A same-metric difference from the U.S. median is unavailable for this row. The row could not be ranked because the matching median was unavailable. Neither comparison adjusts for cost of living, benefits, experience, employer mix, or hours.
Price-level context
What the local median may buy
BEA's 2024 all-items price index for California was 110.7, or 10.7% above the national price level. Its housing index was 154.3.
National-price-dollar proxy
Not available
WageScope divides the published Chemical Engineers median by the BEA all-items index. This is a price-level comparison, not take-home pay, a personal budget, or a quality-of-life score.
Use the local pay range, same-source bench marks, job scale, price level, and survey care marks as separate facts. This guide stays tied to SOC 17-2041 and BLS area 06.
Questions, answered
Chemical Engineers pay in California: common questions
What is the median wage for Chemical Engineers in California?
BLS did not publish a median for Chemical Engineers in California in the May 2025 OEWS release. WageScope does not substitute or infer the missing wage.
Is Chemical Engineers pay higher in California than nationally?
BLS did not publish the same median metric needed to compare California with the United States.
Does the wage estimate adjust for cost of living in California?
No wage price proxy is available because BLS did not publish an exact local median. A top-coded bound is not an exact wage input. A BEA price index, when available, describes prices separately and cannot fill that wage gap.
How many Chemical Engineers jobs does BLS estimate in California?
From market data to your evidence
Tailor for a real Chemical Engineers job, not a generic wage number.
Pick an eligible listing, then MeritLog can help you prepare from experience you have confirmed. WageScope never turns a BLS estimate into a qualification or résumé claim.
What the Chemical Engineers median says in California
BLS did not publish an exact median for Chemical Engineers in California in the May 2025 OEWS release. The source display is Not published. WageScope does not borrow the U.S. wage, use a nearby place, or turn this gap into zero. The row stays tied to SOC 17-2041 and BLS area 06.
BLS lists 2,190 wage and salary jobs for this exact role-place row. That is a survey estimate, not a count of open posts. The mean display is Not published. A mean and a median are separate fields; one does not fill a gap in the other.
A local-to-national median gap cannot be computed from this row. The national source belongs to the United States and does not become California's wage. Any published percentile or job-count field below keeps its own scope, period, and source key.
This page exists because the BLS artifact has one row for SOC 17-2041 and area 06. SOC 17-2041 names Chemical Engineers. Area 06 names California. Both keys must match before WageScope can show or index this answer.
The 17-2041/06 row reports 2,190 wage and salary jobs, 0.12 jobs per 1,000 local jobs, and a 0.89 location quotient. Each value stays under the same two source keys.
For 17-2041/06, the annual median is Not published, while the matching mean is Not published. The row is published with annual and hourly fields. WageScope does not switch units to fill a blank.
17-2041/06 10th percentile: Not published.
17-2041/06 25th percentile: Not published.
17-2041/06 median: Not published.
17-2041/06 75th percentile: Not published.
17-2041/06 90th percentile: Not published.
17-2041/06 employment RSE: 15.5%. Mean-wage RSE: Not published.
17-2041/06 suppression marks: annualMean: not available, annualMedian: not available, annualP10: not available, annualP25: not available, annualP75: not available, annualP90: not available, hourlyMean: not available, hourlyMedian: not available, hourlyP10: not available, hourlyP25: not available, hourlyP75: not available, hourlyP90: not available, meanRse: not available.
BLS area 06 facts behind this Chemical Engineers page
Area 06 reports 18,213,700 wage and salary jobs across all covered occupations. Its annual mean is $80,690. Its annual median is $58,240. The employment RSE is 0%. The mean-wage RSE is 0.2%. These are facts for the whole area. They do not replace the 17-2041 row.
The all-jobs wage ladder in California runs from $35,950 at the 10th percentile to $159,080 at the 90th percentile. The 25th percentile is $41,600. The median is $58,240. The 75th percentile is $97,880. This is a place check, not a pay range for Chemical Engineers.
The source rows below are the six largest detailed roles in the bounded area file. Each keeps its own SOC code. They help a reader spot-check area 06. They do not show related skills or a path into Chemical Engineers.
1. Area 06, SOC 31-1120, Home Health and Personal Care Aides: 970,150 jobs, $34,320 annual median, 53.27 jobs per 1,000, and 1.92 location quotient.
2. Area 06, SOC 35-3023, Fast Food and Counter Workers: 449,840 jobs, $42,280 annual median, 24.7 jobs per 1,000, and 1 location quotient.
3. Area 06, SOC 41-2031, Retail Salespersons: 376,460 jobs, $38,440 annual median, 20.67 jobs per 1,000, and 0.82 location quotient.
Pay range
Read the California wage ladder for Chemical Engineers
The 10th percentile is Not published. The 25th percentile is Not published. The median is Not published. The 75th percentile is Not published. The 90th percentile is Not published.
A percentile is a rank point, not a career stage. The 10th percentile does not mean new-worker pay. The 90th percentile does not mean a wage that comes after a set number of years. The points show how the wage values spread in the source. They do not say why one job sits at one point.
The middle half runs from Not published to Not published. The 10th-to-90th span is not available. Use the full ladder when a job post sits far from the median.
California has a annual median of Not published. No exact state row is linked for this area. The U.S. row has $125,040 per year. WageScope keeps annual and hourly values apart.
A state comparison is not available for California. California cannot be compared with the United States on the same published median. WageScope leaves that gap open. A gap can reflect many things that are not in this row. WageScope reports the gap but does not name a cause.
The state and U.S. rows are bench marks, not replacements. They do not fill missing local facts. A state can hold many local labor markets. A national row can hold many states. Read the local row first, then use the broader rows to see scale.
California has no exact published median that can enter this Chemical Engineers pay rank. WageScope leaves the rank open. It does not treat a missing or top-coded value as an exact amount, and it does not place this row at the bottom of a list.
Other states and territories may have exact medians in the same release. Those rows can be read on their own pages. They cannot establish a wage or a nearest wage neighbor for California without the missing local field.
Employment and local share remain separate source fields for SOC 17-2041. Neither field is a substitute for median pay. A job count does not say where a wage would rank, and a share measure does not set a pay floor or ceiling.
Where Chemical Engineers medians lead among states and territories
The rows below use the same SOC 17-2041, the same annual median, the same May 2025 BLS release, and the same state map type. New Mexico has the highest published median in this set, at $158,190 per year. California sits at Not published.
A pay lead is one fact. It does not show the size of the job base. It does not show how common Chemical Engineers is in the local mix. It also does not add local prices. The bullets keep the median, job count, and location quotient together so a high wage is not read as a full market score.
Use this list to choose a deeper pair, not to choose a place. Open the two local pages. Check the full wage ladder, the job scale, the survey care marks, and the exact BEA price row when present. A missing median stays out of this rank instead of becoming zero.
1. New Mexico has a Chemical Engineers median of $158,190 per year, or not available. BLS lists 160 jobs there, compared with 2,190 in California. The location quotient is 1.33.
2. Virginia has a Chemical Engineers median of $136,380 per year, or not available. BLS lists 790 jobs there, compared with 2,190 in California. The location quotient is 1.42.
3. Alabama has a Chemical Engineers median of $135,030 per year, or not available. BLS lists 600 jobs there, compared with 2,190 in California. The location quotient is 2.08.
Job-base leaders
Where BLS counts the most Chemical Engineers jobs
Texas has the largest published state job estimate for Chemical Engineers in this same-source set, at 2,610 jobs. California has 2,190. The count shows covered job scale, not open posts.
A large job base can have a lower median than a smaller one. It can also have a location quotient near or below 1. That is why WageScope does not blend job count, pay, and local share. Each field keeps its name and unit. The rows below let you compare all three without making one score.
Current MeritLog listings can add a dated view of employer-title matches. They do not change this May 2025 order. A place with few current cards can still have a large BLS job estimate. A place with several cards can still have a smaller estimate. The sources use different clocks and scopes.
1. Texas has 2,610 estimated Chemical Engineers jobs, a gap of 420 jobs from California. Its median is $132,750 per year, or not available. Its location quotient is 1.37.
2. Massachusetts has 1,460 estimated Chemical Engineers jobs, a gap of 730 jobs from California. Its median is $118,000 per year, or not available. Its location quotient is 2.96.
3. Ohio has 1,030 estimated Chemical Engineers jobs, a gap of 1,160 jobs from California. Its median is $111,200 per year, or not available. Its location quotient is 1.37.
Local-share leaders
Where Chemical Engineers takes the largest share of local jobs
Delaware has the highest published location quotient in this state set, at 5.59. California has 0.89. A value above 1 means the role's local job share is larger than its national share.
A high quotient can come from a small local job base. It does not prove more jobs, more posts, faster growth, or higher pay. The bullets keep each quotient beside its BLS job count and median. This lets a reader see when the three measures point in different ways.
Use this list to ask where Chemical Engineers is a large part of the local mix. Use the employment list to ask where BLS counts the most jobs. Use the pay list to ask where the median is highest. None of those lists decides where a person should work.
1. Delaware has a location quotient of 5.59, a gap of 4.70 from California. BLS lists 370 Chemical Engineers jobs and a median of $133,670 per year, or not available.
