---
title: "Chemical Plant and System Operator"
description: "Control or operate entire chemical processes or system of machines."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/chemical-plant-and-system-operator"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Chemical Plant and System Operator

**Category:** Production · **SOC code:** 51-8091 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 51-8091.00

Control or operate entire chemical processes or system of machines.

Also advertised as: Chemical Operator; Chemical Plant Operations Technician (Chemical Plan Operations Tech); Chemical Plant Production Operator; Chemical Process Control Operator; Plant Technician (Plant Tech); Process Control Operator; Process Development Associate; Process Operator.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $78,120 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $37.56/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $48,400 to $111,930, with the middle half between $60,330 and $98,660
- **Total US employment:** 16,610
- **Typical entry education:** High school
- **Preparation required:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** -5.2% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 1,300 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 50/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 16,610 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $48,400 |
| 25th | $60,330 |
| 50th (median) | $78,120 |
| 75th | $98,660 |
| 90th | $111,930 |
| Mean (average) | $79,970 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| FL | $128,830 | $124,577 | 60 |
| WY | $107,810 | $116,311 | 300 |
| TX | $102,750 | $105,866 | 2,360 |
| LA | $100,060 | $113,438 | 3,400 |
| KY | $97,550 | $108,198 | 40 |
| MD | $95,150 | $90,654 | 290 |
| AL | $91,610 | $103,138 | 230 |
| AR | $91,610 | $105,375 | 240 |
| CA | $87,550 | $79,073 | 780 |
| OR | $87,110 | $84,277 | 120 |
| NJ | $86,820 | $79,794 | 330 |
| MA | $83,710 | $79,153 | 570 |
| ID | $82,980 | $86,896 | 60 |
| WV | $81,710 | $91,299 | 380 |
| NM | $72,610 | $78,742 | Not published by BLS |

20 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 35 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/chemical-plant-and-system-operator/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/chemical-plant-and-system-operator.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 16,700 in the 2025–2035 base year to 15,900 by the end of the cycle — a loss of 900 jobs, or -5.2%. Declining: -5.2% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 1,300 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** High school diploma or equivalent (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Moderate-term on-the-job training.

## What the work involves

- Monitor recording instruments, flowmeters, panel lights, or other indicators and listen for warning signals to verify conformity of process conditions.
- Move control settings to make necessary adjustments on equipment units affecting speeds of chemical reactions, quality, or yields.
- Confer with technical and supervisory personnel to report or resolve conditions affecting safety, efficiency, or product quality.
- Draw samples of products and conduct quality control tests to monitor processing and to ensure that standards are met.
- Notify maintenance, stationary engineering, or other auxiliary personnel to correct equipment malfunctions or to adjust power, steam, water, or air supplies.
- Turn valves to regulate flow of products or byproducts through agitator tanks, storage drums, or neutralizer tanks.
- Record operating data, such as process conditions, test results, or instrument readings.
- Start pumps to wash and rinse reactor vessels, to exhaust gases or vapors, to regulate the flow of oil, steam, air, or perfume to towers, or to add products to converter or blending vessels.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Monitoring — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Operations Monitoring — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operation and Control — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Quality Control Analysis — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Troubleshooting — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Mechanical — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Chemistry — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Production and Processing — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Physics — importance 3.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Public Safety and Security — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Problem Sensitivity — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Near Vision — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Comprehension — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Deductive Reasoning — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Information Ordering — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Realistic (R), Conventional (C), Investigative (I).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| R — Realistic | 6.22 |
| C — Conventional | 5.16 |
| I — Investigative | 3.18 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.60 |
| S — Social | 1.22 |
| A — Artistic | 1.00 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 94.3 |
| ISTP | 79.8 |
| ISFJ | 76.1 |
| ESTJ | 75.3 |
| INTJ | 70.3 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Chemical Equipment Operator and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/chemical-equipment-operator-and-tender) — median $58,040
- [Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/separating-filtering-clarifying-precipitating-and-still-machine-setter-operator-and-tender) — median $51,610
- [Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/water-and-wastewater-treatment-plant-and-system-operator) — median $60,020
- [Petroleum Pump System Operator, Refinery Operator, and Gauger](https://nuecareer.com/careers/petroleum-pump-system-operator-refinery-operator-and-gauger) — median $96,710
- [Biomass Plant Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/biomass-plant-technician) — median $102,040
- [Power Plant Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/power-plant-operator) — median $102,040
- [Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operator and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cleaning-washing-and-metal-pickling-equipment-operator-and-tender) — median $43,530
- [Gas Compressor and Gas Pumping Station Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/gas-compressor-and-gas-pumping-station-operator) — median $77,320
- [Gas Plant Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/gas-plant-operator) — median $87,820
- [Stationary Engineer and Boiler Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/stationary-engineer-and-boiler-operator) — median $78,620

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/chemical-plant-and-system-operator