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Job outlook for cosmetic chemists in the United States
Are cosmetic chemist jobs in demand?
Cosmetic chemist job and salary trends over time
Cosmetic chemist jobs over time
Cosmetic chemist job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,147 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 1,181 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 1,189 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 1,204 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 1,201 | 0.00% |
Average cosmetic chemist salary over time
Cosmetic chemist salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $59,876 | $28.79 | +2.2% |
| 2024 | $58,615 | $28.18 | +1.0% |
| 2023 | $58,056 | $27.91 | +2.9% |
| 2022 | $56,433 | $27.13 | +1.4% |
| 2021 | $55,678 | $26.77 | +3.5% |
Cosmetic chemist jobs by state
Most common states for cosmetic chemists
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 542 | 8% |
| 2 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 243 | 4% |
| 3 | Delaware | 961,939 | 34 | 4% |
| 4 | California | 39,536,653 | 997 | 3% |
| 5 | Pennsylvania | 12,805,537 | 381 | 3% |
| 6 | New Jersey | 9,005,644 | 314 | 3% |
| 7 | Wisconsin | 5,795,483 | 160 | 3% |
| 8 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 150 | 3% |
| 9 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 129 | 3% |
| 10 | Iowa | 3,145,711 | 89 | 3% |
| 11 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 46 | 3% |
| 12 | Ohio | 11,658,609 | 191 | 2% |
| 13 | Missouri | 6,113,532 | 145 | 2% |
| 14 | Washington | 7,405,743 | 134 | 2% |
| 15 | Indiana | 6,666,818 | 102 | 2% |
| 16 | Connecticut | 3,588,184 | 68 | 2% |
| 17 | Utah | 3,101,833 | 55 | 2% |
| 18 | New Mexico | 2,088,070 | 50 | 2% |
| 19 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 23 | 2% |
| 20 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 16 | 2% |
Most common cities for cosmetic chemists
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michigan City | 1 | 3% | $61,204 |
| 2 | Burbank | 1 | 1% | $58,291 |
| 3 | Livermore | 1 | 1% | $63,157 |
| 4 | Stamford | 1 | 1% | $58,372 |
| 5 | Bakersfield | 1 | 0% | $59,808 |
| 6 | Chicago | 1 | 0% | $55,209 |
| 7 | Cincinnati | 1 | 0% | $62,360 |
| 8 | San Jose | 1 | 0% | $62,880 |
| 9 | Washington | 1 | 0% | $79,507 |
Cosmetic Chemist job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of cosmetic chemist experts
Ohio Dominican University
North Carolina State University
Northern Kentucky University
University of the Pacific
Brigham Young University
Northern Kentucky University
Southwestern College
University of Kentucky
College of Idaho
Ohio University Southern
Wake Forest University
University of Utah
Meredith College
Boston College
Boise State University
Harding University
High Point University
What general advice would you give to a Cosmetic Chemist?
John Richardson: Skills? Well, both hard and soft... Obviously, you will need to have the basic lab and knowledge skills that would be expected of a competent chemistry graduate. Yes, your new employer will spend time training you in the specific skills that pertain to your new job, but basic knowledge and skill sets (e.g., pipetting, calculating dilution factors, having baseline knowledge of common instrumentation) will be expected. As for soft skills, be friendly, cooperative, and curious. Extend these character traits to both your peers and supervisors. Other useful skills that my former students mention would be having some basic knowledge of business and perhaps coding.
What Cosmetic Chemist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
John Richardson: Good general advice to someone just beginning in a new career would be to keep that work ethic up...Show up when you are supposed to and work the hours that you are contractually obligated to work. Of course, set firm boundaries as well. If you are going above and beyond, be sure that your supervisor is noticing and in your court to see that you are properly compensated or otherwise rewarded.
What Cosmetic Chemist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dr. Christopher Martin: I believe that some of the important skills that chemists will find in the field in the next 3-5 years include the ability to be self-motivated, flexible, and to be a self-learner. The increase in the use of AI, automated processes, and digital resources will ask the chemist of the future to do more than we ever imagined in the past. Being able to learn, pivot, and leverage these emerging technologies in the chemical field will separate the new chemists from the older generation and whoever is willing to learn and lead in these areas will be highly successful.
What will help Cosmetic Chemists increase their earning potential?
Lucian Lucia: THIS IS A VERY LOADED QUESTION! CHEMISTS RECOGNIZE HOW IMPERATIVE IT REMAINS FOR CHANGING THE QUALITY OF OUR LIVES, YET, WE INTENSELY FEEL AND FACE THE BURDEN OF ITS IMAGE AS A POLLUTING FORCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD. IN MANY WAYS, WE HAVE BROUGHT THE BURDEN ON OURSELVES BY NOT RECOGNIZING AND EMBRACING THE POTENTIAL OF GREEN CHEMISTRY AS A FORCE FOR GOOD AND CHANGE. AS WITH ANY TECHNOLOGY, THERE ARE PROS AND CONS, BUT THE COMMUNITY OF CHEMISTRY HAS NOT SUFFICIENTLY PROVIDED A COGENT ARGUMENT FOR WHY IT SHOULD BE PURSUED BY MANY MORE STUDENTS. TODAY, MORE THAN EVER, IT HAS CAUGHT THE ATTENTION OF MANY OTHER DISCIPLINES WHO DIP THEIR FEET IN IT BECAUSE IT IS SO ESSENTIAL TO MANY OF THE CHALLENGES WE ENUMERATED ABOVE. WE ARE A NOBLE PROFESSON, LIKE LAW OR MEDICINE, BUT SHROUDED IN MYSTERY BECAUSE WE DO NOT TEND TO ENGAGE IN ARGUMENTS OVERCOMING THE POLEMICS WE FACE IN SOCIETY. CHEMISTRY CAN DO A LOT OF GOOD, BUT WE NEED TO MANAGE OUR SCIENCE TO FOCUS ON ITS SUSTAINABILITY AND PROCLAIM IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS.
What Cosmetic Chemist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Isabelle Lagadic Ph.D.: I’ve met employers asking me if I could teach my students basic skills like “being on time”, “writing a proper email”, “clearly and carefully documenting their work”, “using critical thinking to stop a recording or an experiment when it is obvious that it is not working”. Those very basic skills that everyone takes for granted in addition of basic technical skills are going to become the most prevalent in the coming years. What’s scary is the collision between the inevitable advancement of Ai in this field and this lack of basic skills. It is difficult to train people on tomorrow’s skills if they don’t already master today’s skills.
What Cosmetic Chemist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Konstantinos Vogiatzis: The day-to-day work heavily depends on the actual position. It might include the application of analytical or spectroscopic techniques for quality control, synthesis of molecules or materials, or simply the utilization of computers for the simulation of chemical processes.
What will help Cosmetic Chemists increase their earning potential?
Dr. Jingbo Liu PhD: A chemist’s day-to-day tasks vary greatly depending on their specific role and field. However, everyday tasks include designing and conducting experiments, analyzing data, writing reports, and maintaining safety protocols in the laboratory. Someone entering the field might start as a laboratory assistant or technician, preparing samples, maintaining equipment, and assisting with experiments and research. They could also be involved in data analysis, using various software tools to interpret and visualize experimental results. Furthermore, they may participate in team meetings to discuss their findings and plan future research directions. It’s a dynamic and exciting field with plenty of opportunities for learning and growth.
What Cosmetic Chemist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Joseph Harrison: Chemistry is an expansive field and chemists do a wide range of things from helping to make new pharmaceutical drugs, to testing water for contaminants, to working on specialized equipment used to identify characteristics of new molecules.
Dr. Jaron Hansen
Professor and ChairBrigham Young University
Chemistry
What will help Cosmetic Chemists increase their earning potential?
Dr. Jaron Hansen: Chemists are involved in a wide range of jobs on a day-to-day basis. A chemist's day-to-day activities can vary widely depending on their specific role, industry, and field of specialization. However, here are some common tasks that chemists might engage in: Research and Experimentation, Analysis and Testing, Product Development, Quality Control, Data Analysis and Interpretation, Documentation and Reporting, Collaboration and Communication, Lab Maintenance and Safety.
What will help Cosmetic Chemists increase their earning potential?
Patrick Hare: Facility with using and interpreting AI results is an obvious growing need. Many of those skills are just applied analytical and critical thinking. The trick will be to do the applying and keep them fresh. Understanding how the systems work will also be useful.
