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Salaries
What US chemists made in 2021, according to the ACS salary survey
Overall salaries were down slightly, but industry members saw increases from 2020
by Andrea Widener
October 31, 2021
| A version of this story appeared in
Volume 99, Issue 40
Credit: C&EN/Shutterstock
Overall, American Chemical Society members have fared well economically through the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the society’s 2021 salary survey. Median annual salaries were down only slightly, according to the survey of 5,488 members, which was conducted from May 7 to June 23, 2021.
Members who work in industry were the one group that saw salaries rise. That increase could be explained, at least in part, by the booming biotech and pharmaceutical sectors. Salaries dropped for members who work in academia and government.
Download a PDF of the print version of this story here.
Note: Not all of the data presented on this webpage is included in the PDF.
The unemployment rate for ACS members increased slightly, rising to 1.8% from 1.5% in 2020. That is still lower than unemployment had been for the previous 20 years; 2020 was the first time it had fallen below 2% since ACS began collecting data.
ACS publishes C&EN, but C&EN remains editorially independent of ACS. C&EN publishes the ACS salary survey because similar data on chemists’ salaries are not available from other sources. C&EN does not play a role in designing the survey questions, conducting the survey, or analyzing the results. C&EN requested specific data from the ACS salary survey team.
Note for all data: Data are from 5,488 American Chemical Society members’ survey responses collected from May 7 to June 23, 2021, except when other years’ data are shown. Salaries reflect the median annual salaries for full-time US employees except for students, members over 70, and international members.
Salary breakdown by demographics
Industry was the only sector with salary increases
Salaries have increased steadily since 1985 when viewed in current dollars
Note: Current dollars are the value in the year the salary was reported. Data are missing for 2017 and 2018 because of changes to the survey. For more explanation, see the 2019 salary report at cenm.ag/salarysurvey2019.
But salaries have been decreasing when adjusted for inflation
Note: Salaries were adjusted for inflation using 1985 as the base year. Data are missing for 2017 and 2018 because of changes to the survey. For more explanation, see the 2019 salary report at cenm.ag/salarysurvey2019.
Chemical engineers made more than chemists
Men made significantly more than women
Note: Salaries for additional genders are not reported because of the small number of people who responded in those categories.
White respondents earned the highest salaries
Note: Respondents could choose more than one race and could additionally denote their Hispanic/Latino identity in response to a separate question. Salaries for additional races and ethnicities are not reported because of the small number of people who responded in those categories.
Salary breakdown by region
Salaries continued to vary widely by region. In some cases, bachelor's degree recipients made more than those with a master's degree
Unemployment
Unemployment for ACS members fell drastically in 2020 right before the pandemic started to affect the economy
But unemployment returned to 2019 levels for those with master's and bachelor's degrees
Note: Numbers reflect unemployment status as of March 1 in the indicated year. The margin of error for the 2021 overall unemployment rate is ±1.5 percentage points.
Who took the survey?
These are the US ACS members who took the 2021 survey
More respondents worked in academia than industry
Most had a doctoral degree
Most respondents were native US citizens
Note: Numbers were rounded to 100%.
Most respondents were men
Note: Numbers were rounded to 100%.
a Additional groups include genderqueer or gender nonconforming, transgender male, transgender female, and different identity.
Respondents were predominantly White
Note: Numbers do not add to 100% because respondents could choose more than one race and could additionally denote their Hispanic/Latino identity in response to a separate question.
a Additional groups include American Indian, Alaska Native, First Nations, Aboriginal Australian, or other Indigenous group; Black/African; Caribbean; Middle Eastern/North African; Native American; and self-descriptions.
The largest proportion of respondents were 45–54 years old, and the average age was 44.5
Only a small fraction identified themselves as disabled
These are the top 10 sectors in which respondents worked, outside education
Those in education fields worked in a variety of jobs, and men significantly outnumbered women in tenure-track faculty positions
Note: Additional groups include genderqueer or gender nonconforming, transgender male or female, and different identity.
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