2. Massachusetts has a location quotient of 2.96, a gap of 2.07 from California. BLS lists 1,460 Chemical Engineers jobs and a median of $118,000 per year, or not available.
3. Louisiana has a location quotient of 2.8, a gap of 1.91 from California. BLS lists 730 Chemical Engineers jobs and a median of $134,800 per year, or not available.
Job scale and share
How common Chemical Engineers is in California
BLS lists 2,190 Chemical Engineers jobs in California. It also lists 0.12 jobs per 1,000 local jobs. Jobs per 1,000 turns the count into a rate. It helps compare places of different size. It does not show open posts or hiring speed.
The location quotient is 0.89. A value of 1 means Chemical Engineers has the same share of local jobs as it has across the nation. This row is lower than 1. The quotient is a share check, not a wage or a growth measure.
Read the three values as separate facts. Employment asks how many covered jobs BLS estimated. Jobs per 1,000 asks how much of the local job base the role takes. Location quotient asks how that share compares with the national share. None of them tells you how many posts are open today.
Chemical Engineers beside other roles in California
The all-occupations median in California is $58,240 per year. It covers the full local job mix and does not replace the missing exact Chemical Engineers median. WageScope cannot calculate a same-unit wage gap from the role to that broader row.
No nearest-pay role list is shown for this row. Such a list needs an exact local median in the same wage unit. A title, employment count, or national wage cannot supply that missing input.
Other roles in California still have their own source pages. Use those pages for their own official estimates, with each SOC code and period intact. Do not infer common tasks, skills, career paths, or pay for Chemical Engineers from another role's number.
Home Health and Personal Care Aides is the largest detailed occupation in the bounded California table, at 970,150 jobs. Chemical Engineers has 2,190 jobs in its exact role-place row. The two counts show where this role sits beside other large parts of the local job base.
The all-occupations job count is 18,213,700. The detailed list below is only a bounded view of that larger mix. It does not sum to every local job. It does not include a blank role as zero. It helps explain why one role's wage and job count should not stand in for the whole area.
A large role can have a lower median. A smaller role can have a higher one. Job count does not show current posts, job quality, or growth. Use the list to see local scale. Then keep Chemical Engineers's own median, spread, and share in their own fields.
1. Home Health and Personal Care Aides has 970,150 jobs in California, a gap of 967,960 from Chemical Engineers. Its median is $34,320 per year, or not available. Its location quotient is 1.92.
2. Fast Food and Counter Workers has 449,840 jobs in California, a gap of 447,650 from Chemical Engineers. Its median is $42,280 per year, or not available. Its location quotient is 1.
3. Retail Salespersons has 376,460 jobs in California, a gap of 374,270 from Chemical Engineers. Its median is $38,440 per year, or not available. Its location quotient is 0.82.
Area pay mix
Published role medians around California
Software Developers has the highest published median in the bounded California role table, at $174,410 per year. Chemical Engineers has Not published. This puts the role beside a local pay range without blending the source rows.
The local all-occupations median is $58,240 per year. A role above that mark is not better. A role below it is not worse. The mark only shows where the role's published median sits against the full covered job mix. Job tasks, level, hours, and work setting are separate facts.
The bullets keep each SOC title, job count, median, and local share together. Use them to find a role page worth opening. Do not use a close median as proof that two roles share skills or that one is a path to the other.
1. Software Developers has a median of $174,410 per year in California, or not available. BLS lists 284,390 jobs, compared with 2,190 for Chemical Engineers. Its location quotient is 1.44.
2. Registered Nurses has a median of $140,270 per year in California, or not available. BLS lists 338,940 jobs, compared with 2,190 for Chemical Engineers. Its location quotient is 0.86.
3. General and Operations Managers has a median of $124,390 per year in California, or not available. BLS lists 300,840 jobs, compared with 2,190 for Chemical Engineers. Its location quotient is 0.73.
Area role shares
Roles with the largest local share in California
Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse has the highest location quotient in the bounded California role table, at 5.54. Chemical Engineers has 0.89. Both values compare a local job share with the matching national share.
A quotient above 1 means the role takes a larger share of local jobs than it does across the nation. It does not mean more jobs than every other role. It does not mean open posts, growth, or high pay. The job count and median beside each row answer those other narrow questions.
The local role-share mix can differ a lot from the pay mix. Read both lists. Then compare Chemical Engineers with the same SOC code in another place. This keeps a broad area pattern from replacing the exact role-place row.
1. Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse has a location quotient of 5.54 in California, a gap of 4.65 from Chemical Engineers. BLS lists 172,260 jobs and a median of $35,580 per year, or not available.
2. Home Health and Personal Care Aides has a location quotient of 1.92 in California, a gap of 1.03 from Chemical Engineers. BLS lists 970,150 jobs and a median of $34,320 per year, or not available.
3. Cooks, Fast Food has a location quotient of 1.66 in California, a gap of 0.77 from Chemical Engineers. BLS lists 124,440 jobs and a median of $42,050 per year, or not available.
Price-level view
Why a wage price proxy is unavailable in California
No national-price-dollar wage proxy is available for Chemical Engineers in California because BLS did not publish the exact median needed for that math. A missing or top-coded median is not zero and is not an exact wage input.
BEA separately published a 2024 all-items price index of 110.7 for California. The U.S. level is 100. This source can describe broad local prices, but it cannot supply the missing BLS wage for SOC 17-2041.
A price-level wage calculation needs a published wage in the correct unit and an exact reviewed price-area match. Until both inputs exist, WageScope leaves that answer open. Published employment, source dates, and wage-status fields remain useful on their own without an inferred spending-power claim.
The employment RSE for this Chemical Engineers row is 15.5%. The mean-wage RSE is Not published. RSE means relative standard error. It is a survey precision flag. A smaller value often means less sampling uncertainty. It is not the chance that one person's pay is right or wrong.
The employment RSE belongs to the 2,190 job estimate. The mean-wage RSE belongs to the Not published mean. BLS does not give the same RSE field for the median or every percentile. WageScope does not move an RSE from one field to another.
A local row can change in a new release. A small role-place sample can also have more survey uncertainty than a broad national row. Keep the May 2025 date next to the value. Do not mix a newer job post with the BLS date as if both facts came from one clock.
The job block looks for strict employer-title matches to Chemical Engineers. It uses a California place filter only when the public place list has an exact approved match. If that match is not safe, the page says the jobs are not narrowed to this place. A false negative is safer than showing a different role.
Each card keeps its employer, place, source, and seen date. Listings can change between visits while the survey figures stay tied to their release date. A listing range does not replace the Not published BLS median. The listing and survey answer different questions.
Open one listing. Check its level, work place, pay range, and needs. Then tailor with work facts you can support. Do not turn a wage, job count, rank, or price proxy into a résumé claim. The public page is read only. It does not save a job or start a draft on load.
What the Chemical Engineers row for California does not claim
The row does not say what one person earns. It does not promise a job, offer, raise, or move result. It does not say why the local median differs from the U.S. row. It does not add tips, bonus pay, stock, benefits, taxes, or work hours unless those items are in the BLS wage measure.
The 2,190 job estimate is not a live opening count. The location quotient of 0.89 is not a growth score. The unranked row is not a place score. The 110.7 price index is not a personal budget.
Use the row for one clear task. Read the May 2025 wage spread for SOC 17-2041 in BLS area 06. Compare the same metric with the state and U.S. rows. Add the separate 2024 price level when present. Inspect a dated job match. Then use confirmed work facts for a résumé.
BLS published an employment estimate of 2,190 wage and salary jobs for this exact row. It is a survey estimate, not a current opening count or forecast.
Are the current job listings included in the BLS wage calculation?
No. MeritLog shows eligible live public-catalog listings separately, with their own source and observation date. Posted pay never changes the official BLS distribution.
4. Area 06, SOC 53-7062, Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand: 355,500 jobs, $44,710 annual median, 19.52 jobs per 1,000, and 1.03 location quotient.
5. Area 06, SOC 29-1141, Registered Nurses: 338,940 jobs, $140,270 annual median, 18.61 jobs per 1,000, and 0.86 location quotient.
6. Area 06, SOC 41-2011, Cashiers: 336,110 jobs, $37,100 annual median, 18.45 jobs per 1,000, and 0.93 location quotient.
4. Louisiana has a Chemical Engineers median of $134,800 per year, or not available. BLS lists 730 jobs there, compared with 2,190 in California. The location quotient is 2.8.
5. Delaware has a Chemical Engineers median of $133,670 per year, or not available. BLS lists 370 jobs there, compared with 2,190 in California. The location quotient is 5.59.
6. Texas has a Chemical Engineers median of $132,750 per year, or not available. BLS lists 2,610 jobs there, compared with 2,190 in California. The location quotient is 1.37.
7. West Virginia has a Chemical Engineers median of $129,210 per year, or not available. BLS lists 160 jobs there, compared with 2,190 in California. The location quotient is 1.65.
8. New York has a Chemical Engineers median of $129,060 per year, or not available. BLS lists 540 jobs there, compared with 2,190 in California. The location quotient is 0.41.
4. Pennsylvania has 810 estimated Chemical Engineers jobs, a gap of 1,380 jobs from California. Its median is $116,970 per year, or not available. Its location quotient is 0.98.
5. Virginia has 790 estimated Chemical Engineers jobs, a gap of 1,400 jobs from California. Its median is $136,380 per year, or not available. Its location quotient is 1.42.
6. Louisiana has 730 estimated Chemical Engineers jobs, a gap of 1,460 jobs from California. Its median is $134,800 per year, or not available. Its location quotient is 2.8.
7. Colorado has 720 estimated Chemical Engineers jobs, a gap of 1,470 jobs from California. Its median is $125,800 per year, or not available. Its location quotient is 1.84.
8. Indiana has 720 estimated Chemical Engineers jobs, a gap of 1,470 jobs from California. Its median is $113,160 per year, or not available. Its location quotient is 1.66.
4. Alabama has a location quotient of 2.08, a gap of 1.19 from California. BLS lists 600 Chemical Engineers jobs and a median of $135,030 per year, or not available.
5. Colorado has a location quotient of 1.84, a gap of 0.95 from California. BLS lists 720 Chemical Engineers jobs and a median of $125,800 per year, or not available.
6. Connecticut has a location quotient of 1.8, a gap of 0.91 from California. BLS lists 410 Chemical Engineers jobs and a median of $102,270 per year, or not available.
7. Arkansas has a location quotient of 1.66, a gap of 0.77 from California. BLS lists 290 Chemical Engineers jobs and a median of $105,270 per year, or not available.
8. Indiana has a location quotient of 1.66, a gap of 0.77 from California. BLS lists 720 Chemical Engineers jobs and a median of $113,160 per year, or not available.
4. Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand has 355,500 jobs in California, a gap of 353,310 from Chemical Engineers. Its median is $44,710 per year, or not available. Its location quotient is 1.03.
5. Registered Nurses has 338,940 jobs in California, a gap of 336,750 from Chemical Engineers. Its median is $140,270 per year, or not available. Its location quotient is 0.86.
6. Cashiers has 336,110 jobs in California, a gap of 333,920 from Chemical Engineers. Its median is $37,100 per year, or not available. Its location quotient is 0.93.
7. Office Clerks, General has 311,490 jobs in California, a gap of 309,300 from Chemical Engineers. Its median is $48,460 per year, or not available. Its location quotient is 1.08.
8. Stockers and Order Fillers has 310,870 jobs in California, a gap of 308,680 from Chemical Engineers. Its median is $42,870 per year, or not available. Its location quotient is 0.94.
4. Management Analysts has a median of $101,460 per year in California, or not available. BLS lists 137,280 jobs, compared with 2,190 for Chemical Engineers. Its location quotient is 1.3.
5. Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education has a median of $99,650 per year in California, or not available. BLS lists 155,160 jobs, compared with 2,190 for Chemical Engineers. Its location quotient is 0.95.
6. Accountants and Auditors has a median of $97,050 per year in California, or not available. BLS lists 175,360 jobs, compared with 2,190 for Chemical Engineers. Its location quotient is 1.03.
7. Business Operations Specialists, All Other has a median of $87,570 per year in California, or not available. BLS lists 155,000 jobs, compared with 2,190 for Chemical Engineers. Its location quotient is 1.22.
8. Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel has a median of $80,850 per year in California, or not available. BLS lists 156,110 jobs, compared with 2,190 for Chemical Engineers. Its location quotient is 1.06.
4. Software Developers has a location quotient of 1.44 in California, a gap of 0.55 from Chemical Engineers. BLS lists 284,390 jobs and a median of $174,410 per year, or not available.
5. Security Guards has a location quotient of 1.33 in California, a gap of 0.44 from Chemical Engineers. BLS lists 199,480 jobs and a median of $43,240 per year, or not available.
6. Management Analysts has a location quotient of 1.3 in California, a gap of 0.41 from Chemical Engineers. BLS lists 137,280 jobs and a median of $101,460 per year, or not available.
7. Business Operations Specialists, All Other has a location quotient of 1.22 in California, a gap of 0.33 from Chemical Engineers. BLS lists 155,000 jobs and a median of $87,570 per year, or not available.
8. Office Clerks, General has a location quotient of 1.08 in California, a gap of 0.19 from Chemical Engineers. BLS lists 311,490 jobs and a median of $48,460 per year, or not available.
Precise employer-title matches for Chemical Engineers in California
Filtered through MeritLog's approved California place record and a strict employer-title rule. Listings are not classified by BLS and remain separate from BLS and BEA estimates.
