# Chemical Technicians

US SOC code 19-4031. Markdown version of https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/19-4031

## In brief

In May 2025, [BLS](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip) counted **57,540** US chemical technicians, with median pay of **$60,390** a year. By the method BLS used before May 2021, the highest count from 2003 to 2020 was **65,830**, in May 2008. The earliest figure here is [a Census count](https://usa.ipums.org/usa/volii/occ_ind.shtml) of **85,000** from 1950, not measured the same way as today's count. The last full technology era for chemical technicians: Automated sample preparation, LC-MS/MS, and electronic lab notebooks, 2000 to 2020.

Figures: Official statistic (latest count and pay, highest count); Researched context (earliest figure).

## What the sources say

### Official outlook

BLS projects employment to grow 4.9% from 2025 to 2035. Source: [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=19-4031&ioType=o) (Official statistic).

### AI exposure studies

- **39.3%** of this job's tasks are exposed to large language models. Not a forecast of job losses. [Eloundou and others, 2023](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv) (Official statistic)

Data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35. BLS publishes these counts as yearly survey snapshots and cautions against reading them as a precise trend. In May 2021 BLS changed how it estimates these counts (a model-based method using three years of survey data) and moved fully to the 2018 occupation codes, so part of a change across 2021 can come from the method rather than the work.

## Chemical Technicians employment and pay by year

- On record since: 1876
- Latest US employment: 57,540 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [2]
- Latest US median pay: $60,390 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [4]
- Outlook: +4.9% by 2035. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 [16]

### All 25 years of cited US data

| Year | US employment | Annual pay (median unless marked) | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1950 | 85,000 | n/a | Decennial Census 1950 [1] |
| 1954 | n/a | $4,200 (average) (estimate) | Est., University of Missouri Libraries [3] |
| 2003 | 64,020 | $37,070 | BLS OEWS May 2003 [2] |
| 2004 | 61,700 | $38,170 | BLS OEWS May 2004 [2] |
| 2005 | 59,790 | $38,500 | BLS OEWS May 2005 [2] |
| 2006 | 59,900 | $39,240 | BLS OEWS May 2006 [2] |
| 2007 | 64,450 | $40,740 | BLS OEWS May 2007 [2] |
| 2008 | 65,830 | $42,120 | BLS OEWS May 2008 [2] |
| 2009 | 64,420 | $42,070 | BLS OEWS May 2009 [2] |
| 2010 | 59,440 | $42,040 | BLS OEWS May 2010 [2] |
| 2011 | 59,650 | $42,070 | BLS OEWS May 2011 [2] |
| 2012 | 61,300 | $42,920 | BLS OEWS May 2012 [2] |
| 2013 | 63,880 | $43,310 | BLS OEWS May 2013 [2] |
| 2014 | 63,760 | $44,180 | BLS OEWS May 2014 [2] |
| 2015 | 64,770 | $44,660 | BLS OEWS May 2015 [2] |
| 2016 | 65,510 | $45,840 | BLS OEWS May 2016 [2] |
| 2017 | 64,550 | $47,280 | BLS OEWS May 2017 [2] |
| 2018 | 65,500 | $48,160 | BLS OEWS May 2018 [2] |
| 2019 | 65,760 | $49,260 | BLS OEWS May 2019 [2] |
| 2020 | 63,490 | $49,820 | BLS OEWS May 2020 [2] |
| 2021 | 57,690 | $48,990 | BLS OEWS May 2021 [2] |
| 2022 | 56,030 | $50,840 | BLS OEWS May 2022 [2] |
| 2023 | 55,880 | $56,750 | BLS OEWS May 2023 [2] |
| 2024 | 55,640 | $57,790 | BLS OEWS May 2024 [2] |
| 2025 | 57,540 | $60,390 | BLS OEWS May 2025 [2] |

## Sources (70)

### Employment series

1. [IPUMS USA Occupational Documentation — 1950 Census occupation coding, natural science technicians category](https://usa.ipums.org/usa/volii/occ_ind.shtml), IPUMS / University of Minnesota
2. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)

### Wage series

3. [University of Missouri Libraries, Prices and Wages by Decade (1950s): chemistry/chemical worker earnings, 1954-55](https://libraryguides.missouri.edu/pricesandwages/1950-1959), University of Missouri Libraries
4. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)

### Tool eras

5. [Wikipedia — Analytical chemistry: history, Bunsen and Kirchhoff flame spectrometry 1860](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analytical_chemistry), Wikipedia
6. [Wikipedia — History of chemistry: industrial laboratory development and analytical methods, 19th century](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chemistry), Wikipedia
7. [Wikipedia — Spectrophotometry: Arnold Beckman Model DU (1941-1976), Nobel laureate Merrifield quote](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectrophotometry), Wikipedia
8. [Wikipedia — DuPont: wartime expansion, 400 to 37,000 military explosives workers (1939-1945)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DuPont), Wikipedia
9. [Wikipedia — Gas chromatography: invention by James and Martin 1951, commercialization 1954](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_chromatography), Wikipedia
10. [Wikipedia — High-performance liquid chromatography: 1960s-70s hardware development, DuPont contributions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-performance_liquid_chromatography), Wikipedia
11. [Wikipedia — Chromatography: Martin and Synge partition chromatography, 1952 Nobel Prize](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromatography), Wikipedia
12. [Wikipedia — Laboratory information management system: first-generation LIMS 1982, relational database LIMS 1988](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laboratory_information_management_system), Wikipedia
13. [EPA — Toxic Substances Control Act and EPA chemical testing mandates, history of chemical laboratory demand](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_Protection_Agency), Wikipedia
14. [Wikipedia — Laboratory automation: post-WWII commercial automation, scripting integration for low-cost systems](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laboratory_automation), Wikipedia
15. [O\*NET 19-4031.00 — tasks and technology tools listed for Chemical Technicians (2024)](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/19-4031.00), O\*NET / BLS

### Forecasts and exposure studies

16. [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35, National Employment Matrix: 19-4031 Chemical technicians (2025: 60.0 thousand; 2035: 63.0 thousand; +4.9%)](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=19-4031&ioType=o), Bureau of Labor Statistics
17. [Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), "GPTs are GPTs", occupation-level exposure data occ\_level.csv (O\*NET-SOC 19-4031.00, human-rated β 0.393)](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv), OpenAI

### Historical notes

18. [Wikipedia — Thomas Edison: Menlo Park laboratory staff and working conditions (1876-1882)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Edison), Wikipedia
19. [Wikipedia — DuPont: Experimental Station founded 1903, first major US industrial R&D facility](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DuPont), Wikipedia
20. [Wikipedia — Spectrophotometry: Beckman Model DU, 1941, Nobel laureate Merrifield quote, production 1941-1976](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectrophotometry), Wikipedia
21. [Wikipedia — Chromatography: Martin and Synge, 1952 Nobel Prize, rapid development of GC and paper chromatography](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromatography), Wikipedia
22. [Wikipedia — Environmental Protection Agency: founding December 2, 1970, Toxic Substances Control Act 1976 testing mandates](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_Protection_Agency), Wikipedia
23. [Wikipedia — Laboratory information management system: first LIMS 1982, relational database LIMS 1988, web-enabled 1995-96](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laboratory_information_management_system), Wikipedia

### Predecessors & successors

24. [Wikipedia — Thomas Edison: Menlo Park laboratory, role of technical assistants Batchelor, Ott, Upton (1876-1890s)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Edison), Wikipedia

### Present-day analysis

- [Eloundou et al. 2024 — GPTs are GPTs (Science)](https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130), accessed 2026-05-21
- [O\*NET 30.3 — US Department of Labor](https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html), accessed 2026-05-21

How to read these figures: https://futurehistory.earth/methodology. Every figure links to its own source; gaps stay gaps.