Chemical Engineers · SOC 17-2041

Highest-Paying Metro Areas for Chemical Engineerss

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025U.S. metropolitan areas

Metro areas ranked by published median annual wage for chemical engineers. Areas where BLS suppressed the median are not ranked (10 such areas are excluded here). Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Top 25 of 77 metro areas

Chemical Engineers: metro areas with the highest published median annual wages, May 2025
#	Metro area	Median annual	Employment	Per 1,000 jobs
1	Albuquerque, NM	$163,380	80	0.2
2	Pittsburgh, PA	$152,290	110	0.1
3	Fort Collins-Loveland, CO	$139,220	40	0.2
4	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$138,120	1,510	0.5
5	Mobile, AL	$137,170	150	0.8
6	New Orleans-Metairie, LA	$136,870	190	0.4
7	Lake Charles, LA	$136,810	100	1.0
8	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$135,110	40	0.2
9	Baton Rouge, LA	$134,800	360	0.9
10	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$134,210	320	0.1
11	Rochester, NY	$133,740	Not published	Not published
12	St. Louis, MO-IL	$133,450	110	0.1
13	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$132,820	640	0.2
14	Toledo, OH	$132,760	70	0.2
15	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$131,690	70	0.1
16	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$130,520	130	0.0
17	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$130,030	320	2.4
18	Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX	$129,850	140	0.9
19	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	$129,790	60	0.0
20	Charleston-North Charleston, SC	$129,070	50	0.1
21	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$129,060	40	0.1
22	Wichita, KS	$128,780	Not published	Not published
23	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$128,610	180	0.1
24	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$128,110	410	0.3
25	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$127,770	790	0.3

Full state and metro tables, the national distribution, and the pay map are on the Chemical Engineers overview.

About this data. Estimates are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, retrieved from bls.gov/oes/tables.htm on July 24, 2026. OEWS estimates describe metropolitan/nonmetropolitan areas and states — not city limits — and are not designed for year-over-year comparisons. See BLS methodology, our plain-English methodology, and sources. CitySalaryData is independent and not affiliated with BLS.