Chemical engineers are below average when it comes to happiness.

At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, chemical engineers rate their career happiness 2.9 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 25% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy chemical engineers are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:

Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers

Career Satisfaction Avg Salary
Water engineer
3.0
$97k
Chemical technician
2.9
$49k
Chemist
2.9
$79k
Industrial engineering technician
2.9
$60k
Drafter
2.9
$60k
Chemical engineer
2.9
$106k
Nuclear engineer
2.9
$120k
Environmental engineer
2.9
$97k
Industrial engineer
2.9
$95k
Power engineer
2.8
$64k

So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:

  • Salary: Are chemical engineers happy with their salary?
  • Meaning: Do chemical engineers find their jobs meaningful?
  • Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as chemical engineers?
  • Work environment: How enjoyable are chemical engineer’s work environments?
  • Skills utilization: Are chemical engineers making the best use of their abilities?

Are chemical engineers happy with their salary?

Chemical engineers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.4/5. The majority of chemical engineers are quite happy with their salaries, with very few having complaints about their income level.

We asked chemical engineers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:

3.4 out of 5 stars

577 chemical engineers

5 Star
18%

18% of chemical engineers rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
36%

36% of chemical engineers rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
25%

25% of chemical engineers rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
14%

14% of chemical engineers rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
8%

8% of chemical engineers rated their compensation 1 stars

Do chemical engineers find their jobs meaningful?

On average, chemical engineers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.7/5. While most chemical engineers aren’t very fulfilled by their work, some people may still manage to find meaning in it.

We asked chemical engineers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:

2.7 out of 5 stars

582 chemical engineers

5 Star
11%

11% of chemical engineers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
18%

18% of chemical engineers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
24%

24% of chemical engineers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
26%

26% of chemical engineers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
21%

21% of chemical engineers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as chemical engineers?

Chemical engineers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.5/5. The majority of chemical engineers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

We asked chemical engineers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:

3.5 out of 5 stars

651 chemical engineers

5 Star
20%

20% of chemical engineers rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
35%

35% of chemical engineers rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
28%

28% of chemical engineers rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
12%

12% of chemical engineers rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
5%

5% of chemical engineers rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a chemical engineer’s work environment?

As a whole, chemical engineers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.2/5. Most of them tend to enjoy, or at least not be actively bothered by, their work environment.

We asked chemical engineers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:

3.2 out of 5 stars

650 chemical engineers

5 Star
12%

12% of chemical engineers rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
32%

32% of chemical engineers rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
31%

31% of chemical engineers rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
17%

17% of chemical engineers rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
9%

9% of chemical engineers rated their work environment 1 stars

Are chemical engineers making the best use of their abilities?

Former chemical engineers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.1/5. Most chemical engineers are satisfied with how well their abilities are skills are made of use.

We asked chemical engineers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:

3.1 out of 5 stars

650 chemical engineers

5 Star
14%

14% of chemical engineers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
24%

24% of chemical engineers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
25%

25% of chemical engineers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
26%

26% of chemical engineers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
11%

11% of chemical engineers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars