Median Starting Salaries (by Institution): Chemical Engineering
Salary (by major) data was collected from the U.S. Department of Education’s (USDOE) College Scorecard platform and indicates the median salary of an institution’s graduates five years after receiving their bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, along with the number of graduates per institution for which the USDOE has salary data. Since the USDOE focuses only on early-career salaries, we limit the salary tables on our Dataverse to “pre-professional” majors where students are more likely to pursue employment immediately after graduation (e.g., as opposed to attending graduate school) and within their undergraduate field of study.
*Note that the USDOE is not able to disclose salary data by major for all institutions offering a major in this area. For example, if a group of individuals within a certain institution is too small, the USDOE must suppress salary data in order to prevent identification of the group’s individuals.
Table Updated March 2026
| Institution | # Graduates | Median Starting Salary | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 215062 | University of Pennsylvania | 23 | $154,695 | UPenn |
| 110635 | University of California-Berkeley | 146 | $126,322 | UC Berkeley; UCB |
| 166683 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 33 | $124,650 | MIT |
| 228723 | Texas A & M University-College Station | 232 | $123,773 | |
| 211440 | Carnegie Mellon University | 50 | $122,523 | CMU |
| 147767 | Northwestern University | 29 | $120,160 | |
| 190150 | Columbia University in the City of New York | 29 | $120,085 | |
| 190415 | Cornell University | 69 | $118,510 | |
| 227757 | Rice University | 23 | $117,477 | |
| 234076 | University of Virginia-Main Campus | 46 | $115,895 | UVA |
| 168148 | Tufts University | 24 | $115,375 | |
| 126614 | University of Colorado Boulder | 64 | $115,257 | CU Boulder |
| 122755 | San Jose State University | 44 | $115,218 | SJSU |
| 152080 | University of Notre Dame | 79 | $113,065 | UND |
| 159391 | Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College | 130 | $111,631 | LSU |
| 133881 | Florida Institute of Technology | 17 | $111,234 | FIT |
| 162928 | Johns Hopkins University | 69 | $111,011 | JHU |
| 211291 | Bucknell University | 31 | $110,838 | |
| 228778 | The University of Texas at Austin | 164 | $110,742 | UT; UT Austin |
| 226091 | Lamar University | 58 | $110,515 | |
| 230038 | Brigham Young University | 107 | $109,703 | BYU |
| 110644 | University of California-Davis | 103 | $109,456 | UC Davis |
| 100858 | Auburn University | 90 | $108,040 | |
| 207971 | University of Tulsa | 29 | $107,874 | |
| 213543 | Lehigh University | 46 | $107,647 | |
| 145637 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | 156 | $107,589 | UIUC |
| 194824 | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | 74 | $107,062 | RPI |
| 152318 | Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology | 35 | $106,661 | RHIT |
| 123961 | University of Southern California | 38 | $106,401 | USC |
| 207388 | Oklahoma State University-Main Campus | 58 | $106,170 | |
| 221999 | Vanderbilt University | 30 | $105,943 | |
| 155399 | Kansas State University | 54 | $105,727 | KSU |
| 195030 | University of Rochester | 29 | $105,189 | UR |
| 110662 | University of California-Los Angeles | 83 | $105,166 | UCLA |
| 167358 | Northeastern University | 119 | $104,660 | |
| 134130 | University of Florida | 99 | $104,630 | UF |
| 176080 | Mississippi State University | 100 | $104,589 | MSU |
| 193900 | New York University | 43 | $104,085 | NYU |
