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Job outlook for formulation technicians in the United States
Are formulation technician jobs in demand?
Formulation technician job and salary trends over time
Formulation technician jobs over time
Formulation technician job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,449 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 1,594 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 1,651 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 1,645 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 1,621 | 0.00% |
Average formulation technician salary over time
Formulation technician salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $48,107 | $23.13 | +1.1% |
| 2025 | $47,566 | $22.87 | +2.3% |
| 2024 | $46,504 | $22.36 | +1.9% |
| 2023 | $45,654 | $21.95 | +3.1% |
| 2022 | $44,263 | $21.28 | +2.6% |
Formulation technician jobs by state
Most common states for formulation technicians
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iowa | 3,145,711 | 398 | 13% |
| 2 | Alaska | 739,795 | 96 | 13% |
| 3 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 155 | 12% |
| 4 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 787 | 11% |
| 5 | Maine | 1,335,907 | 147 | 11% |
| 6 | Delaware | 961,939 | 105 | 11% |
| 7 | Vermont | 623,657 | 71 | 11% |
| 8 | Utah | 3,101,833 | 307 | 10% |
| 9 | Indiana | 6,666,818 | 593 | 9% |
| 10 | Wisconsin | 5,795,483 | 497 | 9% |
| 11 | Colorado | 5,607,154 | 489 | 9% |
| 12 | Illinois | 12,802,023 | 971 | 8% |
| 13 | Georgia | 10,429,379 | 862 | 8% |
| 14 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 471 | 8% |
| 15 | Connecticut | 3,588,184 | 303 | 8% |
| 16 | Kansas | 2,913,123 | 247 | 8% |
| 17 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 556 | 7% |
| 18 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 405 | 7% |
| 19 | Kentucky | 4,454,189 | 308 | 7% |
| 20 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 76 | 7% |
Most common cities for formulation technicians
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pleasanton | 6 | 7% | $55,752 |
| 2 | Frederick | 3 | 4% | $64,647 |
| 3 | Shrewsbury | 1 | 3% | $60,608 |
| 4 | Carlsbad | 2 | 2% | $48,424 |
| 5 | Midland | 1 | 2% | $37,680 |
| 6 | Sunnyvale | 2 | 1% | $56,199 |
| 7 | Santa Ana | 1 | 0% | $48,791 |
Formulation Technician job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of formulation technician experts
Ohio Dominican University
North Carolina State University
Northern Kentucky University
University of the Pacific
Northern Kentucky University
Southwestern College
University of Kentucky
College of Idaho
SUNY at Albany
Ohio University Southern
Wake Forest University
University of Utah
Meredith College
Boston College
What general advice would you give to a Formulation Technician?
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 Formulation Technician 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 Formulation Technicians increase their earning potential?
Dr. Christopher Martin: If you are a new chemistry graduate beginning your career as a chemist, understand that you are no longer going to be studying chemistry just to take a test and talk about how someone may hypothetically do chemistry. You will be expected to apply the fundamentals you learned and actually do chemistry. You may need to call upon skills in classes and labs that you didn't expect to use, and you may be trained in a new area or using new instrumentation that you have not seen before. Different fields in chemistry call on different skills, but skills are transferrable and skills will be what makes you valuable.
What will help Formulation Technicians increase their earning potential?
Mark Griep: I've never talked to my student trainees about the good and bad aspects of being a chemist. Personally, one of the great things about being a chemist is that nearly everyone else thinks you're a genius because they don't understand it. I suppose one of the bad things is that there is a level of danger associated with handling the chemicals. It's one of the reasons that chemists are always discussing safety protocols.
What general advice would you give to a Formulation Technician?
