Chief Chemist Overview
Working as a Chief Chemist
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a chief chemist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $35.92 an hour? That's $74,723 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 3,500 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Chief Chemist Do
There are certain skills that many chief chemists have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, math skills and perseverance.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a chief chemist, we found that a lot of resumes listed 26.5% of chief chemists included laboratory procedures, while 10.2% of resumes included analytical methods, and 7.2% of resumes included product development. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the chief chemist job title. But what industry to start with? Most chief chemists actually find jobs in the manufacturing and utilities industries.
How To Become a Chief Chemist
If you're interested in becoming a chief chemist, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 35.4% of chief chemists have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 32.9% of chief chemists have master's degrees. Even though most chief chemists have a college degree, it's impossible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a chief chemist. When we researched the most common majors for a chief chemist, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on chief chemist resumes include doctoral degree degrees or associate degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a chief chemist. In fact, many chief chemist jobs require experience in a role such as chemist. Meanwhile, many chief chemists also have previous career experience in roles such as quality control chemist or laboratory technician.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the right jobs to get there.
Chief Chemist Jobs
Average Salary for a Chief Chemist
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Brilliant Health LLC Chief Extraction Chemist Chief Extraction Chemist | Brilliant Health LLC Brilliant Health LLC | 05/20/2019 05/20/2019 | $120,00005/20/2019 $120,000 |
Alphatech Holdings LLC Chief Chemist Chief Chemist | Alphatech Holdings LLC Alphatech Holdings LLC | 03/15/2019 03/15/2019 | $90,00003/15/2019 $90,000 |
SINO Lion USA LLC Chief Chemist Chief Chemist | SINO Lion USA LLC SINO Lion USA LLC | 03/12/2019 03/12/2019 | $95,00003/12/2019 $95,000 |
Grow More, Inc. Chief Chemist Chief Chemist | Grow More, Inc. Grow More, Inc. | 03/13/2018 03/13/2018 | $110,00003/13/2018 $110,000 |
M. A. Patout & Son, Ltd. Chief Chemist Chief Chemist | M. A. Patout & Son, Ltd. M. A. Patout & Son, Ltd. | 06/06/2016 06/06/2016 | $30,67906/06/2016 $30,679 |
Calculate your salary
Use Zippia's Salary Calculator to see how your pay matches up.
Top Colleges for Chief Chemists
1. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA
2. University of California - San Diego
La Jolla, CA
3. SUNY at Buffalo
Buffalo, NY
4. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI
5. University of California - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA
6. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC
7. University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA
8. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL
9. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY
10. Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN
Entry Level Jobs For Becoming A Chief Chemist
Top Skills For a Chief Chemist
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 26.5% of chief chemists listed laboratory procedures on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and math skills are important as well.
- Laboratory Equipment, 31.9%
- Analytical Techniques, 7.1%
- Product Development, 5.7%
- Raw Materials, 5.5%
- DOT, 4.9%
- Other Skills, 44.9% See All Chief Chemist Skills
Best States For a Chief Chemist
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a chief chemist. The best states for people in this position are Virginia, Delaware, New Mexico, and Vermont. Chief chemists make the most in Virginia with an average salary of $98,104. Whereas in Delaware and New Mexico, they would average $91,409 and $79,510, respectively. While chief chemists would only make an average of $78,228 in Vermont, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. District of Columbia
$95,418
Avg. Salary
2. Delaware
$91,409
Avg. Salary
3. Virginia
$98,105
Avg. Salary