Also called: Fuels Chemist, Refinery Lab Chemist
Tests and improves gasoline, jet fuel, diesel and new renewable fuels.
You run samples from the refinery through instruments that measure sulfur, octane and freezing point, and sign off before fuel ships out. On research days you test additives that help engines burn cleaner.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in chemistry or chemical engineering.
Ways in: 4-year college, On-the-job training. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Chemistry, Chemical Engineering.
Growing faster than average (about 5% over 10 years). Chemists overall; renewable fuels are a growing niche.
Medium risk for 10 years. Automated analyzers test fuel, and long-term demand shifts to renewable fuels; sign-off and research stay human.
Classes: AP Chemistry, Physics, Statistics.
Official data: O*NET occupation 19-2031.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.