Production

Chemical Plant Operators

SOC 51-8091

Run and monitor the equipment that turns chemicals into products.

Median pay

$78k

$60k to $99k typical range

Outlook

Declining

2k openings / yr

Education

High school

AI exposure

13%

modeled estimate · 10th pct in Microsoft's data

Future-proof

27/100

Key skills

Monitoring
Critical Thinking
Active Listening
Reading Comprehension
Active Learning
Speaking

Where this ranks

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Pay and outlook from BLS (OEWS 2025, Employment Projections 2024-2034). Skills and work activities from O*NET 30.3. AI exposure and future-proof scores are modeled estimates. How we model AI exposure.