Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
Job outlook for senior research chemists in the United States
Senior research chemist job growth summary. After extensive research, interviews, and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
The projected senior research chemist job growth rate is 6% from 2018-2028.
About 5,700 new jobs for senior research chemists are projected over the next decade.
Senior research chemist salaries have increased 8% for senior research chemists in the last 5 years.
There are over 16,278 senior research chemists currently employed in the United States.
There are 55,511 active senior research chemist job openings in the US.
The average senior research chemist salary is $95,520.
Are senior research chemist jobs in demand?
Senior research chemist job and salary trends over time
Senior research chemist jobs over time
Senior research chemist job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 16,278 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 16,751 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 16,870 | 0.01% |
| 2018 | 17,078 | 0.01% |
| 2017 | 17,045 | 0.01% |
Average senior research chemist salary over time
Senior research chemist salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $95,520 | $45.92 | +2.2% |
| 2024 | $93,508 | $44.96 | +1.0% |
| 2023 | $92,617 | $44.53 | +2.9% |
| 2022 | $90,027 | $43.28 | +1.4% |
| 2021 | $88,823 | $42.70 | +3.5% |
Senior research chemist jobs by state
Most common states for senior research chemists
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vermont | 623,657 | 90 | 14% |
| 2 | Delaware | 961,939 | 122 | 13% |
| 3 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 827 | 12% |
| 4 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 682 | 12% |
| 5 | Colorado | 5,607,154 | 667 | 12% |
| 6 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 512 | 12% |
| 7 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 166 | 12% |
| 8 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 132 | 12% |
| 9 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 80 | 12% |
| 10 | California | 39,536,653 | 4,448 | 11% |
| 11 | Utah | 3,101,833 | 297 | 10% |
| 12 | Illinois | 12,802,023 | 1,147 | 9% |
| 13 | Pennsylvania | 12,805,537 | 1,120 | 9% |
| 14 | New Jersey | 9,005,644 | 844 | 9% |
| 15 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 791 | 9% |
| 16 | Connecticut | 3,588,184 | 321 | 9% |
| 17 | Nebraska | 1,920,076 | 175 | 9% |
| 18 | Maine | 1,335,907 | 114 | 9% |
| 19 | South Dakota | 869,666 | 76 | 9% |
| 20 | Wyoming | 579,315 | 51 | 9% |
Most common cities for senior research chemists
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Idaho Falls | 1 | 2% | $94,414 |
| 2 | Cambridge | 1 | 1% | $105,850 |
| 3 | Huntsville | 1 | 1% | $84,106 |
| 4 | Lawrence | 1 | 1% | $89,669 |
| 5 | Little Rock | 1 | 1% | $75,822 |
| 6 | Lowell | 1 | 1% | $105,358 |
| 7 | Pasadena | 1 | 1% | $107,407 |
| 8 | Springfield | 1 | 1% | $87,474 |
| 9 | Atlanta | 1 | 0% | $89,944 |
| 10 | Baton Rouge | 1 | 0% | $82,452 |
| 11 | Durham | 1 | 0% | $88,601 |
| 12 | Sacramento | 1 | 0% | $120,923 |
Senior Research Chemist job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of senior research chemist experts
Queens University of Charlotte
California State University - East Bay
Ohio Dominican University
North Carolina State University
Northern Kentucky University
University of the Pacific
Brigham Young University
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Jackson State University
Northern Kentucky University
Washington State University
What general advice would you give to a Senior Research Chemist?
Dr. Taufika Williams PhD: Finding a job at with an undergraduate degree may be quite doable but upward mobility in your career often requires a terminal degree (i.e. PhD). Stay in school for as long as you can! Some students will work in biotechnology for a few years after their undergraduate studies are over and then return to school for graduate education. The work experience can tremendously benefit graduate research.
What will help Senior Research Chemists increase their earning potential?
Dr. Taufika Williams PhD: Get as many graduate degrees as you are able to as it will really bump up your starting salary. An MS is great but stick around for the PhD if you can. Terminal degrees can open doors for career growth and upward mobility.
What general advice would you give to a Senior Research 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 Senior Research 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 will help Senior Research Chemists increase their earning potential?
Aurora Clark: With a BS degree there will be some limitations associated with professional advancement and the ability to be a team leader.
What will help Senior Research Chemists increase their earning potential?
Dr. Melanie Wilcox Ph.D., ABPP: This is more difficult to answer as it highly depends on the person! What matters most in career choice is whether the chosen occupation is a good fit for your interests, skills, values, and priorities. If you enjoy research, consider yourself to be a data-driven and curious person, and like to engage in work that benefits people, organizations, and/or society, Experimental Psychology could be a great fit. If you prefer to help people more directly such as through psychological services, then Clinical, Counseling, or School psychology may be a better fit; Experimental Psychology is solely a research-focused path.
Justin Moss
Assistant ProfessorQueens University of Charlotte
Chemistry
What general advice would you give to a Senior Research 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 Senior Research 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 Senior Research 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 Senior Research 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 Senior Research 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 will help Senior Research Chemists increase their earning potential?
Meghan McGee-Lawrence Ph.D.: Cast a wide net! A huge variety of career paths can be pursued with a degree like this, including industry, academic research, healthcare, education, and more. It is a very versatile degree, and can be a foundation for a multitude of different professions. Talk to recent graduates from your program (as many as possible!) and see what they did with their degree – the more information you can collect, the better prepared you’ll be to seek out opportunities yourself. Take the time to figure out where your interests lie – and understand that you may have to try a few different paths out before you find the right one for you. The first position you land after graduation doesn’t have to be the job you perform for the next 30 years of your life – so use each opportunity as a learning experience to figure out what you’d really like to do long-term.
What general advice would you give to a Senior Research Chemist?
Dr. Christopher Martin: Maximizing your salary potential when starting your career in the area of chemistry will be largely dependent on your ability to know your skills and the value of those skills to potential employers. Always work to gain more experience and expand your skill base. As college students, you relied on professors to determine your ability and assign grades. In a job market that is driven by digital resumes, online job applications, key skill words, and an increasing amount of changing jobs, knowing what skills you have and matching them to skills employers are looking for will dictate your worth to that company. If you know your worth and your value, you can determine if you are being fairly compensated. If you don't know your worth, don't expect to get well compensated for what you don't understand yourself.
What general advice would you give to a Senior Research Chemist?
Mark Griep: Beginning chemists do the sorts of things that other scientists do. They start by learning the protocols for the most common procedures. Once they have demonstrated they can do the procedures reliably, they use those procedures to run tests on the materials that the company produces. Their results are needed to show that everything is safe and that the products meet the quality standards set by the company and government. They summarize their findings by writing technical reports and presenting them to their supervisors.
What Senior Research Chemist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Mark Griep: It is a good time to become a chemist because so many new fields have opened up and the traditional fields are working to become more environmentally sensitive. The students that I've helped train have entered a wide range of fields, although most have entered the pharmaceutical and environmental fields. The public's appetite continues to grow for effective drug therapies and real solutions to fight climate change or to address the effects of climate change.
Luz Garcini PhD, MPH
Assistant ProfessorWhat will help Senior Research Chemists increase their earning potential?
Luz Garcini PhD, MPH: Build a unique niche and new skills (another language), disseminate your work via high impact networks/avenues, get mentoring in negotiation.
What general advice would you give to a Senior Research Chemist?
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 Senior Research 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 will help Senior Research Chemists 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 will help Senior Research Chemists 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 general advice would you give to a Senior Research Chemist?
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 will help Senior Research Chemists 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 general advice would you give to a Senior Research Chemist?
Jason Ferrell: By showing up, working hard, and being helpful. Companies invest in people, more than skills, and if you demonstrate your value to an organization, the financial rewards will follow.
What will help Senior Research Chemists increase their earning potential?
Jason Ferrell: While technology is changing at a rapid pace and artificial intelligence will no doubt play an ever increasing role in life and science, I believe the foundations of success will not change. These include, 1. Being responsive and timely. 2. Possessing excellent written and oral communication skills. 3. Being a helpful team member. Regardless of skill set or expertise, these are three pillars of success.
Dr. Jaron Hansen
Professor and ChairBrigham Young University
Chemistry
What will help Senior Research 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 general advice would you give to a Senior Research Chemist?
Jacob Nordman: Salary potential in my field of neuroscience almost always involves publications, awards, and technical acumen. Therefore, as I mentioned, it is important to start early looking for opportunities that can strengthen these areas. Another important aspect of getting high-profile, and thus high-paying, positions, is being able to tell a story with your research and career. Employers want to see that you have thought deeply and strategically about your career and where it’s going. This will allow them to believe you are a safe bet and worthy of their investment.
What will help Senior Research Chemists increase their earning potential?
Hung-Chung Huang: In Industry, working for a big pharmaceutical or biotech company with several promotion potentials; in Academia, grant applications to obtain some big fundings and get promoted to a higher academic position.
What will help Senior Research 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 Senior Research Chemists increase their earning potential?
Lindsey du Toit: Take every opportunity you can to learn, network, and build an effective team of people that bring a greater breadth and depth of skills and expertise to the work on which you will be focusing. Cultivate a life-long sense of intellectual curiosity and learning. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Treat ignorance as an opportunity to learn. Questions demonstrate you want to understand the situation/problem effectively and that you are paying attention. Always demonstrate integrity in your work. It is one of the most valuable traits you can bring to your career. Be kind and supportive of your colleagues.