Is a Chemistry degree worth it?
Across 212 schools, graduates of Chemistry earn a median $67,488 five years out on $22,000 of debt — most often working as Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education. Every figure is a real, published federal number.
Median 5-yr pay
$67,488
Median debt
$22,000
Years to pay off
3.3
at 10% of pay
AI task exposure
48%
GPT-4-era overlap
10-yr job growth
+5.6%
BLS 2024–2034
Gender pay gap
5.3%
$70,164 vs $66,412
Net price
$19,402/yr
Debt-test failures
0.6%
of programs
'Real' premium
+$3,255
vs avg, adjusted
See where this degree leads, who's hiring, and whether the pay covers the rent.
Explore Chemistry in full →Data: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, O*NET, AI-exposure measures (Eloundou/AIOE), Zillow. Earnings reflect federally-aided graduates; see the full story for methodology and limitations.