Purchasing professionals with responsibility for buying chemicals earn on average $79,200, an increase of 2.7% over their salaries last year, according to PURCHASING magazine's 2005 salary survey. Chemicals buyers make more than the average annual salary for all purchasers responding to the survey ($78,200), but their raises are lower than the average (12%).

For 2004, chemicals buyers reported an average annual salary of $77,100. All other buyers earned $70,100.

Chemicals buyers make more than purchasing pros with responsibility for sourcing metals ($76,300), components ($74,100) and MRO items ($70,100).

On the other end of the pay scale, chemicals buyers are not as well compensated as their colleagues with responsibility for purchasing IT goods and services ($100,300), services ($96,500) or transportation/freight ($92,200).

Eleven percent of all purchasing professionals responding to PURCHASING's 25th annual survey have responsibility for buying chemicals. This figure was 12% for the past three years. At 26%, metals buyers make up the biggest percentage of survey respondents followed by components purchasers (18%). Nine percent of respondents are electronics buyers. This breakdown has been fairly consistent for the past five years.

Median salary for purchasing professionals who source chemicals is $70,000. The median is the point at which half the survey respondents earn more than that figure and half earn less. For all salary survey respondents, the median salary is $69,000, a 10% increase over last year's median of $63,000. A year ago, the median salary for chemicals buyers was $72,000.

Sixty-four percent of respondents who buy chemicals receive bonuses as part of their annual compensation, compared to 60% of all purchasing pros responding to the salary survey. The average bonus among those who are paid this way is 11.9% of base pay. For chemicals buyers this figure is lower (10.7%). An overwhelming majority (87%) of chemicals buyers who receive bonuses do so for meeting company financial goals.

Twenty-one percent of chemicals buyers receive stock options.

One-in-four chemicals buyers earn more than $100,000. There are more machinery buyers in the $100,000 club (32%), and fewer components (20%) buyers. Two percent of chemicals buyers earn more than $200,000.

On average, male survey respondents who buy chemicals earn $88,300. Female chemicals buyers make $60,400, a disparity of $27,900. Last year, male chemicals buyers received paychecks of $84,600, while women were compensated $61,100.

In 2005, the highest paid male chemicals buyer received an annual salary of $293,000; the highest paid female chemicals buyer earned $135,000.

Sixty-six percent of respondents who indicate they purchase chemicals are male; average age is 46.9 years.

Respondents with the title of purchasing vice president who indicate they have responsibility for chemicals buying earned $136,000 in 2005 (although there were fewer than 10 respondents who indicate they have these qualities). Purchasing directors received $122,800 in annual compensation. A chemicals commodity manager earned $89,100. A chemicals buyer made $48,500.

As is true for buyers of all other commodities, average purchasing salary in chemicals increases with length of employment. College graduates fill the highest ranking purchasing positions, have the greatest purchasing responsibility, work for the largest companies and generally earn the highest average annual compensation. Purchasing professionals with Certified Purchasing Manager (CPM) accreditation have higher average salaries than those who are not certified. The age threshold for better-than-average compensation coincides with the average age of the profession.

Chemicals buyers on average have 15.8 years of work experience. Eighty-two percent have undergraduate degrees; 28% have graduate degrees. Twenty-six percent have a CPM. Nine percent have a Certificate in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM) awarded by the American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS).

Similarly, a purchasing executive's professional responsibilities serve as a benchmark for his or her compensation. As dollar volume and supervisory duties increase, so does income. Fifty-one percent of chemicals buyers have responsibility for purchasing tabs of more than $25 million. Sixty-one percent have supervisory experience (subordinates).

Sixty percent of chemical buyers work for companies with more than $125 million in annual sales. Respondents who buy chemicals for companies with annual sales of $126 million to $500 million earn $83,900.

Fifty-six percent work at company headquarters; 13% are employed at the divisional level and 30% are assigned to a plant site.

Looking at the salary survey results another way, purchasing professionals who work in the chemicals/paper/food process industries (CPI) earned on average $81,200 in 2005, 5.8% more than in 2004 ($76,700).

Average annual salary of purchasing pros in all industries is $78,200; they got a 12% raise.

The median salary for CPI buyers in 2005 is $76,500. For all respondents, it's $69,000.

Eleven percent of survey respondents say they are employed as purchasing professionals in the process industries. Only buyers in miscellaneous manufacturing (28%) are better represented in the survey sample. Transportation/automotive buyers make up another 10% of respondents.

Salary survey respondents working in the computers-and-related equipment ($94,500), communications equipment ($88,700) and energy/mining/utilities ($88,300) industries earn more than CPI buyers. Those working in transportation/automotive ($78,700), miscellaneous manufacturing ($75,900) and industrial controls/ instruments ($74,400) industries earn less.

Like last year, more CPI buyers (69%) received bonuses in 2005 than their peers working in other industries (60%). Bonuses for both groups average 12%. Salary survey respondents indicate they receive these bonuses for meeting company financial goals (88%), department cost targets (26%) and cost targets for purchased parts (24%).

Twelve percent of CPI buyers have stock options. For all respondents, this figure is 16%.

A purchasing vice president in the process industries earns $110,000 (there were fewer than 10 survey respondents to this question). Salary of a commodity manager is $100,600. A buyer makes $53,800.

Men employed in the CPI earn average annual salaries of $88,800, while women are compensated $62,900, according to survey results. For all respondents, these figures are $85,900 and $62,200, respectively. The highest paid man working in purchasing in the process industries makes $225,000; his female colleague earns $134,000.

Most purchasing pros (70%) who work in the CPI are male. The average age of all respondents in the industry is 46.1 years old; CPI buyers have 14.5 years of experience.

Seventy-five percent of CPI buyers work at companies with more than $125 million in annual sales. A respondent working for a company whose sales lie in the $126 million to $500 million range earns $78,300.

Fifty-nine percent of respondents indicate on their survey that they are employed at their companies' corporate office, while 10% work at the division level. Twenty-nine percent work at a plant.