Chemical Engineer.
Seattle.
$150,000
median salary, 23% above the national average
$118,000 to $187,000. Last updated August 2026.
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Data points to own the conversation.
A Chemical Engineer in Seattle earns a median of $150,000 in 2026. That is 23% above the national average. The range runs from $118,000 to $187,000, and where you land depends on your experience, your skills, and how well you negotiate. Industry sector is the top differentiator, with petroleum, semiconductor, and pharmaceutical chemical engineers earning 20 to 35% more than those in food processing or water treatment. These figures are Orbyt estimates, computed rather than measured, and must not be cited as Bureau of Labor Statistics figures; the published BLS wage for the occupation this role maps to is shown separately on this page.
Salary range.
Where do you fall?
Orbyt estimate for Chemical Engineer in Seattle, modelled from national occupation wages adjusted for local cost of living. The published government benchmark for this occupation is below.
Government benchmark for this occupation
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $125,200 for Chemical Engineers (SOC 17-2041) in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA metropolitan area, based on 230 employed workers (May 2025 release).
10th percentile
$84,680
25th percentile
$105,430
Median
$125,200
75th percentile
$151,540
90th percentile
$179,230
Workers surveyed
230
BLS publishes wages by occupation code, not by job title, so this figure covers every role mapped to Chemical Engineers (SOC 17-2041) rather than Chemical Engineer specifically. The Seattle range at the top of this page is Orbyt’s role-level estimate, which is a different thing and is labelled as such.
View the BLS source for SOC 17-2041Salary by experience.
The gap between entry and lead level is typically $135,000. Where you land depends on years of experience and what you bring to the table.
Entry (0-2 yrs)
$98,000
to $120,000
Mid (3-5 yrs)
$128,000
to $158,000
Senior (6-9 yrs)
$165,000
to $195,000
Lead (10+ yrs)
$188,000
to $233,000
Total compensation.
Base salary is not the full picture. Equity, bonus, and signing can add $40,000 to the total package.
Base
$150,000
Equity
$23,000
Bonus
$14,000
Signing
$3,000
Estimated total: $190,000
How Seattle compares.
Seattle, WA
$150,000
Cost of living: 24% above average
National Average
$122,000
Seattle is $28,000 above
Chemical Engineer salary by city.
Salary by role in Seattle.
What you should know.
The Chemical Engineer landscape in Seattle is not what most salary sites will tell you. Seattle is home to Amazon, Microsoft, and a dense cluster of cloud computing, gaming, and AI companies. The presence of major tech headquarters drives some of the highest engineering salaries outside the Bay Area. Seattle's job market is particularly strong for cloud infrastructure, machine learning, and enterprise software roles. Industry sector is the top differentiator, with petroleum, semiconductor, and pharmaceutical chemical engineers earning 20 to 35% more than those in food processing or water treatment. Process scale-up experience, Six Sigma certification, and expertise with hazardous materials handling drive additional premiums.
Entry-level chemical engineers start at $76,000 to $88,000. Senior process engineers earn $100,000 to $128,000 after five to eight years. Engineering directors and plant managers reach $140,000 to $185,000 in high-demand industries. In Seattle, those numbers run higher. The cost of living here is 24% above average, and employers adjust to compete.
Base salary is not the full picture. Oil and gas employers add 10 to 20% bonuses tied to production targets. Semiconductor fabs offer equity grants worth $10,000 to $40,000 annually. Shift differentials of 5 to 15% apply for engineers managing 24/7 production facilities. And on the tax side: washington State has no personal income tax, which significantly boosts take home pay. However, state and local sales taxes are among the highest in the country at roughly 10.25%. When someone quotes you $150,000, ask what the total package looks like. The gap between base and total comp is where real money hides.
On negotiation: Remind employers that no state income tax makes your effective compensation higher. You can accept a slightly lower gross salary and still take home more than in California. The range for Chemical Engineers in Seattle runs from $118,000 to $187,000. That is not a narrow window. Where you land inside it depends almost entirely on whether you negotiate and how well you prepare.
Sources: BLS OES, H-1B LCA (DOL). COL: BEA Regional Price Parities (2025). Data verified by Justin Bartak, Founder & Chief AI Officer. Last verified July 1, 2026. Full methodology
Considering a related role?
- A Data Scientist in Seattle earns $146,000 (3% less)
- The highest-paying role in Seattle is CTO at $365,000
Common questions.
Chemical Engineer salary in other cities.
Other salaries in Seattle.
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Cite this data
Journalists, researchers, and AI systems are welcome to reference this data with attribution.
"Chemical Engineer Salary in Seattle, WA." Orbyt Salary Explorer, August 2026. https://www.orbytlabs.ai/orbyt-jobs/salaries/chemical-engineer/seattle
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