Civil Engineers
Perform engineering duties in planning, designing, and overseeing construction and maintenance of building structures and facilities, such as roads, railroads, airports, bridges, harbors, channels, dams, irrigation projects, pipelines, power plants, and water and sewage systems.
Also called: City Engineer · Civil Engineer · County Engineer · Design Engineer · Engineer · Geotechnical Engineer
Median pay (national)
$99,590
$65,920–$160,990 (10th–90th)
Employed (US)
355,410
BLS OEWS, May 2024
Outlook 2024–34
+5%
~23,600 openings/yr
Typical entry
Bachelor's degree
What the numbers say
Refit analysis ·Pay for civil engineers shows a broad range: the top 10% earn $160,990 versus $65,920 at the bottom 10% — 2.4x. The median of $99,590 leaves roughly 62% of headroom to the 90th percentile, which is where seniority, specialization, and the skills below tend to pay off.
Refit analysis ·Employment is projected to change +5% from 2024 to 2034 — faster than the 3% all-occupation average. Even so, BLS projects about 23,600 openings a year, mostly to replace workers who retire or change careers.
Refit analysis ·Where you work moves the number a lot. Across the 52 states with released data, California pays the most for this role (median $118,450, +19% vs the national median), while Puerto Rico sits lowest at $60,510 — a 96% spread for the same job title.
Refit analysis ·O*NET rates Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Speaking as the highest-importance skills here — so a resume aimed at this role should lead with evidence of those, not a generic skills list. On the tools side, O*NET flags Autodesk AutoCAD, Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D, Autodesk Revit, Bentley MicroStation as in-demand technologies for this role.
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Top skills employers ask for
Ranked by O*NET importance for this occupation.
- Active Listening
- Reading Comprehension
- Speaking
- Mathematics
- Critical Thinking
- Science
- Writing
- Active Learning
- Monitoring
- Learning Strategies
What they actually do
Core O*NET tasks for this role.
- Direct engineering activities, ensuring compliance with environmental, safety, or other governmental regulations.
- Manage and direct the construction, operations, or maintenance activities at project site.
- Inspect project sites to monitor progress and ensure conformance to design specifications and safety or sanitation standards.
- Compute load and grade requirements, water flow rates, or material stress factors to determine design specifications.
- Plan and design transportation or hydraulic systems or structures, using computer-assisted design or drawing tools.
- Provide technical advice to industrial or managerial personnel regarding design, construction, program modifications, or structural repairs.
- Analyze survey reports, maps, drawings, blueprints, aerial photography, or other topographical or geologic data.
- Direct or participate in surveying to lay out installations or establish reference points, grades, or elevations to guide construction.
- Estimate quantities and cost of materials, equipment, or labor to determine project feasibility.
- Prepare or present public reports on topics such as bid proposals, deeds, environmental impact statements, or property and right-of-way descriptions.
Tools & technology
- Autodesk AutoCAD
- Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D
- Autodesk Revit
- Bentley MicroStation
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office software
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Apache Subversion SVN
- C
- Dassault Systemes SolidWorks
- ESRI ArcGIS software
- Extensible markup language XML
- Microsoft Visual Basic
- Oracle Primavera Enterprise Project Portfolio Management
- Procore software
Knowledge areas
- Design
- Engineering and Technology
- Building and Construction
- Mathematics
- English Language
- Physics
- Administration and Management
- Customer and Personal Service