Chemical Equipment Operators and Tenders
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Overview
Operate or tend equipment to control chemical changes or reactions in the processing of industrial or consumer products. Equipment used includes devulcanizers, steam-jacketed kettles, and reactor vessels.
Explore Pathways
Titles for this career often contain these words
OperatorAcidChemicalWorkerTenderPlantMakerCausticStillReactorProcessCatalystRecoveryEquipmentTreaterAmmoniaUnitRoomMachineDevulcanizerMVAMonovinylacetyleneNitroglycerinSaltSodaPolymerizationPurificationPurifierMillBoardLiquorConverterCellChamberProcessorChlorinatorChlorineCoagulatingControlCrackingKettleMercuryNeutralizerPilotRipeningHandFiltererViscoseCellarAcetoneAcetyleneBleacherCleanerConcentratorCondenserExtractorPatrollerRegeneratorRemoverRetortAluminumHydroxideDistillerNitrateBallBlowDownBoilerBoilingTubBurnerButadieneConvertorStripperCadmiumCatCrackerCatalyticPreparerCausticiserCDWalkerCompounderControllerTankTreatmentChlorinationCellsClayBathCrystalizerDeIonizerDehydrogenationDesulphuringDesulphurizerLoaderDissolverDrugDepartmentDustCollectorFermenterFilterationGasolineGeneratorGlycerineHydrochloricHydrogenImpregnatorIonExchangeLyeWasherMultiskillDistributorSeparatorOutsideOxidationParaParadiPharmaceuticalPigmentPoacherPolyPondRaymondRemoteResinRefinerColumnDialyzerSprayDrySublimerThiokolTungstenTwitchellVaporizerVarnishVesselChargeWetMixWhiteLeadZincChloride
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Salary
Median salary: $50,510 annually
Half of those employed in this career earn between $38,200 and $66,650.
$51K$0$20K$40K$60K$80K$100K
Context: Median Salary
How do salaries for this career compare to other jobs' salaries?
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Salary growth for chemical processing machine setters, operators, and tenders
Is this job likely to reward you for sticking with it through pay raises and promotions? The higher a job’s “experience quotient,” the more you are likely to get as you stay there.
Experience quotient percentile
Take a minute to look at how much you might expect your salary to increase with each five years' experience, as well as how the numbers working at each age change. Does this seem to be a job for the young or the old, or could it be a career offering steady salary growth for many years?
Salary distribution
$64K$56K$51K$45K$64K$29K$40K$61K$59K$0$20K$40K$60K$80K$100K$120K20-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-4950-5455-5960-64
Number employed
02K4K6K8K10K20-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-4950-5455-5960-64
About Chemical Equipment Operators and Tenders
How do benefits for this career compare to other jobs? The availability of health care, especially employer provided health care, and pension plans can add significantly to the value of compensation you receive in a career. These charts compare how this career compares to other careers with regard to health care and pension plans.
Employee has health insurance
Employer is providing health insurance
Employer-provided pension plan is available
Worker concerns
Some jobs are more stressful than others, and some are just plain dangerous. The following list gives the percentages of chemical equipment operators and tenders who report hazardous or difficult situations typically occurring at least once a week.
  • Exposed to Contaminants (89%)
  • Hazardous Conditions (89%)
  • Responsible for Others' Health (87%)
  • Consequence of Error (77%)
  • Hazardous Equipment (67%)
  • Time Pressure (66%)
  • Minor Burns, Cuts, Bites (57%)
  • High Places (41%)
SOURCES:
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Injury and Illness
About 20 chemical equipment operators and tenders become injured or ill for every 10,000 workers, making this job more dangerous than 53% of other careers. The most common specific illnesses or injuries are detailed following.
Bruises and contusions
Fractures
Sprains, strains, tears
Education pathways to this career
Education attained by chemical equipment operators and tenders
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), chemical equipment operators and tenders typically hold a high school diploma or equivalent.
Sometimes the typical education identified by the BLS differs a bit from the reality of the how much education current workers actually have. The donut shows the education level held by people currently working as chemical processing machine setters, operators, and tenders as reported in responses to the American Community Survey.
Education level of Chemical processing machine setters, operators, and tenders
Only 23% of chemical processing machine setters, operators, and tenders have a bachelor's degree or higher.
Education attained by chemical processing machine setters, operators, and tenders
None
High School
Some College
Associate's Degree
Bachelor's Degree
Master's Degree
Professional Degree
Doctorate
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Programs recommended by the Department of Education
The Department of Education recommends the following college degree programs as preparation for this career. You can click a program row to learn more about the program and explore a list of schools that offer the program.
