At a glance
Chemical engineer salary in Singapore
- Chemical engineer: S$6,400 median a month. Middle 50% earn S$5,034 to S$9,000.
- Petroleum: S$9,730 median, 52.0% higher than other chemical engineers.
- Fresh graduates: S$4,250 to S$4,800 median start at SIT, NTU and NUS.
- Pay rises with age: from S$4,742 at 25 to 29 to S$7,379 at 50 to 59.
- Professional services pay more than manufacturing: S$7,200 against S$6,037.
How does your pay compare?MOM figures, June 2025. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
Part 1 · Pay today
How much do chemical engineers earn?
Petroleum chemical engineers earn S$3,330 more at the median, 52.0% higher. That compares two groups; switching sector does not guarantee it.
Gross monthly wage, June 2025, all industries.
| Occupation, all industries | Basic wage, median | Gross, 25th pct | Gross, median | Gross, 75th pct |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chemical engineer (excluding petroleum and petrochemical)Full detail | 5,953 | 5,034 | 6,400 | 9,000 |
| Chemical engineer (petroleum)Partial detail | 9,678 | 7,744 | 9,730 | 11,851 |
Source: MOM Occupational Wages 2025, Table 4. Full-time resident employees, June 2025.
Cell references
T4!C93:I93, T4!C94:I94What it means
- Petroleum pays S$3,330 more at the median. A different group, not a guaranteed raise for switching sector.
- Wide range: S$3,966 separates the 25th and 75th percentile outside petroleum. One average is a weak benchmark.
Starting salary for chemical engineering graduates
Programme medians range from S$4,250 to S$4,800 a month. The gap does not prove a university premium.
Graduates in full-time permanent jobs, six months after graduating (MOE survey, November 2025).
| University and programme | Basic, median | Gross, median | Gross, mean | Gross, middle 50% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NUS, Chemical Engineering | 4,500 | 4,800 | 4,829 | 4,500 to 5,100 |
| NTU, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering | 4,200 | 4,400 | 4,434 | 4,000 to 4,900 |
| SIT–Technical University of Munich, Chemical Engineering | 4,000 | 4,250 | 4,468 | 3,967 to 4,985 |
Full-time permanent jobs only, as at 1 November 2025. Source: MOE GES 2025 (NTU, NUS, SIT).
What it means
- S$550 separates the highest and lowest programme medians. That is not proof of a university premium.
- Compare a first offer with these figures, not the S$9,730 petroleum median.
Job outcomes for chemical engineering graduatesAbout seven in ten graduates found full-time permanent work within six months.
About seven in ten graduates found full-time permanent work within six months.
Share of graduates in the labour force.
| Programme | Course response rate | Currently employed | In full-time permanent employment |
|---|---|---|---|
| NUS, Chemical Engineering | 67% | 81.1% | 73.0% |
| NTU, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering | 72% | 78.0% | 69.1% |
| SIT–Technical University of Munich, Chemical Engineering | 76% | 79.3% | 75.9% |
Share of graduates in the labour force. Source: MOE GES 2025.
- About seven in ten found full-time permanent work within six months.
- The rest are not all unemployed: some were in contract, part-time or freelance work.
Part 2 · Who earns more
How pay changes with age
Outside petroleum, pay rises 28.6% from the late twenties to the thirties. Petroleum pay is higher at every published age.
Median gross monthly wage by age group.
Excluding petroleum & petrochemicalPetroleum
| Occupation | 25–29 | 30–39 | 40–49 | 50–59 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chemical engineer (excluding petroleum and petrochemical) | 4,742 | 6,100 | 7,139 | 7,379 |
| Chemical engineer (petroleum) | – | 9,307 | 10,301 | 10,225 |
Median gross monthly wage, S$. "–" = suppressed by MOM. Source: MOM Occupational Wages 2025, Table 3.
Cell references
T3!C86:K86, T3!C87:K87What it means
- +28.6% from late twenties to thirties, then +17.0% into the forties.
- Petroleum is higher in every age group MOM publishes. The 25 to 29 figure is suppressed.
- Snapshot of different people in June 2025, not the same engineers over time.
By sex and employer sizeOutside petroleum, women's median and smaller firms' median are both higher. Both groups are small; read with care.
Outside petroleum, women's median and smaller firms' median are both higher. Both groups are small; read with care.
| Occupation | All, median gross | Men | Women | Women vs men |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chemical engineer (excluding petroleum and petrochemical) | 6,400 | 6,166 | 7,139 | +15.8% |
| Chemical engineer (petroleum) | 9,730 | 9,777 | 9,612 | -1.7% |
Median gross monthly wage, S$. Two group medians, not an adjusted pay gap. Source: MOM Occupational Wages 2025, Tables 1.1 and 1.2.
