<p>Chemical Engineering Progress just released a very comprehensive salary survey for chemical engineers in the US. Unfortunately, you have to be a member of AIChE to view the actual article. [url=<a href="http://www.aiche.org/CEP/%5DCEP">http://www.aiche.org/CEP/]CEP</a> Magazine<a href="Student%20memberships%20are%20free.">/url</a>. </p>
<p>Main take aways:</p>
<p>-Median ChE salaries have dropped about $1k from 2009, but are about $6k higher than they were in 2007.</p>
<p>-Median ChE salaries break $100k at after 10 years of experience.</p>
<p>-The highest paying region is the Gulf (TX, OK, AL, AR, LA) at $120k median, with the Mid-Atlantic and the Southeast tied for second at $110k median.</p>
<p>-The highest paying state is Alaska with a median of $180k (only 10 data points though), with DC, NJ, and Texas coming in about $130k-$140k median.</p>
<p>-Salaries increase with increasing company size</p>
<p>-Highest paying functional area is in Management</p>
<p>-About 41% of responding ChE's were over the age of 50.</p>
<p>-MS/MBA holders earn $10-$15k median more than those with a BS early in heir careers, however the salary gap tends to narrow with increasing experience. </p>
<p>-PhD holders earn a median of ~$20k more than BS holders early in their careers, with the gap narrowing with increasing experience</p>
<p>-Average yearly raise is about 3%-5%</p>
<p>-The two more popular industries are Energy-fossil and Chemicals-specialty, with Energy-fossil being the highest paying at $140k mean.</p>
<p>I was very happy to find that a high percent of ChE's are nearing retirement age. Initially, I was figuring that the job market might be tough for future ChE's as BLS reported a 2% decline in jobs in industries that traditionally hire ChE's. But if close to 41% can be expected to retire in the next 15-20 years, there should be an abundance of opportunities for graduating ChE's in the next couple decades.</p>