Chemical Engineering Degrees (2026 stats)
TL;DR
Chemical Engineering maps to BLS occupations averaging about $116,052, with roughly 20,710 workers nationwide in those roles. About 118,394 bachelor's completions in IPEDS 2023; median program completion runs near 62%.
Key Statistics
Chemical Engineering: what the data shows
Common questions about chemical engineering degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.
What is a chemical engineering degree?
A Chemical Engineering program is classified under NCES CIP 14.1407 in the Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering field family (14.14).
IPEDS counted 118,394 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.
How long does it take to get a chemical engineering degree?
Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 14.1407 in our file:
- 6,440 Associate (3.6% of IPEDS total)—about two years of full-time study
- 118,394 Bachelor's (65.9% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
- 54,723 Master's (30.4% of IPEDS total)—one to two years beyond a bachelor's
- 180 Doctorate (0.1% of IPEDS total)—varies by program
Time to completion depends on enrollment intensity and transfer credits; figures above describe credential type, not calendar time for every student.
What do you learn in chemical engineering?
O*NET skill ratings for occupations mapped to this major emphasize Active Learning, Speaking, Science, Critical Thinking, Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, and related competencies. See the Skills section for the full list in our extract.
What degree do you need?
For Soil and Plant Scientists (top mapped occupation), O*NET incumbent surveys in our career profile report these education credentials most often: Some college (29%), High School or Equivalent (27%), Bachelors Degree (22%). Bachelor's awards account for a majority of IPEDS completions for CIP 14.1407, but occupation data show multiple pathways.
O*NET education distributions describe incumbent workers, not minimum legal or employer requirements.
What jobs can you get with a chemical engineering degree?
Our degree→occupation mapping links Chemical Engineering to the BLS roles below. Employment is U.S. OEWS; median wage is national May 2024 where published in our extract.
| Occupation | U.S. employment | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Soil and Plant Scientists | 16,600 | $71,410 |
| Biochemists and Biophysicists | 34,520 | $103,650 |
| Plating Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic | 31,510 | $41,600 |
| Physicists | 21,340 | $166,290 |
| Refractory Materials Repairers, Except Brickmasons | 1,100 | $58,540 |
| Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors | 23,220 | $109,660 |
See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.
Is a chemical engineering degree worth it?
About 2.0% of graduates in this field family were not working and not enrolled one year after completion in Scorecard's national program medians.
Among schools reporting in our Scorecard extract, median published in-state tuition is $10,560 and median net price is $17,365.
We do not score "worth" on opinion—compare debt, earnings, wages for mapped occupations, and completion data above against your cost and career target.
Institutions
Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Chemical Engineering and the types of students that study this field.
Tuition Costs for Common Institutions
$10,560 Median In-State Public
$59,710 Median Out of State Private
Tuition costs for Chemical Engineering majors are, on average, $10,560 for in-state public colleges, and $59,710 for out of state private colleges.
Tuition costs comparison for Chemical Engineering programs.
Institutions awarding the most Chemical Engineering degrees
| # | Institution | State | Completions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Purdue University-Main Campus | IN | 4,103 |
| 2 | Texas A&M University-College Station | TX | 3,995 |
| 3 | Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus | GA | 3,742 |
| 4 | Northeastern University | MA | 3,594 |
| 5 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 2,902 |
| 6 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | MI | 2,900 |
| 7 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | IL | 2,739 |
| 8 | North Carolina State University at Raleigh | NC | 2,682 |
| 9 | University of California-Berkeley | CA | 2,410 |
| 10 | University of Florida | FL | 2,355 |
IPEDS Completions (c2024_a), all award levels for this CIP in our extract.
Degrees Awarded Over Time
118,394 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Chemical Engineering from 2015 to 2023.
Historical trend of degrees awarded in Chemical Engineering.
