Louisiana·Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations·SOC 19-4031

Best Chemical Technician programs in Louisiana, ranked by enrollment

Conduct chemical and physical laboratory tests to assist scientists in making qualitative and quantitative analyses of solids, liquids, and gaseous materials for research and development of new products or processes, quality control,.

17 schools in Louisiana run programs that feed this job, graduating 238 people a year. The job pays a median of $85,850 in Louisiana across about 960 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledChemical TechnicianLaboratory Analyst (Lab Analyst)Laboratory Technician (Lab Tech)Quality Control Technician (QC Tech)AssayerColoristPerfumerDye Expert
Graduates / yr
238
in Louisiana
Median pay · Louisiana
$85,850
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
960
people employed
Schools
17
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
51%
across those schools
Median net price
$22,906
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Louisiana that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

2 programs in Louisiana that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Louisiana (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Louisiana page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 40.0501In Louisiana
205
86.1%
16$42,620$23,900
2
CIP 41.0301In Louisiana
33
13.9%
1$51,860$11,959

Top 17 schools in Louisiana

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 2 of the 17 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College
Baton Rouge, LA Public · 1 feeder programs
51Chemistry, General69%73%
2Xavier University of Louisiana
New Orleans, LA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
37Chemistry, General49%$19,76069%
3SOWELA Technical Community College
Lake Charles, LA Public · 1 feeder programs
33Chemical Technology/Technician43%
4University of New Orleans
New Orleans, LA Public · 1 feeder programs
26Chemistry, General38%74%
5Tulane University of Louisiana
New Orleans, LA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
19Chemistry, General86%$33,10614%
6Louisiana Tech University
Ruston, LA Public · 1 feeder programs
16Chemistry, General$42,57264%86%
7University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Lafayette, LA Public · 1 feeder programs
14Chemistry, General$42,71553%87%
8Nicholls State University
Thibodaux, LA Public · 1 feeder programs
9Chemistry, General54%91%
9Louisiana State University - Shreveport
Shreveport, LA Public · 1 feeder programs
6Chemistry, General38%51%
10Southeastern Louisiana University
Hammond, LA Public · 1 feeder programs
6Chemistry, General45%99%
11McNeese State University
Lake Charles, LA Public · 1 feeder programs
5Chemistry, General47%78%
12Grambling State University
Grambling, LA Public · 1 feeder programs
4Chemistry, General36%45%
13Louisiana State University at Alexandria
Alexandria, LA Public · 1 feeder programs
4Chemistry, General34%92%
14Loyola University New Orleans
New Orleans, LA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
4Chemistry, General59%$22,90693%
15University of Louisiana at Monroe
Monroe, LA Public · 1 feeder programs
2Chemistry, General54%85%
16Centenary College of Louisiana
Shreveport, LA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
1Chemistry, General56%$24,62456%
17Dillard University
New Orleans, LA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
1Chemistry, General43%$18,82642%

All 17 schools in Louisiana

Every school in Louisiana with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Louisiana that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical CollegeBaton RougePublic511
Xavier University of LouisianaNew OrleansPrivate not-for-profit371
SOWELA Technical Community CollegeLake CharlesPublic331
University of New OrleansNew OrleansPublic261
Tulane University of LouisianaNew OrleansPrivate not-for-profit191
Louisiana Tech UniversityRustonPublic161
University of Louisiana at LafayetteLafayettePublic141
Nicholls State UniversityThibodauxPublic91
Louisiana State University - ShreveportShreveportPublic61
Southeastern Louisiana UniversityHammondPublic61
McNeese State UniversityLake CharlesPublic51
Grambling State UniversityGramblingPublic41
Louisiana State University at AlexandriaAlexandriaPublic41
Loyola University New OrleansNew OrleansPrivate not-for-profit41
University of Louisiana at MonroeMonroePublic21

What chemical technicians earn in Louisiana

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Louisiana
$85,850
Mean annual
$85,720
Jobs in state
960
What the range looks like
10th pct$47,690Median$85,85090th pct$111,950
Versus the national median
+42.2%

U.S. median $60,390. Louisiana pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
1.34×

Concentrated here: Louisiana employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.

Metro areas in Louisiana

Baton Rouge, LA
$92,120median
410 jobs
Lake Charles, LA
$88,780median
150 jobs
New Orleans-Metairie, LA
$80,390median
250 jobs
Shreveport-Bossier City, LA
$80,410median
50 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+3.7%
About as fast as average
Openings per year
6,700
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
2,100
57,000 → 59,000
Typical entry education
Associate's degree
Plus moderate-term on-the-job training

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Chemical Technicians page.

How to become a Chemical Technician

Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0
Typical entry education
Associate's degree
On-the-job training
Moderate-term on-the-job training

Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Top skills

ScienceReading ComprehensionCritical ThinkingWritingActive ListeningMonitoring

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Louisiana

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 7 majors mapped to Chemical Technicians7 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 40.0501Chemistry, General
  • 40.0502Analytical Chemistry
  • 40.0503Inorganic Chemistry
  • 40.0504Organic Chemistry
  • 40.0509Environmental Chemistry
  • 41.0301Chemical Technology/Technician
  • 41.0303Chemical Process Technology

Common questions

Answers for people weighing chemical technicians programs in Louisiana.

What degree do you need to become a Chemical Technician?+

Associate's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Chemistry, General, which awarded 205 degrees in Louisiana in 2024-25, 86.1% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Chemical Technician?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Chemistry, Physical Science Technologies/Technicians. Together they graduate about 238 people a year in Louisiana.

How much do chemical technicians earn in Louisiana?+

The median is $85,850 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 42.2% above the U.S. median of $60,390. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for chemical technicians growing?+

BLS projects a +3.7% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 6,700 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Louisiana?+

17 institutions in Louisiana reported graduates from at least one of the 2 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do chemical technicians work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Chemical Technician, Laboratory Analyst (Lab Analyst), Laboratory Technician (Lab Tech), Quality Control Technician (QC Tech) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 19-4031.

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

All Clema data sources and release dates →

Explore every U.S. college in one conversation

Clema turns plain-language questions into sourced answers across every U.S. institution — earnings, aid, acceptance, graduation, safety, and athletics from IPEDS, College Scorecard, and 10+ federal datasets, built in.

Free for teams up to 3 · No credit card