Chemical engineer salaries
What do chemical engineers earn in Germany?
Salaries for chemical engineers are particularly high in the pharmaceutical, vehicle construction and chemical industries. 漏 sanjeri / iStock.com
As a rule, chemical engineers can expect to earn quite attractive salaries. There are, however, several factors that can play a role. What are they?
Updated: 2025-01-09
By: Bianca Sellnow, Maike Schade; translation: Dacha Media
Chemical engineer salary 鈥� overview
Salaries for chemical engineers are higher than average. According to statistics from Germany鈥檚 Federal Employment Agency, the median gross monthly salary is 6,514 euros per month, or around 78,000 euros gross per year. As such, salaries earned by chemical engineers are significantly higher than the average wages earned by engineers in Germany in general, which the website ingenieur.de calculated for 2022 as 60,040 euros per year (median value).
The website notes that chemical engineers can expect to earn particularly attractive salaries in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, in addition to the vehicle construction sector. As in many other industries, salaries are dependent on which region in Germany the job is located, with significant differences between eastern and western Germany. Entry level salaries are also informed by the academic degree held by the candidate. An additional factor is whether salaries are paid in accordance with a collective bargaining agreement or not.
But which chemical engineers earn precisely how much? The following provides more focused information regarding the salaries that holders of bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 degrees can expect to earn in their first jobs and how those salaries will develop on average as their careers in chemical engineering progress.
Entry level salaries in chemical engineering
The academic degree earned is decisive when it comes to entry level chemical engineering salaries. Those holding bachelor鈥檚 degrees earn significantly less at the beginning of their careers than engineers with a diplom 鈥� a five-year degree earned at universities or technical universities 鈥� or a master鈥檚. According to ingenieur.de, the gross median starting salary in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries was 61,670 euros per year in 2022. In the automotive industry, the median was 54,188 euros per year.
In a study examining engineering salaries, the website found significant differences between academic degrees. The study did not focus exclusively on chemical engineers, but the values it found for engineering in general provide some orientation.
- Bachelor鈥檚 (university of applied sciences): 47,600 euros
- Bachelor鈥檚 (university or technical university): 48,400 euros
- Master鈥檚 (university of applied sciences): 53,298 euros
- Master鈥檚 (university or technical university): 53,750 euros
The type of university where a degree is earned is no longer particularly relevant, but the difference between bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 remains significant.
Salaries of chemical engineers with a doctorate
Chemical engineers who holds a PhD can often earn several hundred euros more per month than colleagues without a doctorate. Salaries at the top end can exceed 100,000 euros per year by a wide margin. According to a somewhat older study by ingenieur.de from 2017, engineers holding PhDs could expect entry-level salaries of around 72,000 euros per year.
Still, salaries for chemical engineers holding doctorates are dependent on both the company where they are hired and geographical location. A small to mid-sized company in the eastern German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, for example, will pay chemical engineers holding doctorates significantly less than a large company located in the western German state of Hesse.
Chemical engineers with experience: Salaries according to position
The website ingenieur.de has found that the highest average salaries for chemical engineers are paid in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Even the median starting salary of around 60,000 euros gross per year is higher than average. With more experience and more responsibility, salaries well into the six figures are possible, as the following table shows.
Salaries for engineers in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries
| Position | Gross annual salary (median in euros) |
|---|---|
|
Entry-level salary |
61,170 |
|
Specialised and project engineer |
73,225 |
|
Project manager / leader |
84,150 |
|
Group / team leader |
95,407 |
|
Division head |
115,308 |
Source: 2022 salary study by the Association of German Engineers
Salaries by German state
In addition to the degree earned and the amount of experience amassed, chemical engineer salaries are also heavily dependent on the German state in which they are based. Whereas a chemical engineer with no experience can earn 65,000 euros per year in Baden-W眉rttemberg, according to the salary-tracking service Gehaltsreporter, that same engineer will earn slightly less than 49,000 in Saxony-Anhalt. The following table provides information on median annual salaries for chemical engineers in Germany鈥檚 16 states.
oss annual salary of chemical engineers by federal state
| Federal state | Salary with 0-5 years of experience* | Salary with more than 10 years of experience* |
|---|---|---|
|
Baden-Wurttemberg |
68,547 鈧� |
106,219 鈧� |
|
Bavaria |
66,660 鈧� |
103,296 鈧� |
|
Berlin |
60,372 鈧� |
93,551 鈧� |
|
Brandenburg |
53,454 鈧� |
82,832 鈧� |
|
Bremen |
61,629 鈧� |
95,500 鈧� |
|
Hamburg |
66,660 鈧� |
103,296 鈧� |
|
Hesse |
72,949 鈧� |
113,041 鈧� |
|
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania |
50,310 鈧� |
77,959 鈧� |
|
Lower Saxony |
57,227 鈧� |
88,679 鈧� |
|
North Rhine-Westfalia |
63,516 鈧� |
98,423 鈧� |
|
Rhineland-Palatinate |
61,629 鈧� |
95,500 鈧� |
|
Saarland |
59,743 鈧� |
92,577 鈧� |
|
Saxony |
52,196 鈧� |
80,883 鈧� |
|
Saxony-Anhalt |
51,567 鈧� |
79,908 鈧� |
|
Schleswig-Holstein |
58,485 鈧� |
90,628 鈧� |
|
Thuringia |
52,825 鈧� |
81,857 鈧� |
*) Average salaries as of January 2025
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Please note that the values provided above are averages. There can be significant differences in salaries paid depending on the company.
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The public sector and unions: Collective bargaining salaries in the chemical industry
The public sector can also be attractive for chemical engineers. They can be employed by municipalities, state governments or the federal government focusing on issues such as environmental analysis, urban drainage and energy supply.
Salaries in the public sector are comparable to those in the private sector. A chemical engineer with a master鈥檚 degree working for a municipality, for example, earned a starting gross annual salary of 57,950 euros in 2025, according to the Wage Agreement for Public Service (TV枚D) pertaining to municipalities (VKA). Top earners can make almost 110,000 euros per year (E 15脺, level 6). It should be remembered, however, that because of the clearly defined salary steps in the public sector, rapid pay jumps are not possible. On the other hand, though, it is simple to project future earnings.
Chemical engineering salaries in teaching and research
Chemical engineers can expect to earn similar salaries at universities or non-university research institutions, for example as research assistants or as junior research group leaders. They are paid according to state bargaining agreements (TV-L) and usually fall into the salary category E13, though postdocs and those with more responsibility may be classified in the E14 category.
Tenured professors are paid according to the W salary scale. Accordingly, junior professors are paid between 60,000 and 68,000 euros per year, depending on state, while W2 professors can expect to earn between 77,000 and 90,000 euros and W3 professors make between 83,000 and 104,000 euros (plus extras) gross per year.
IGBCE: Improved pay for the 580,000 chemical industry employees in 2024
The IGBCE is the primary union representing workers in the mining, chemical and energy industries in Germany, and their agreements apply to 580,000 employees around the country in 1,900 companies, including BASF SE, the largest employer in the sector. Their website reads:
鈥淓mployees who perform activities that require a (technical) university degree and practical experience are usually assigned to pay group 11. Specialists who require extensive knowledge in handling materials or machines also fall into this pay group. Qualified managerial activities with personnel and/or budget responsibility or the development of IT concepts also belong in this pay group. From September (2024), the final monthly salary level after six or more years will be between 5,548 euros and 6,338 euros, and from April (2025) it will be between 5,767 euros and 6,645 euros.
鈥淭he highest pay group 13 includes employees who have extensive professional experience and specialist knowledge and either perform managerial tasks or are responsible for sub-areas. This includes, for example, specialists who supervise a particularly varied or especially challenging area in terms of scope and responsibility. From September (2024), their final level pay will be between 6,370 and 7,409 euros, depending on geographic region. From April 2025, it will be between 6,736 and 7,768 euros.鈥�
