Chemistry Teacher: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.
The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.
10% of chemistry teachers earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $57,870
- Hourly
- Annual pay only (BLS)
- Source
- BLS May 2025
25% of chemistry teachers earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $68,530
- Hourly
- Annual pay only (BLS)
- Source
- BLS May 2025
Half of chemistry teachers earn more than this and half earn less.
- Annual
- $93,250
- Hourly
- Annual pay only (BLS)
- Source
- BLS May 2025
75% of chemistry teachers earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $127,280
- Hourly
- Annual pay only (BLS)
- Source
- BLS May 2025
90% of chemistry teachers earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $172,110
- Hourly
- Annual pay only (BLS)
- Source
- BLS May 2025
Chemistry Teachers teach courses pertaining to the chemical and physical properties and compositional changes of substances. The median pay is $93,250 a year (BLS, May 2025). The most commonly reported education requirement is a master's degree (35% of workers surveyed by O*NET).
- Median pay
- $93,250
- BLS May 2025
- Employed in the U.S.
- 19,980
- BLS May 2025
- Preparation
- Job Zone 5 of 5
- extensive preparation
- Most common education
- Master's Degree
- 35% of workers
Data Government data groups this job as Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary (O*NET-SOC 25-1052.00). Figures on this page are for that occupation.
Chemistry Teachers at a glance
Workers in the BLS occupation “Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary” in the United States earned a median annual wage of $93,250 in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
In its 2025–35 employment projections, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a doctoral or professional degree as the typical entry-level education for workers in the BLS occupation “Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary” in the United States.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
BLS projects employment of workers in the BLS occupation “Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary” in the United States to grow 2.3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,700 openings a year on average, including replacement openings.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
BLS estimated that 19,980 people were employed in the BLS occupation “Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary” in the United States in May 2025, not counting the self-employed.
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
Every page for Chemistry Teachers
What chemistry teachers do day to day
Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).
- Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as organic chemistry, analytical chemistry, and chemical separation.
- Establish, teach, and monitor students' compliance with safety rules for handling chemicals, equipment, and other hazardous materials.
- Evaluate and grade students' class work, laboratory performance, assignments, and papers.
- Supervise students' laboratory work.
- Maintain student attendance records, grades, and other required records.
- Supervise undergraduate or graduate teaching, internship, and research work.
- Compile, administer, and grade examinations, or assign this work to others.
- Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts.
Ranked by importance to the job
Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.
Knowledge areas: Chemistry, English Language, Mathematics, Education and Training, Biology, Physics.
Software chemistry teachers use
Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.
- Learning management system LMSComputer based training softwareIn demand
- Auto3DEMAnalytical or scientific software
- Blackboard LearnComputer based training software
- CCP4Analytical or scientific software
- Course management system softwareComputer based training software
- DOC CopInformation retrieval or search software
- Desire2Learn LMS softwareComputer based training software
- IHRSR++Analytical or scientific software
- Image scanning softwareOptical character reader OCR or scanning software
- MoodleComputer based training software
- MosflmAnalytical or scientific software
- OriginLab OriginAnalytical or scientific software
Also called: Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Biochemistry Professor, Chemistry Faculty Member, Chemistry Instructor, Chemistry Professor.
How this page is built
Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the cosine similarity of the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level and subtract the average across all occupations, then compare the direction of the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 means unrelated or opposite (negative values are shown as 0). Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.
- How a specific employer defines the job.
- Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
- Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).
How TryHired builds this data: sources, methods and downloads. Spotted an error? Report a correction.