Top 5 Schools by Enrollment
| # | School | State | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 64,398 |
| 2 | Texas A&M University-College Station | TX | 59,099 |
| 3 | Ohio State University-Main Campus | OH | 44,617 |
| 4 | The University of Texas at Austin | TX | 42,100 |
| 5 | University of Arizona | AZ | 40,769 |
Schools with the largest enrollment offering Chemical Engineering programs.
Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition
| # | School | State | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Austin Community College District | TX | $2,550 |
| 2 | College of Southern Idaho | ID | $3,360 |
| 3 | Holmes Community College | MS | $3,510 |
| 4 | McLennan Community College | TX | $3,660 |
| 5 | Spokane Community College | WA | $4,057 |
Schools with the lowest tuition costs for Chemical Engineering programs.
Top 5 Lowest Net Price
| # | School | State | Net Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CUNY City College | NY | $3,486 |
| 2 | Middlesex Community College | MA | $3,694 |
| 3 | Ohio University-Eastern Campus | OH | $4,503 |
| 4 | CUNY Hostos Community College | NY | $5,001 |
| 5 | Community College of Rhode Island | RI | $5,240 |
Schools with the lowest average net price for Chemical Engineering programs.
Graduation Rates
62.26% Median Graduation Rate (150% of normal time)
60.78% Average Graduation Rate
293 Institutions Reporting
48.18% - 77.75% Interquartile Range
Graduation/completion rates for Chemical Engineering programs across institutions.
Where students complete this major (IPEDS)
Bachelor's-level completions (IPEDS Completions, award level 5) summed by institution state. State is taken from IPEDS Directory (HD2023) for each reporting institution.
Geographic concentration
The largest number of reported bachelor's completions for Chemical Engineering is in CA (14,031 completions). That state represents about 11.8% of U.S. bachelor's completions reported for this CIP in the IPEDS file we use.
Among states, the highest concentration relative to all bachelor's degrees awarded in-state is MT (4.60% of that state's bachelor's completions).
Top states by count of bachelor's completions for this CIP (IPEDS).
| State | Bachelor's completions (this CIP) | % of U.S. total (this CIP) | % of state's all bachelor's |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA | 14,031 | 11.8% | 3.12% |
| TX | 9,533 | 8.1% | 3.25% |
| NY | 6,138 | 5.2% | 2.23% |
| PA | 5,970 | 5.0% | 3.50% |
| FL | 5,803 | 4.9% | 2.53% |
| OH | 5,368 | 4.5% | 3.88% |
| MI | 4,915 | 4.2% | 4.29% |
| MA | 4,546 | 3.8% | 3.57% |
| IN | 4,025 | 3.4% | 3.89% |
| IL | 3,879 | 3.3% | 2.80% |
| GA | 3,728 | 3.1% | 3.25% |
| NC | 3,145 | 2.7% | 2.54% |
| VA | 3,143 | 2.6% | 2.56% |
| CO | 3,054 | 2.6% | 4.26% |
| AZ | 2,705 | 2.3% | 1.95% |
| AL | 2,505 | 2.1% | 3.70% |
| NJ | 2,489 | 2.1% | 2.88% |
| WI | 2,421 | 2.0% | 3.18% |
Degree Levels (IPEDS)
Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 14.1407 in the survey year used in our extract (179,737 total across levels below).
- 6,440 Associate (3.6% of IPEDS total)
- 118,394 Bachelor's (65.9% of IPEDS total)
- 54,723 Master's (30.4% of IPEDS total)
- 180 Doctorate (0.1% of IPEDS total)
Source: IPEDS Completions (c2024_a), summed by award level for this CIP.
Careers & Jobs
Occupations linked to this major in our degree→career mapping, with wages and employment from processed BLS career profiles in this repo.
Across these BLS occupations, employment-weighted mean pay is about $116,052. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Chemical Engineering graduates alone.
