Chemical Plant and System Operators Career, Salary and Skills
Chemical Plant and System Operators have a BLS-reported national median annual wage of $78,120 based on the 2025 OEWS dataset, with reported national employment of 16,610. Wage data is published for 63 locations.
Occupation description
Control or operate entire chemical processes or system of machines.
O*NET code
51-8091.00
Job zone
2
Typical education
Not recorded
Experience
None
National salary and employment
Median annual
$78,120
Hourly median
$37.56
Employment
16,610
Data year
2025
National salary distribution
$48,400
10th
$60,330
25th
$78,120
Median
$98,660
75th
$111,930
90th
Top skills
| Skill | Importance | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Operations Monitoring | 4.25 | 4.38 |
| Operation and Control | 4.00 | 4.00 |
| Quality Control Analysis | 3.75 | 3.62 |
| Monitoring | 3.75 | 3.75 |
| Critical Thinking | 3.62 | 3.50 |
| Reading Comprehension | 3.12 | 3.38 |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 3.12 | 3.00 |
| Active Listening | 3.12 | 3.50 |
| Speaking | 3.12 | 3.00 |
| Time Management | 3.12 | 3.00 |
Typical tasks
- Move control settings to make necessary adjustments on equipment units affecting speeds of chemical reactions, quality, or yields.
- Draw samples of products and conduct quality control tests to monitor processing and to ensure that standards are met.
- Record operating data, such as process conditions, test results, or instrument readings.
- Control or operate chemical processes or systems of machines, using panelboards, control boards, or semi-automatic equipment.
- Patrol work areas to ensure that solutions in tanks or troughs are not in danger of overflowing.
- Regulate or shut down equipment during emergency situations, as directed by supervisory personnel.
- 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.
- Monitor recording instruments, flowmeters, panel lights, or other indicators and listen for warning signals to verify conformity of process conditions.
Technology
- Alarm management system software
- Coordinated incident management system CIMS software
- Distributed control system DCS
- Interlock shutdown systems
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office software
- Microsoft Word
Chemical Plant and System Operators salary by location
Areas with the highest reported employment for this occupation.
- Chemical Plant and System Operators Salary in LAMedian $100,060 · Employment 3,400
- Chemical Plant and System Operators Salary in TXMedian $102,750 · Employment 2,360
- Chemical Plant and System Operators Salary in Baton Rouge, LAMedian $104,410 · Employment 1,720
- Chemical Plant and System Operators Salary in Houston, TXMedian $106,020 · Employment 1,420
- Chemical Plant and System Operators Salary in CAMedian $87,550 · Employment 780
- Chemical Plant and System Operators Salary in PAMedian $70,110 · Employment 770
- Chemical Plant and System Operators Salary in VAMedian $63,000 · Employment 760
- Chemical Plant and System Operators Salary in Lake Charles, LAMedian $102,310 · Employment 740
- Chemical Plant and System Operators Salary in NCMedian $62,920 · Employment 660
- Chemical Plant and System Operators Salary in SCMedian $68,510 · Employment 610
- Chemical Plant and System Operators Salary in MAMedian $83,710 · Employment 570
- Chemical Plant and System Operators Salary in IAMedian $60,440 · Employment 490
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Career and skills data: O*NET 31.0 (onetcenter.org). Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, 2025 (bls.gov/oes). Figures are published survey estimates, not real-time market data.