "inorganic chemist" or an "analytical chemist"? Graduates should be aware that flexibility and eagerness to learn new things is critical here. These are the skills obtained from a college degree, which is not the only subject matter. But the ability to think through and solve problems, be flexible, adaptable, etc.
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Chemistry Supervisors?
Anuradha Vummenthala: I don't envision the significant enduring impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on graduates looking for jobs in the Chemistry field. I do acknowledge that the current scenario appears gloomy. It has undoubtedly impacted everyone's lives socially, economically, and psychologically. But we, as humans and especially as Americans, have remarkable resilience, and we are bound to bounce back more vital than ever before.
We managed through the Great Recession and the economic crisis of 2008. The graduates may face some short-term challenges due to a hiring freeze and delayed start date on new hiring. However, the economy is slowly opening up, and opportunities will soon start pouring in. This is not going to last forever! Graduates can efficiently utilize this time to broaden their skill sets, expand their network, and explore non-traditional career paths like scientific writings, patent drafting, federal jobs, etc
What general advice would you give to a Chemistry Supervisor?
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.
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Chemistry Supervisors?
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.
Dr. William Collier Ph.D.
Professor of ChemistryOral Roberts University
Chemistry and Biology
What general advice would you give to a Chemistry Supervisor?
Dr. William Collier Ph.D.: Know where you want to go, and head in that direction. Be open to a lot of different starting positions; you are young and can change at this point in your career reasonably quickly. In short, if an exciting job comes up, it is not exactly what you are looking for, but you need a job. You might be surprised to find out what you do and do not like about it. You can always change a few years down the line. Work hard, be honest, treat others right, be a team person, and leave excellent impressions of yourself. You will live happier, and be surprised at how far your reputation (for good or ill) will travel. Verbal references to your work skill, talent, and work behavior can carry more weight than a resume.
What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Chemistry Supervisors in the next 3-5 years?
Suely Black Ph.D.: We cannot predict what new technologies will emerge, so it is essential to be adaptable and comfortable with learning how to use all kinds of techniques, mostly those that connect people.
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Chemistry Supervisors?
Kevin Belfield Ph.D.: It depends on what is meant by the impact. The current COVID-19 pandemic affects most everyone's personal and professional lives in profound and unanticipated (mostly unwelcome) ways. Concerning the professional growth of recent graduates, the short-term impact may be substantial, yet the long-term impact, we hope, will not be as consequential. What do I mean by this? While seeing our recent graduates in the chemical sciences fare well thus far, it's reasonable to expect an attenuation of the start of recent graduate's professional career due to the severe economic disruption in so many business sectors. However, the continued societal and technological need for chemists' skills and contributions to so many critical technologies, sustainability, and human health are long-term needs and will present numerous opportunities for graduates.
What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Chemistry Supervisors in the next 3-5 years?
Bryan Spiegelberg Ph.D.: Advances in many areas -- computing, communication, materials, energy, and so on -- all seem to converge on one technology: artificial intelligence. The ability of the global community to process information continues to change rapidly, and it isn't easy to predict. What's not hard to predict, though, is the impact that AI will have on job landscapes in the sciences and beyond. Budding chemists who have a grasp on big data, in its many forms, will be in the best position to use AI and to be at the forefront of the deployment of the tools that AI allows us to envision. These "modern" chemists are on track to be the leaders and the influencers, while others will be stuck playing catch up.