If you are deciding between majoring in civil engineering or chemical engineering, you might want to know more about what each major has to offer. This post will show you the key facts about each major and help you to decide which would be a better degree for you.

At a glance:

Chemical EngineeringCivil Engineering
Payscale reported
average pay
$81,140$70,508
Job prospectsModerateGood
Types of jobs
you can qualify for
Chemical engineer
Project engineer
Process engineer
Manufacturing engineer
Production engineer
Environmental engineer
Civil engineer
Project engineer
Structural engineer
Transportation engineer
Geotechnical engineer
Water resources engineer
Construction engineer
Difficulty of the
major
HardHard
Key things to noteThere are only around 32,600
chemical engineering jobs in
the US. This could make it
difficult to find a job and you
will likely need to relocate.

Average predicted job growth.

Good reported job satisfaction.

A relatively secure field
once you are able to land a
job.

Employable with just a bachelor’s
degree.

High-stress work environment
in the early years.

High job satisfaction and fulfillment.

Low predicted job growth
over the next decade.

The work environment can
be more physically active than most
jobs since you’ll need to go to the construction
locations occasionally. However,
there is also a lot of meetings and
design work using computer software.
Source for civil engineering degree salary and jobs
Source for chemical engineering major salary and jobs

There are a number of things to consider when choosing between the two degrees and there are many similarities between them. Below, is details about each major, their differences and reasons to choose one or the other.

Details about a degree in civil engineering

Below are some details about the civil engineering major.

Pay

According to Payscale, the average pay for a person with a degree in civil engineering is $70,508. This is higher than the average pay for most majors. However, it is a lot lower than alternative engineering majors such as computer engineering ($87,000) and electrical engineering ($92,000). It is also lower than the reported average pay for chemical engineering which is $81,140.

Jobs

On one hand, civil engineering could be seen as a safe major because there will always be buildings, dams, highways, stadiums, etc that need to be built. As a result, once you are able to get a job in civil engineering, it is typically seen as a relatively secure job to have.

However, it can be tricky to find a job at the entry-level and the price of the job security is that the pay is slightly lower than alternative majors such as computer engineering, electrical engineering, and computer science. Also, because you will be building structures that many people will be using and that cost millions of dollars, it can be a very stressful job, especially in the early years. Although, it is also typically a very interesting field to work in, and completing a project successfully can be very fulfilling.

Jobs that you can get with a civil engineering degree include:

  • Civil engineer
  • Project engineer
  • Structural engineer
  • Transportation engineer
  • Geotechnical engineer
  • Water resources engineer
  • Construction engineer

Civil engineering has a number of sub-fields and you will need to specialize in one of them before getting a job.

The subfields include:

Construction engineering. This involves managing the project as it is underway and building the temporary structures that are used while constructing the actual structure.

Geotechnical engineering. This involves ensuring that the foundations of the structure are well built.

Structural engineering. This involves designing the structure and ensuring that it will be able to support itself.

Transportation engineering. This involves building and maintaining streets, highways, airports, docks, and harbors.

Water resource engineering. This involves managing water resources by designing new equipment and facilities.

Difficulty

Civil engineering is a difficult degree that will involve a lot of mathematics including calculus, linear algebra, and differential equations. It will also involve some physics and the engineering classes themselves can be difficult. There will also be a lot of lab classes that will involve a lot of projects. You can expect chemical engineering to be similarly difficult to chemical engineering which is also a difficult major.

Classes

Classes that you can expect to take in a civil engineering degree can include:

Calculus
Linear algebra
Differential equations
Physics
Mechanics
Introduction to programming
Introduction to civil engineering
Civil engineering materials
Fluid mechanics
Mechanics of structures
Statics
Structural engineering
Water resources engineering
Geotechnical engineering
Transportation engineering
Construction engineering

You can also expect to take more specialized classes related to the specialization that you choose.

Things to consider

Before choosing civil engineering and the university that you want to go to, it would help to research the type of civil engineering you are most interested in. This is so that you know what to specialize in and so that you know what university to choose because some universities will only offer certain specializations.

Before choosing civil engineering and the university that you want to go to, it would help to research the type of civil engineering you are most interested in. This is so that you know what to specialize in and so that you know what university to choose because some universities will only offer certain specializations.

Details about a chemical engineering degree

Below are some details about a degree in chemical engineering.

Pay

According to Payscale, the average pay of someone with a degree in chemical engineering is $81,140. This is similar to the average pay you will find with most other engineering majors. Also, according to the BLS, the median pay of a chemical engineer is $108,770.

Job prospects

The predicted growth rate for chemical engineering jobs is 4%, in total, over the next decade and the number of chemical engineering jobs is said to be 32,600 (source). This means that chemical engineering only has average predicted job growth. Also, compared to other engineering majors, 32,600 is not a lot of jobs. This means that it is more likely that you will have a hard time looking for a job in chemical engineering and that you will be more likely to have to relocate.

However, as mentioned above, the median pay of a chemical engineer is high, so when you do get a job it can pay well. Also, they tend to be relatively secure jobs so you should be able to keep your job for a decent amount of time once you get one. Also, most people find them to be interesting jobs with good job satisfaction.

According to Payscale, common jobs for chemical engineering majors includes:

  • Chemical engineer
  • Project engineer
  • Process engineer
  • Manufacturing engineer
  • Production engineer
  • Environmental engineer

Difficulty

Chemical engineering is a difficult major. It will include a lot of math and physics and the chemical engineering classes themselves can be difficult.

Classes

Some classes you can expect to take in chemical engineering can include:

  • Calculus
  • Linear algebra
  • Differential equations
  • Physics
  • Thermodynamics
  • Kinetics
  • Chemistry
  • Biology

You can look here to see an example degree sequence of chemical engineering.

Things to consider

One thing to consider is that chemical engineering is not the same as chemistry. In chemical engineering, you will be focusing more on creating systems to create chemicals, fuel, drugs, food, and other products (source). Whereas, a chemist will be more focused on things such as studying substances at the atomic and molecular level in a lab (source).

While other engineering degrees will pay a similar amount and often have a wider job pool available to you, you might prefer chemical engineering because of the types of jobs you can work in. It would help to do a lot of research the types of things you could be working on and to see if it is something you would enjoy.

Conclusion

Overall, both chemical engineering and civil engineering are majors that have good pay and satisfaction. They both have similar job growth. However, civil engineering has around ten times the number of total jobs. This means that it should be easier to find civil engineering jobs in a location you want. They will also both require a similar amount of study time. However, according to the BLS, chemical engineers do get paid more than civil engineers.

When making your decision, it would help to consider what you would most be interested in working on and to choose your major accordingly.

Author

I created and currently manage College Corner. I received a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. My goal is to help current students do better in college and to help future students plan for college. You can read more about me and my website here.