What will help Cosmetic Chemists increase their earning potential?
David Hecht Ph.D.: Work to stay positive and have a 'can do' attitude. Be willing to take on new tasks, responsibilities and try to go the 'extra mile'. Don't be afraid to say you do not know how to do something, but are willing to learn.
What general advice would you give to a Cosmetic Chemist?
Arthur Cammers: Non-academic chemists, or more broadly, molecular scientists, perform and direct laboratory work to research creative ways to develop, control quality, or improve products in manufacturing, textiles, polymer/ plastics, paints/ coatings, battery, pharmaceutical, toxicology, food, material safety/ compliance to standards or environmental analysis.
What general advice would you give to a Cosmetic Chemist?
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.
Kyle Kemats Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of InstructionOhio University Southern
Chemistry Department
What soft skills should all Cosmetic Chemists possess?
Kyle Kemats Ph.D.: Communication skills are crucial, regardless of the type of position. Chemists need to be able to effectively communicate their findings, as well as communicate with their supervisors and colleagues. Additionally, chemists may be asked to train newer employees, further highlighting the importance of these communication skills.
What hard/technical skills are most important for Cosmetic Chemists?
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.
Brian Mendenhall
Associate Director and Career CoachWake Forest University
Office of Personal and Career Development
What skills stand out on Cosmetic Chemist 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 Cosmetic Chemists 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/
What skills will help Cosmetic Chemists earn the most?
Brian Mendenhall: One very important skill that will help you achieve the most is emotional intelligence, knowing yourself and your environment, how your colleagues and team receive and deliver information most effectively. Sensing the culture, fit, the timing of the environment, and how the organization develops/awards employees can be pivotal for growth. Eventually, having enough EQ and experience to manage a team and maintain momentum will help you get to the top.
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 Cosmetic Chemist 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.
What soft skills should all Cosmetic Chemists possess?
Shelley Minteer Ph.D.: The most important soft skills are communication and people management skills. It is critical to be strong in both oral and written communication.
Alexandra (Sasha) Ormond Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Chemistry, Director of Dual Degree EngineeringMeredith College
Department of Chemistry, Physics, and Geoscience
What will help Cosmetic Chemists 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 soft skills should all Cosmetic Chemists 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 Cosmetic Chemists?
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.
Adam Colson Ph.D.
Assistant ProfessorBoise State University
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Cosmetic Chemists?
Adam Colson Ph.D.: I believe that the impact of the pandemic will manifest itself in several ways, the most obvious being the anemic job market associated with economic contraction in certain industrial sectors. Equally concerning, albeit less obvious, are the opportunity losses experienced by students during the pandemic. The technical skills of chemistry and related sciences are best learned by hands-on experience, but the pandemic has impacted experiential learning at all levels, from first-year general chemistry labs to graduate-level thesis work. Students who are requested to submit research or capstone portfolios as part of their applications for employment or admission to graduate school could find that their applications are less competitive than those of their peers who have not experienced pandemic-related disruptions.
What soft skills should all Cosmetic Chemists possess?
Adam Colson Ph.D.: All graduates should work to develop their narrative skills, regardless of major or academic discipline. Compelling narratives can create a connection between people and communicate ideas in ways that few other forms of communication can. Graduates who are able to hone the art of the narrative and utilize classical narrative practices throughout the job application process will find that their application materials and interviews will make lasting impressions on hiring managers and committees, ultimately resulting in more successful job searches.
What Cosmetic Chemist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dennis Province Ph.D.: In the field of science, it is always a good idea to have all the skills that you can get. If you want to work in a microbiology lab, you should think about learning some chemistry or statistics. Important work never stays in one tiny corner of science; it bridges many fields and so should your skill set. People skills are also very important. Can you talk to people and communicate and listen to new ideas?
A gap year usually implies finding work as a research technician before applying to graduate or professional school. If this is the case, one question that employers and graduate programs have about their applicants are about their fitness: can they withstand the rigor at the next level? A recent graduate needs to show evidence that they are responsible and timely. The gap year should be filled with activities that show this.
Dr. Brian Augustine Ph.D.
Professor of Chemistry and ChairHigh Point University
Department of Chemistry
What type of skills will young Cosmetic Chemists 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.