Chemical Engineer salary in Los Angeles, CA

Based on 42 certified H-1B filings in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metro area, FY2025–FY2026. Includes Pasadena, Irvine, Huntington Beach, Carson, Santa Monica.

Also listed as: Process Engineer

Median salary$120,505
Middle 50%$93.8k–$144.2k
vs. national median+2%comparison median $118,700
Filings42FY2025–FY2026 · latest two fiscal years

Salary range

Box: middle 50% of filings. Whiskers: 10th–90th percentile. 99% of filings are between $60,497 and $284,505.
PercentileSalary
10th$71,864
25th$93,834
50th (median)$120,505
75th$144,178
90th$195,368

Salary by year

Median salary

$70k $105k $140k FY2020: median $84,000 (37 filings) FY2021: median $100,000 (33 filings) FY2022: median $100,000 (28 filings) FY2023: median $92,082 (25 filings) FY2024: median $100,000 (19 filings) FY2025: median $111,500 (22 filings) FY2026: median $130,000 (20 filings) FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 FY26

Filings per year

FY2020: 37 filings FY20 FY2021: 33 filings FY21 FY2022: 28 filings FY22 FY2023: 25 filings FY23 FY2024: 19 filings FY24 FY2025: 22 filings FY25 FY2026: 20 filings FY26 37
Shaded: FY2025–FY2026, the years behind the figures above. Median shown for years with at least 10 filings. FY2026 covers Q1–Q3 only.
Show as table
Fiscal yearMedianP25P75Filings
FY2020$84,000$80,704$113,25637
FY2021$100,000$77,200$118,14433
FY2022$100,000$81,260$114,11628
FY2023$92,082$82,000$111,67525
FY2024$100,000$80,000$118,56019
FY2025$111,500$85,500$132,65822
FY2026$130,000$110,250$154,31520

Cost of living

Los Angeles's median Chemical Engineer salary of $120,505 is worth about $106,100 at national average prices.

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024 (U.S. = 100; Los Angeles = 113.6).

Compared with all workers here

All Chemical Engineers in the Los Angeles, CA area earned a median of $134,210 in May 2025 (320 employed). The H-1B median here is $120,505, 10% lower.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS metropolitan area estimates. BLS wages include some incentive pay; H-1B figures are base salary.

Top employers filing

EmployerMedianFilings
University of California, Los Angelestoo few7
California Institute of Technologytoo few2
Fluor Enterprisestoo few2
Science Of Skincaretoo few2

Employers with at least 2 filings here. Median shown at 10+ filings.

By experience level

Wage levelMedianFilings
Entry-level · Level I – 0
Mid-level · Level II too few 2
Senior · Level III – 0
Expert · Level IV $176,716 10

Median shown when a level has at least 10 filings.

Minimum H-1B salary by level

Wage levelPrevailing wage (most common)Median offered salaryFilings
Expert · Level IV$154,315$176,71610

The prevailing wage is the minimum an employer must pay for this job and area. Amounts vary by county within a metro and by wage source.