Lucian Lucia: EACH DAY PRESENTS A WHOLE NEW SET OF AMAZING AND DIVERSE OPPORTUNITIES WHICH WE OFTEN TAKE FOR GRANTED; FOR EXAMPLE, WE ARE THE CENTRAL SCIENCE AND THEREFORE PLUG INTO MEDICINE, BIOLOGY, MATERIALS, AND ENGINEERING AMONG A HOST OF DISCIPLINES IN WHICH CHEMISTRY, THE MOLECULAR SCIENCE, PLAYS A KEY ROLE. WE ARE TASKED WITH DEVELOPING OR ANALYZING CHEMICAL PHENOMENA FOR EACH OF THESE DISCIPLINES. GIVEN THAT CHEMISTRY DEALS WITH REACTIONS, MECHANISMS, AND THE MOLECULAR BEHAVIOR OF MATTER, WE TEND TO WORK AT A LAB, PILOT, OR EVEN INDUSTRIAL SCALE TO MONITOR THE EFFICIENCY, QUALITY, AND QUANTITY OF OUR REACTIONS. FOR INSTANCE, WE ARE CURRENTLY LOOKING AT PINE BARK AS A SOURCE OF VALUABLE ANTI-OXIDANTS FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION AND ARE THEREFORE COLLECTING THEM, GRINDING THEM, AND METICULOUSLY EXTRACTING THE ANTI-OXIDANTS. OUR HOPE IS TO DO THIS AT A LARGE SCALE IN WHICH TONS OF BARK ARE PRE-PROCESSED IN SUCH MANNER BEFORE THEIR NORMAL FATE OF BURNING FOR FUEL OR USE AS GROUND COVER (E.G., MULCH).
What general advice would you give to a Formulation Technician?
Isabelle Lagadic Ph.D.: My recommendation would be to have been involved in many internships, part-time jobs in industries in this field. A very successful internship may almost become the equivalent of an entry level position, and already provides a foot in the door to have access to higher level positions. Then, I would say to continue learning and take advantage of any professional development the company or organization may offer.
What Formulation Technician 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 will help Formulation Technicians increase their earning potential?
Isabelle Lagadic Ph.D.: To expect a significant difference between the academic place and the workplace in terms of the work expectations, time management, independent work, having to take initiatives, etc. Many chemistry (or science majors in general) graduates think that their degree prepared them well for a job and are both disappointed and overwhelmed when they are confronted with the reality of the workplace. Not that starting at an entry level in this field is complicated, but because they haven’t been taught the skills, both technical and soft, to feel comfortable in the workplace.
What general advice would you give to a Formulation Technician?
Konstantinos Vogiatzis: Chemistry is a scientific field that it stands by itself, but at the same time it offers the fundamental knowledge to other disciplines such as materials science, polymers, spectroscopy, biochemistry, and agriculture. This interdisciplinary character is pivotal for many technological applications related to medicine, environment, electronics, etc.
What Formulation Technician 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 Formulation Technicians increase their earning potential?
Konstantinos Vogiatzis: It’s hard to respond to this question, since chemical technology is exciting in any aspect! The chemical elements are the alphabet of a chemist, and the decillion of different combinations between them form an enormous chemical space that needs to be explored for the discovery of new, fascinating molecular structures. Modern AI is actively helping the chemist to navigate the molecular space. Some people (like me!) dislike the laborious chemical synthesis, but for others this is the true beauty of our discipline.
What Formulation Technician skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Kristina Stefaniak: Say yes to things at the beginning, those exposures will lead to gaining more knowledge and additional opportunities for advancement.
What general advice would you give to a Formulation Technician?
Dr. Jingbo Liu PhD: People in the chemistry profession often appreciate the opportunity to contribute to scientific advancement and the practical application of their work in improving people’s lives. The field offers continuous learning and the chance to work on diverse, cutting-edge projects. However, some challenges include the need for meticulous attention to detail, handling of potentially hazardous substances, and the pressure to produce results in research. Additionally, the work can sometimes be demanding and require long hours in the laboratory. Nevertheless, the satisfaction of making meaningful contributions to science and society and the intellectual stimulation provided by the field make it a rewarding profession for many.
What general advice would you give to a Formulation Technician?
Joseph Harrison: Chemistry is a good profession to have because it is in demand, since we are in a nanotechnology revolution there are/will be many jobs for chemists. Also, the problem-solving and analytical skills that Chemists use are useful for any industry.
What Formulation Technician 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.
What will help Formulation Technicians increase their earning potential?
Joseph Harrison: Chemists typically like using their problem-solving skills to advance science, but sometimes Chemists, especially in entry-level positions can be repetitive (i.e., doing the same analysis over and over again)
What will help Formulation Technicians 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 Formulation Technician skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dr. Daniel King: Chemistry is such a broad field that people with a wide range of skill sets have the opportunity to be successful. People who are particularly strong in math often gravitate towards careers associated with physical or analytical chemistry. People who struggle with math but have strong experimental skills can find a career in organic, inorganic or biochemistry. People who do not like laboratory work but like chemistry might find a career as a theoretical or computational chemist. Careers might involve working in an office, working in a laboratory or working outside, depending on the subdiscipline that you choose. In addition, chemistry is likely to be part of the solution to many, if not most, of the world’s biggest problems, such as climate change, health, clean water, agriculture, affordable energy, pollution. Consequently, it is unlikely that the need for chemists will be diminishing anytime soon.
What will help Formulation Technicians increase their earning potential?
Dr. Daniel King: This is also going to vary dramatically based on the type of chemistry that someone does. Many people like understanding and/or discovering what is going on at a fundamental level, and chemistry provides that opportunity. While many chemists like working in a lab, some chemists do not like lab work, due to the strong smells, the potential health hazards, and/or the repetitiveness of some of the work. Many chemists like the opportunity to learn something new on a regular basis. Some chemists like the pay, which is often good relative to some other professions. The diversity of career paths is popular among chemists. Chemists can work at traditional chemical companies making new chemicals; they can work at pharmaceutical companies to develop drugs; they can work with materials, such as printing and building materials; they can work at cosmetics companies or in the food industry; they can work to understand the environment and/or to solve environmental problems. Many chemistry students might dislike the focus on math or the heavy workload, although this is probably less of an issue for professional chemists, as someone who has become a professional chemist has hopefully chosen a subdiscipline that aligns with their interests.
What will help Formulation Technicians 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 Formulation Technician skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Bonnie Cantrell: When I ask students and faculty what they enjoy about being a chemist, their answers are
always related to enjoying the science. This includes getting to work with lasers, making drugs,
exploding things, setting things on fire, solving problems, explaining the unexplainable, and never
knowing what you are going to find out, but enjoying the adventure. There is a thrill to science that can
be coupled with any moral cause. Those that get to choose their research have even more freedom to
structure what they do to their passions. Making the world a better place and having fun while doing it
is a goal for a lot of scientists. Being a chemist allows thousands of people to do that every day making
chemistry a very rewarding career.
With any job it is usually the work load and/or regulations that make the job less enjoyable.
Working with chemicals can be exciting, but it can also be extremely dangerous to our health and those
around us. As worker safety became more of a focus for the government, the chemical industry changed
drastically with a focus on laboratory safety. This meant more regulations and documentation. Grants
are also extremely competitive and the review process on a manuscript is very time consuming. A
majority of advanced level chemists are forced into doing more paperwork and less hands-on laboratory
science as they gain more responsibilities. Essentially the whole reason they enjoyed doing science is
buried in paperwork.
While all chemists would like more time to do science, it is their mentees that really make it
worth it. There is a pride in being able to help someone else succeed that is seen on every professors'
face when their student gets into a great school, a great job, finally figures out that problem, etc. It is
the alumni coming back and talking about the professors that inspired them to be successful in some
way. This is what gets me out of bed in the morning. The feeling of being able to do more than I
physically can myself because I am in proxy mentoring hundreds of people every year to be the best
they can be. I can fail in my life, but still have a lasting legacy and positive impact through others. That is
what makes chemistry great.
Alan Chen Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Dept of Chemistry & the RNA Institute, University at AlbanySUNY at Albany
Chemistry
What will help Formulation Technicians increase their earning potential?
Alan Chen Ph.D.: The core skills required for most chemistry positions will likely be unchanged (i.e. analytical chemistry for QA/QC roles) however desired auxiliary skills might include familiarity with data science, laboratory automation and AI/ML which are all becoming increasingly important in the scientific workplace)
Kyle Kemats Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of InstructionOhio University Southern
Chemistry Department
What hard/technical skills are most important for Formulation Technicians?
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 Formulation Technician 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 Formulation Technicians 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 Formulation Technician 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 Formulation Technicians 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 Formulation Technicians 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 Formulation Technicians 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 Formulation Technicians?
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.