How much money does a physical chemist earn?

Answer

Ask someone at the reference desk of your local public library for the Occupational Outlook Handbook. It lists all kinds of information you would need to know,(including the salary) of just about any occupation you can think of.

That will depend on several factors. I will assume you are asking about an active researcher rather than a desk job. Here's a few criteria to consider:

Level of education

Prestige of degree granting institution

Post graduate work experience (e.g. post-doc, years of experience, etc.)

Relevance of degree to position

Location of job

Size and profitability of company

Other benefits in compensation package (flexible work schedule, stocks, retirement, etc.)

You may want to look at the latest ACS salary survey as well for more information.

I am a Ph.D. physical chemist (no post-doc) working as a research scientist at a small SF Bay Area startup. I started this job in 2005 at $72k, which was increased to $75k within a few months. At my first annual review this was raised to $80k and then to $85k at my second review review. I receive no bonuses but do have some stock options. My supervisor allowed me a look at a recent Radford survey for this area. According to this survey my salary history is about average for this area.

My wife is also a Ph.D. physical chemist (no post-doc) working at a larger, more established Bay Area company but as a materials characterization analyst rather than a research scientist. Her salary history is a parallels mine but is 2-3 thousand lower at each step but her bonuses make the levels more equitable.

In both our cases it took over a year to land our first jobs. It is not uncommon for an inexperienced scientist to spend at least several months looking for their first job. Another factor to keep in mind as is the much lower pay one receives as a graduate student/post-doc for those who pursue an advanced degree as well as the cost of living to salary ratio in the area you wish to work.

Hope this helps