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 | $95k |
| Chemical technician | 2.9 | $44k |
| Chemist | 2.9 | $47k |
| Industrial engineering technician | 2.9 | $44k |
| Drafter | 2.9 | $45k |
| Chemical engineer | 2.9 | $91k |
| Nuclear engineer | 2.9 | $85k |
| Environmental engineer | 2.9 | $60k |
| Industrial engineer | 2.9 | $61k |
| Power engineer | 2.8 | $68k |
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
18% of chemical engineers rated their compensation 5 stars
36% of chemical engineers rated their compensation 4 stars
25% of chemical engineers rated their compensation 3 stars
14% of chemical engineers rated their compensation 2 stars
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
11% of chemical engineers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
18% of chemical engineers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
24% of chemical engineers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
26% of chemical engineers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
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
20% of chemical engineers rated their career fit 5 stars
35% of chemical engineers rated their career fit 4 stars
28% of chemical engineers rated their career fit 3 stars
12% of chemical engineers rated their career fit 2 stars
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
12% of chemical engineers rated their work environment 5 stars
32% of chemical engineers rated their work environment 4 stars
31% of chemical engineers rated their work environment 3 stars
17% of chemical engineers rated their work environment 2 stars
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
14% of chemical engineers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
24% of chemical engineers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
25% of chemical engineers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
26% of chemical engineers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
11% of chemical engineers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars