Best degree programs for Chemical Plant and System Operators, ranked by enrollment
2 college programs and 70 schools train Chemical Plant and System Operators. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $78,120 median wage, 16,610 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
2 college programs at 70 schools train chemical plant and system operators, graduating 2,964 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Chemical Technology/Technician. The job pays a median of $78,120 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About chemical plant and system operators
Control or operate entire chemical processes or system of machines.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
2 degree programs that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 41.0301 | 2,879 | 97.1% | 61 | $51,860 | $11,959 |
| 2 | CIP 41.0303 | 85 | 2.9% | 10 | $51,860 | $11,959 |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
What chemical plant and system operators earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | $102,750 | 2,360 | 1.57× | 16 | 1,669 |
| Florida | $128,830 | 60 | 0.06× | 8 | 773 |
| Kentuckymoderate | $97,550 | 40 | 0.19× | 3 | 71 |
| California | $87,550 | 780 | 0.40× | 7 | 68 |
| Utahlimited | $63,460 | 320 | 1.73× | 1 | 63 |
| Washingtonlimited | $60,120 | 350 | 0.92× | 2 | 54 |
| Arkansaslimited | $91,610 | 240 | 1.72× | 1 | 49 |
| Louisianalimited | $100,060 | 3,400 | 16.43× | 1 | 33 |
| North Carolinalimited | $62,920 | 660 | 1.26× | 1 | 25 |
| Michiganmoderate | $72,430 | 40 | 0.08× | 3 | 23 |
| Pennsylvanialimited | $70,110 | 770 | 1.19× | 2 | 19 |
| West Virginiamoderate | $81,710 | 380 | 5.02× | 3 | 15 |
| New Yorklimited | $62,980 | 120 | 0.11× | 2 | 11 |
| Alabamalimited | $91,610 | 230 | 1.02× | 1 | 10 |
| Illinoislimited | $65,710 | 160 | 0.24× | 2 | 9 |
| Tennesseelimited | $45,830 | 350 | 1.00× | 2 | 9 |
| New Mexicolimited | $72,610 | — | — | 1 | 8 |
| Indianalimited | $49,110 | 320 | 0.94× | 2 | 7 |
| Ohiolimited | $67,580 | 240 | 0.40× | 2 | 5 |
| Georgialimited | $49,230 | 220 | 0.43× | 1 | 1 |
| New Jerseylimited | $86,820 | 330 | 0.73× | 1 | 1 |
| Wisconsinlimited | $62,720 | 90 | 0.29× | 1 | 1 |
Skills and tools
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Monitor recording instruments, flowmeters, panel lights, or other indicators and listen for warning signals to verify conformity of process conditions.
- Regulate or shut down equipment during emergency situations, as directed by supervisory personnel.
- Control or operate chemical processes or systems of machines, using panelboards, control boards, or semi-automatic equipment.
- Move control settings to make necessary adjustments on equipment units affecting speeds of chemical reactions, quality, or yields.
- Inspect operating units, such as towers, soap-spray storage tanks, scrubbers, collectors, or driers to ensure that all are functioning and to maintain maximum efficiency.
- Draw samples of products and conduct quality control tests to monitor processing and to ensure that standards are met.
- Record operating data, such as process conditions, test results, or instrument readings.
- Patrol work areas to ensure that solutions in tanks or troughs are not in danger of overflowing.
Skills
- Monitoring3.6
- Critical Thinking3.5
- Active Listening3.4
- Active Learning3.3
- Reading Comprehension3.3
- Speaking3.1
- Writing3.0
- Learning Strategies2.9
Knowledge areas
- Production and Processing3.7
- Chemistry3.7
- Mechanical3.6
- English Language3.5
- Public Safety and Security3.3
- Customer and Personal Service3.1
Abilities
- Near Vision3.8
- Problem Sensitivity3.8
- Selective Attention3.8
- Deductive Reasoning3.6
- Oral Comprehension3.6
- Oral Expression3.6
Core activities
- Getting Information4.6
- Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings4.5
- Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events4.4
- Controlling Machines and Processes4.2
- Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards4.0
- Training and Teaching Others4.0
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Chemical Plant
Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 2 majors mapped to Chemical Plant and System Operators2 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 41.0301Chemical Technology/Technician
- 41.0303Chemical Process Technology
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become a Chemical Plant?+
High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Chemical Technology/Technician, which awarded 2,879 degrees in 2024-25, 97.1% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Chemical Plant?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Physical Science Technologies/Technicians. Together they graduate about 2,964 people a year.
How much do chemical plant and system operators earn?+
The median is $78,120 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $48,400 at the 10th percentile to $111,930 at the 90th. 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 plant and system operators growing?+
BLS projects a -6.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 1,600 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
70 institutions 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 plant and system operators work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Process Operator, Chemical Operator, Loader Technician, Process Technician among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 51-8091.
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 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected 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 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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