| 110705 | University of California-Santa Barbara | 43 | $104,039 | UCSB: UC Santa Barbara |
| 110529 | California State Polytechnic University-Pomona | 73 | $103,640 | |
| 199193 | North Carolina State University at Raleigh | 141 | $103,529 | NC State; NCSU |
| 212054 | Drexel University | 92 | $103,291 | |
| 110653 | University of California-Irvine | 59 | $102,280 | UCI; UC Irvine |
| 219347 | South Dakota School of Mines and Technology | 31 | $102,160 | |
| 240444 | University of Wisconsin-Madison | 98 | $102,023 | UW Madison |
| 104151 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | 149 | $101,977 | ASU |
| 139755 | Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus | 185 | $101,692 | Georgia Tech |
| 186867 | Stevens Institute of Technology | 60 | $101,659 | Stevens Tech |
| 106397 | University of Arkansas | 75 | $101,541 | |
| 160658 | University of Louisiana at Lafayette | 44 | $101,365 | |
| 174066 | University of Minnesota-Twin Cities | 108 | $101,125 | UMN |
| 216597 | Villanova University | 58 | $100,946 | |
| 168421 | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | 71 | $100,777 | WPI |
| 172644 | Wayne State University | 28 | $100,634 | |
| 183044 | University of New Hampshire-Main Campus | 30 | $100,504 | UNH |
| 196097 | Stony Brook University | 27 | $100,426 | |
| 195003 | Rochester Institute of Technology | 44 | $100,264 | RIT |
| 166513 | University of Massachusetts-Lowell | 86 | $100,143 | UMass Lowell |
| 170976 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | 117 | $100,000 | UMich |
| 202480 | University of Dayton | 38 | $99,917 | |
| 218663 | University of South Carolina-Columbia | 68 | $99,912 | USC |
| 214777 | Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus | 149 | $99,826 | PSU; Penn State |
| 233921 | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | 95 | $99,194 | Virginia Tech; Va Tech |
| 225511 | University of Houston | 70 | $99,077 | UH |
| 216852 | Widener University | 21 | $99,021 | |
| 217882 | Clemson University | 70 | $98,731 | |
| 163268 | University of Maryland-Baltimore County | 57 | $98,642 | UMBC |
| 134097 | Florida State University | 45 | $98,253 | FSU |
| 201645 | Case Western Reserve University | 52 | $98,005 | CWRU |
| 186380 | Rutgers University-New Brunswick | 72 | $97,993 | RU |
| 157289 | University of Louisville | 46 | $97,933 | UL |
| 110680 | University of California-San Diego | 99 | $97,911 | UCSD; UC San Diego |
| 204024 | Miami University-Oxford | 26 | $97,829 | |
| 213385 | Lafayette College | 35 | $97,678 | |
| 204796 | Ohio State University-Main Campus | 163 | $97,429 | OSU |
| 126818 | Colorado State University-Fort Collins | 105 | $97,269 | CSU |
| 100751 | The University of Alabama | 161 | $97,080 | |
| 166629 | University of Massachusetts-Amherst | 57 | $96,939 | UMass Amherst |
| 192703 | Manhattan College | 26 | $96,650 | |
| 236948 | University of Washington-Seattle Campus | 78 | $96,353 | UW |
| 206084 | University of Toledo | 58 | $96,237 | |
| 160755 | Tulane University of Louisiana | 17 | $96,174 | |
| 153603 | Iowa State University | 121 | $96,097 | ISU |
| 229115 | Texas Tech University | 70 | $96,061 | |
| 209542 | Oregon State University | 111 | $95,971 | OSU |
| 171100 | Michigan State University | 105 | $95,843 | MSU |
| 126775 | Colorado School of Mines | 144 | $95,781 | |
| 104179 | University of Arizona | 86 | $95,730 | |
| 171128 | Michigan Technological University | 103 | $95,207 | |
| 190044 | Clarkson University | 42 | $95,129 | |
| 243780 | Purdue University-Main Campus | 165 | $94,979 | |
| 145725 | Illinois Institute of Technology | 33 | $94,955 | IIT |
| 230764 | University of Utah | 72 | $94,911 | UU |