Related occupations (BLS OEWS)
| Occupation | Mean annual wage | U.S. employment |
|---|---|---|
| Soil and Plant Scientists | $94,151 | 16,600 |
| Biochemists and Biophysicists | $133,564 | 34,520 |
| Plating Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic | $48,139 | 31,510 |
| Physicists | $192,822 | 21,340 |
| Refractory Materials Repairers, Except Brickmasons | — | 1,100 |
| Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors | $127,278 | 23,220 |
Open each occupation for full career profile charts and industry breakdowns on EDsmart Data.
Program outcomes (College Scorecard)
National medians across bachelor's programs in the Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering CIP family (n/a programs reporting debt). Not specific to every Chemical Engineering graduate.
- $81,171 median earnings four years after enrollment (national program median)
- 2.0% of graduates not working and not enrolled one year out (program cohort)
Source: College Scorecard program-level outcomes aggregated by 4-digit CIP family.
Employment
Wages and industry mix below use BLS OEWS data for occupations linked to this major in our mapping—not a graduate earnings survey.
Yearly Income for Common Jobs
$124,177 Average Wage in Workforce
The average salary for Chemical Engineering majors is $124,177.
Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Chemical Engineering majors.
Occupations by Share
20,710 2023 Workforce
The number of Chemical Engineering graduates in the workforce has been growing.
Various jobs filled by those with a major in Chemical Engineering by share of the total number of graduates.
Diversity
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Chemical Engineering in the United States.
Workforce Age
N/A Average Age in 2023
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Chemical Engineering.
Age distribution for Chemical Engineering degree holders in the workforce.
Gender Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
118,394 Total Degrees Awarded
88,262 Male (74.55%)
30,132 Female (25.45%)
Gender distribution of Chemical Engineering degree recipients.
Race and Ethnicity Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
63,671 White (53.78%)
17,673 Hispanic or Latino (14.93%)
15,357 Asian (12.97%)
5,127 Black or African American (4.33%)
5,119 Two or More Races (4.32%)
Racial and ethnic distribution of Chemical Engineering degree recipients.
Degrees Awarded
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Chemical Engineering are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.
Distribution of degree types awarded in Chemical Engineering.
Skills
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Chemical Engineering field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Required Skills
Chemical Engineering majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.
Rating of how necessary various skills are for Chemical Engineering majors.
Skills Bar Chart
This bar chart shows the same information as the radar chart, displaying the importance of each skill.
Skill importance ratings for Chemical Engineering majors.
About
Chemical Engineering
In 2023, 118,394 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Chemical Engineering.
CIP Code
14.1407 - Chemical Engineering
What the data shows
Men earned 26.3% of 197,615 Chemical Engineering completions in the IPEDS file used here.
Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $116,052. The largest mapped role by headcount is Soil and Plant Scientists (16,600 U.S. jobs in OEWS).
Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $10,560 in-state at public colleges and $59,710 at private institutions for programs in this field.
Data Sources
This page uses data from the following sources:
- College Scorecard - U.S. Department of Education
- Institutional characteristics, costs, completion rates, and earnings data
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: collegescorecard.ed.gov
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)
- Employment and wage data by occupation
- Latest data: May 2024
- Source: bls.gov/oes
- O*NET Online - U.S. Department of Labor
- Occupational skills, knowledge, abilities, and work activities
- Database version: 28.0 (August 2023)
- Source: onetcenter.org
- IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) - National Center for Education Statistics
- Institutional data, completions, enrollment, and financial aid
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: nces.ed.gov/ipeds
- Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS)
- Demographic and workforce data
- Latest data: 2023 ACS 5-Year Estimates
- Source: census.gov/acs
Data Processing: All data has been processed, cleaned, and aggregated for presentation. Where specific data points are unavailable, estimates are based on available data and clearly marked.
Last Updated: Data reflects the most recent available information as of January 2025.
Methodology
Data for this profile is sourced from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard dataset, IPEDS completion data, and Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data.
All financial figures are adjusted for inflation and represent the most recent available data. Employment and wage data are from the most recent Census Bureau ACS PUMS estimates.