Cell references
T1.1!C86:E86, T1.2!C86:E86, T1.1!C87:E87, T1.2!C87:E87| Occupation | Firms with 25 to 199 employees | Firms with 200 or more | Large vs small |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chemical engineer (excluding petroleum and petrochemical) | 8,605 | 5,970 | -30.6% |
| Chemical engineer (petroleum) | – | 9,774 | – |
Median gross monthly wage, S$. Source: MOM Occupational Wages 2025, Table 2.
Cell references
T2!C94:G94, T2!C95:G95What it means
- Women's median is higher outside petroleum. Small groups; read with care.
- Smaller firms pay more outside petroleum, unusually. Likely reflects which specialist firms are small.
- These compare two groups. They are not an adjusted pay gap.
By employer industry
Professional services pay S$1,163 more than manufacturing at the median. The ranges overlap heavily.
Chemical engineer (excluding petroleum), gross monthly wage by industry.
| Employer industry | Median gross wage | Gross wage, middle 50% |
|---|---|---|
| Professional Services | 7,200 | 5,650 to 9,000 |
| Manufacturing | 6,037 | 4,943 to 8,890 |
Chemical engineer (excluding petroleum and petrochemical) (SSOC 21451). Source: MOM Occupational Wages 2025, Tables 4.1 to 4.14. No figure published for the other 12 industries.
Cell references
T4.9!C53:I53, T4.1!C49:I49- Professional services pay S$1,163 more at the median, but the ranges overlap heavily.
Part 3 · Over time
Pay over time and 2026 outlook
MOM did not publish a 2024 figure for these jobs, so no 2026 projection is made. The history shows earlier years.
Official medians for the last six years, then a projection for June 2026.
| Occupation | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chemical engineer (excluding petroleum and petrochemical) | 5,061 | 5,745 | 5,209 | 5,097 | – | 6,400 | |
| Chemical engineer (petroleum) | – | – | 8,628 | – | – | 9,730 |
Median gross monthly wage, June of each year, S$. "–" = not published, or the job code changed in a way that cannot be linked one-to-one. Earlier years use SSOC 2020 codes, linked to SSOC 2024 with SingStat's official correspondence table. MOM advises that single-year changes are noisy because the survey is a sample; look at the direction over several years. Source: MOM Occupational Wages 2020 to 2025, Table 4.
June 2026 projection Estimate
| Occupation | June 2025 (MOM) | June 2026 projection | 80% range | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chemical engineer (excluding petroleum and petrochemical) | 6,400 | Not projected: not enough history | ||
| Chemical engineer (petroleum) | 9,730 | Not projected: not enough history | ||
Foundific projection v1, not official data. Central estimate = average of the last two MOM medians + economy-wide wage growth (3.73% a year, from MOM median income and the MAS inflation forecast). Tested on 2025: typical error 8.1%; 78.7% of actual values fell inside the 80% range. How the projection works.
What it means
- Estimate: this is our projection, not MOM data. MOM's June 2026 figures are due around mid-2027 and will replace it.
- Most of the projected rise is economy-wide. Single-job figures move a lot from year to year because MOM's survey is a sample, so the engine leans on the economy-wide trend.
- Jobs are only projected when their history is steady enough for a useful range. None of the jobs on this page qualify yet.
Part 4 · AI impact
Is chemical engineering affected by AI?
The ILO rates chemical engineers Minimal. Most of the job is plant, safety and lab work that AI barely touches.
Based on the International Labour Organization's 2025 index, which scores every core task of a job from 0 (AI cannot help) to 1 (AI could do nearly all of it).
Chemical engineer (excluding petroleum and petrochemical)
MinimalAI exposure
Not exposedVery high
AI can help with a small part of this job, mostly paperwork.
- Most exposed taskPreparing estimates of production costs and production…
- Least exposed taskPerforming laboratory studies of steps
- In numbersAI could do a large part of 1 of its 8 main tasks.
Chemical engineer (excluding petroleum and petrochemical)SSOC 21451
Minimalexposure to generative AI
- Not exposed
- Minimal
- Some
- Moderate
- High
- Very high
Scored as ILO group 2145 Chemical engineers. Average task score 0.35, higher than 65% of the 427 jobs the ILO scored.
Eight factors
| Factor | Chemical engineer (excluding petroleum and petrochemical) |
|---|---|
| 1Exposure levelThe ILO's rating for the whole job, from not exposed up to very high. | Minimal |
| 2Average task scoreHow much of each core task generative AI could do, averaged. 0 means none, 1 means nearly all. | 0.35 higher than 65% of jobs |
| 3Tasks AI could do much ofTasks scoring 0.5 or more. These are the parts of the job most likely to change. | 1 of 8 |
| 4Hands-on or people tasksTasks scoring under 0.25: physical, in-person or judgement work that AI barely touches. | 1 of 8 |
| 5How even the exposure isEven means AI touches most tasks a little. Uneven means a few tasks are exposed and the rest are not. | Mixed (0.11) |
| 6Most exposed taskWhere AI tools are likely to show up first. | Preparing estimates of production costs and production… 0.62 |
| 7Least exposed taskThe task AI can help with least. | Performing laboratory studies of steps in manufacture of… 0.24 |
| 8Pay trend so farChange in the MOM median since the first year on record. Any AI effect would show here in later years. | +26% S$5,061 (2020) to S$6,400 (2025) |
Most and least exposed tasks
Chemical engineer (excluding petroleum and petrochemical)
Most exposed tasks
- 0.62Preparing estimates of production costs and production progress reports for…
- 0.41Developing safety procedures to be employed
- 0.37Specifying chemical production methods, materials and quality standards and…
Least exposed tasks
- 0.24Performing laboratory studies of steps in manufacture of new products and…
- 0.26Designing chemical plant equipment and devising processes for manufacturing…
- 0.29Establishing control standards and procedures to ensure safety and efficiency…
Compared with our other guides
Source: ILO Working Paper 140, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (Gmyrek et al., 2025), CC BY 4.0. Singapore jobs matched to ILO groups with the SingStat SSOC 2024 to ISCO-08 correspondence table. Pay: MOM Occupational Wages. The ILO scores international job groups, not Singapore titles. How we read the AI scores.
Cell references
SSOC 21451 to ISCO 2145 (SSOC2024-ISCO08!B140)What it means for chemical engineering
- Most exposed task: Preparing production cost estimates and progress reports scores 0.62, the only task at medium or above.
- Least exposed tasks: Designing equipment, setting safety standards and pilot-plant testing score 0.25 to 0.29.
- Both titles share one ILO group. Petroleum and non-petroleum chemical engineers get the same scores.
- What exposure measures: how much of the work AI could do or speed up. It does not measure job cuts. Employers decide how to use AI.
- Pay so far: The median rose from S$5,061 in 2020 to S$6,400 in 2025.
Part 5 · Using the figures
Which figure should you compare with?
Check whether your job is in petroleum first, then use your age band.
| You are | Compare with | Figure |
|---|---|---|
| Choosing a course | Programme median and full-time job rate | S$4,250 to S$4,800 |
| Fresh graduate with an offer | Your programme's middle 50% | See starting salary table |
| Engineer, 25 to 29 | Age band median | S$4,742 |
| Engineer, 30s and 40s | Age band, then industry | S$6,100 to S$7,139 |
| Petroleum engineer | Petroleum row and age band | S$9,730 |
About these figures
What the pay figures includeMonthly gross pay with allowances and overtime, without bonuses or employer CPF
Every figure is monthly and excludes bonuses and employer CPF.
| Measure | Includes | Excludes |
|---|---|---|
| Basic wage | Basic pay | Allowances, overtime, bonus, employer CPF |
| Gross wage | Basic + allowances + overtime + commissions | Bonus, employer CPF, lump sums |
| Graduate salary | Same as gross, full-time permanent jobs only | Bonus, employer CPF |
- S$6,400 × 12 = S$76,800 a year before bonus. It is not a total package.
What this data does not coverMOM has no separate pharmaceutical or petrochemical engineer figure.
MOM has no separate pharmaceutical or petrochemical engineer figure.
- Pharmaceutical or petrochemical titles: MOM has no separate figure; do not relabel these rows.
- Experience and grade: age only, no seniority levels.
- Bonuses: excluded from every figure.
- Foreign employees and small firms: outside the survey.
Related guides
Sources
MOM Occupational Wages 2025 and MOE Graduate Employment Survey 2025
- MOM, Occupational Wages 2025, Tables 1 to 4. June 2025, released 30 June 2026. SSOC 21451 and 21452.
- MOE GES 2025 publications for NUS, NTU and SIT. As at 1 November 2025.
- MOM, Coverage and Methodology 2025.