| 130943 | University of Delaware | 75 | $94,396 | UDel |
| 200800 | University of Akron Main Campus | 50 | $93,451 | |
| 215293 | University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus | 105 | $93,213 | |
| 215284 | University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown | 20 | $93,213 | |
| 227526 | Prairie View A & M University | 54 | $92,981 | |
| 129020 | University of Connecticut | 68 | $92,965 | UConn |
| 201885 | University of Cincinnati-Main Campus | 106 | $92,906 | Cincy |
| 228705 | Texas A & M University-Kingsville | 40 | $92,622 | |
| 200280 | University of North Dakota | 40 | $92,442 | UND |
| 163286 | University of Maryland-College Park | 66 | $92,423 | UMD |
| 234030 | Virginia Commonwealth University | 48 | $91,990 | VCU |
| 110583 | California State University-Long Beach | 62 | $91,493 | |
| 185828 | New Jersey Institute of Technology | 80 | $91,383 | NJIT |
| 178396 | University of Missouri-Columbia | 40 | $91,298 | Mizzou |
| 174233 | University of Minnesota-Duluth | 51 | $90,849 | |
| 153658 | University of Iowa | 48 | $90,804 | UI |
| 110671 | University of California-Riverside | 74 | $90,784 | UC Riverside |
| 145600 | University of Illinois Chicago | 60 | $90,756 | UIC |
| 207500 | University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus | 70 | $90,597 | |
| 178411 | Missouri University of Science and Technology | 103 | $89,985 | MUST |
| 152567 | Trine University | 21 | $89,865 | |
| 187985 | University of New Mexico-Main Campus | 64 | $89,830 | UNM |
| 238032 | West Virginia University | 42 | $89,812 | WVU |
| 237950 | West Virginia University Institute of Technology | 10 | $89,812 | |
| 217484 | University of Rhode Island | 41 | $89,578 | URI |
| 221759 | The University of Tennessee-Knoxville | 98 | $89,398 | UTK |
| 188030 | New Mexico State University-Main Campus | 23 | $89,216 | NMSU |
| 221740 | The University of Tennessee-Chattanooga | 42 | $89,153 | UTC |
| 181464 | University of Nebraska-Lincoln | 35 | $89,055 | UNL |
| 161253 | University of Maine | 29 | $88,680 | |
| 196088 | University at Buffalo | 67 | $88,444 | |
| 204857 | Ohio University-Main Campus | 22 | $88,141 | OU |
| 236939 | Washington State University | 44 | $88,132 | WSU |
| 102094 | University of South Alabama | 29 | $88,027 | |
| 240727 | University of Wyoming | 31 | $88,026 | |
| 199102 | North Carolina A & T State University | 21 | $87,314 | |
| 155317 | University of Kansas | 63 | $86,557 | KU |
| 182290 | University of Nevada-Reno | 38 | $86,398 | UNR |
| 221847 | Tennessee Technological University | 62 | $86,320 | |
| 142285 | University of Idaho | 19 | $86,046 | UI |
| 137351 | University of South Florida | 143 | $84,431 | USF |
| 202134 | Cleveland State University | 63 | $84,127 | |
| 102377 | Tuskegee University | 28 | $83,985 | |
| 157085 | University of Kentucky | 78 | $83,438 | UK |
| 172699 | Western Michigan University | 50 | $83,294 | |
| 206695 | Youngstown State University | 40 | $82,846 | |
| 180461 | Montana State University | 86 | $82,446 | |
| 243197 | University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez | 115 | $81,905 | |
| 239318 | Milwaukee School of Engineering | 18 | $75,043 | MSOE |
| 190567 | CUNY City College | 58 | $68,626 | |
| 243744 | Stanford University | 24 | N/A (suppressed) | |
| 131520 | Howard University | 22 | N/A (suppressed) | |
| 169983 | Kettering University | 23 | N/A (suppressed) | |
| 196413 | Syracuse University | 20 | N/A (suppressed) | |
| 179867 | Washington University in St Louis | 41 | N/A (suppressed) | |
| 184782 | Rowan University | 51 | N/A (suppressed) |
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