Number of degrees awarded in 2018
Education
Education level of awarded degrees
Assoc./Cert.
Bachelor's
Graduate
Gender
Gender of graduates
Men
Women
Race/Origin
Race/origin of graduates
White
Minority
International
Where are the jobs
State-by-state employment numbers
Some careers tend to be centered in specific parts of the country. For example, most jobs in fashion are in New York or California. Let's see if your dream job is easy to find in your dream location! We have a few choices for viewing the data that can help you get a full employment picture.
Select a state to see local area details
Number of Chemical processing machine setters, operators, and tenders per 1,000 workers (ACS)
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Job density versus job count
Which states hire the most chemical equipment operators and tenders? We wonder if that's a fair question since states come in all sizes, so instead let's start with the question of which states have the highest density of people working as chemical equipment operators and tenders. You can choose to view the number of jobs per state if you prefer.
Salaries by state
Let's get a feel for where chemical equipment operators and tenders earn the highest salaries. There are several choices for which data we consider and how we view that data, and each can lead to different conclusions, so please read on...
Median salary versus state ratio
We use two methods to compare salaries across states:
  • In-state comparisons: the ratio of median (middle) salaries for chemical processing machine setters, operators, and tenders compared to the median salary for all people working in each state, or
  • Median salary: the unaltered median salaries for chemical processing machine setters, operators, and tenders.
We hope the ratio allows perspective about how salaries may compare to the regional cost-of-living.
The darkest shading corresponds to states in which chemical processing machine setters, operators, and tenders earn the highest salary when compared to other jobs in the state. We think this figure might be a better indicator than the actual salary for your buying power as a state resident.
Select a state to see local area details
Location-adjusted median salary for Chemical processing machine setters, operators, and tenders (ACS for all specialties)
AKMEWIVTNHWAIDMTNDMNILMINYMAORUTWYSDIAINOHPANJCTRICANVCONEMOKYWVVAMDDEAZNMKSARTNNCSCDCOKLAMSALGAHITXFLPR
Employment
5% of Chemical processing machine setters, operators, and tenders are working part time.
We’ve found that some jobs have a huge number of part-time workers, and typically that is because they are unable to find full-time work or the job itself can’t provide full-time hours. With 5% part-time workers, this occupation has a lower percentage of part-time workers than 77% of careers.
5%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Employer types
This donut shares the break-down of workers by employer type, giving us a picture of what employers most typically hire for this career.
Employers of undefined (ACS)
Private for-profit
Private not-for-profit
Local government
State government
Federal government
Self-employed incorporated
Self-employed not incorporated
Working without pay
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Distribution: Salaries of chemical processing machine setters, operators, and tenders by type of employer
Here are the salary distributions based on employer type.
$51K$51K$46K$0$20,000$40,000$60,000$80,000$100,000Local governmentPrivate for-profitAll
Gender
Chemical processing machine setters, operators, and tenders and gender
With 11% women, this occupation has a lower percentage of women than 78% of careers.
Gender of Chemical processing machine setters, operators, and tenders
Men (89%)
Women (11%)
Distribution: salaries by gender
Does gender greatly influence your salary in this career? The closer the bars are, the less discrepancy there is.
$39K$52K$0$100K$200K$300KWomenMen
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
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Context: Women in the workforce
How does this career compare to other careers with regard to the percentage of women in the career.
11%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Context: Salary inequity
The median (middle) salary for all full-time male workers in the US exceeds the full-time median salary for women by 19%, and the difference for chemical processing machine setters, operators, and tenders tops that, with the median salary for men 32% higher than the median salary for women.
32%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Race/Origin
Race and origin of Chemical processing machine setters, operators, and tenders
This donut shows the distribution of race and origin among those employed as Chemical processing machine setters, operators, and tenders.
Race/origin of chemical processing machine setters, operators, and tenders
White (80% )
Black (10% )
Other (4% )
Multiracial (2% )
Asian (2% )
American Indian (1% )
Hispanic (0% )
Pacific Islander (0% )
Distribution: salaries by race/origin
Some careers might have a pay disparity based on race or origin, the closer the below bars are the less of a discrepancy is present.
$35K$40K$45K$49K$52K$0$20K$40K$60K$80K$100K$120KOtherMultiracialBlackAsianWhite
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.