Chemists Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $82K, rent takes 29.1% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,519/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new chemists typically earn — is $58K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $3,490/month. At HUD’s $1,519/month FMR, rent would take 44% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Pay here is roughly in line with the national average — $82K locally vs. $91K nationally, a 10% difference.

Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood pays $82K median vs. the U.S. average of $91K — that’s -10%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 95.55), the purchasing-power equivalent is $86K — below the national median.

The median is $82,110 a year, that works out to about $39 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $58,170, and experienced chemists can clear $126,000. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $5,222/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,519/month, which eats 29.1% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood has a Regional Price Parity of 95.55 (100 is the national average). That's below average, your money stretches further here than the raw salary number suggests. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median chemists salary is worth about $85,934 in national-average purchasing power.

The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.