Civil Engineers
Also called: Airport Engineer, Architectural Engineer, Asphalt Engineer, Base Engineer, Bridge Design Engineer, Bridge Engineer, Building Construction Engineer, Building Engineer
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.
What civil engineers do
Typical tasks
- 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.
- Design energy-efficient or environmentally sound civil structures.
- Test soils or materials to determine the adequacy and strength of foundations, concrete, asphalt, or steel.
Typical path into the job (BLS)
Civil Engineers salary
The median annual wage for civil engineers is $100,840 (BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025–35, national). The lowest 10 percent earn less than $68,240 and the highest 10 percent earn more than $163,220. The mean annual wage is $108,670.
The mean hourly wage of $52.00 is 7.2× the federal minimum wage of $7.25. State minimums are higher in most large states. Minimum wage by state →
How does your pay compare with people your age?
Your numbers are not sent or stored. The comparison uses this occupation's BLS wage percentiles, adjusted for age with BLS median weekly earnings by age group (Q3 2026).
Pay by percentile
Annual wage percentiles from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). Percentiles are a good proxy for pay by experience.
Projected pay for Civil Engineers (3, 5 and 10 years)est.
Today $100,840 → in 3 years $108,800 → in 5 years $114,500 → in 10 years $130,100 (10-year range $111,900–$151,000). The model assumes pay growth of +2.6% per year.
What drives the annual growth rate
Projected pay = current pay × (1 + annual growth)^years. The annual growth rate starts from a base wage-growth rate and adds or subtracts labor demand (BLS projected employment growth), wage momentum and AI replacement risk for each occupation. Projections are not guarantees. How it is calculated →
Outlook score for Civil Engineers
Each component is a percentile rank among all occupations in the same country (0–100). Weights: labor demand 25, wage momentum / openings 15, pay level 15, AI resistance 25, aging workforce 10 (Japan only), entry barrier 10.
Will AI replace Civil Engineers? AI replacement risk
How AI is changing this job
A written analysis for this occupation is being prepared.
AI replacement risk compares the parts of a job that are easy to hand to AI or software (processing information, documentation, repetitive computer work) with the parts that are hard to automate (physical work, working closely with people, judgment in unpredictable settings), using O*NET work activities, work context, skills and knowledge. The result is a relative position among all occupations in the country, scaled to 0–100%. Methodology →
Labor demand for Civil Engineers
Employment projections are from the BLS Employment Projections program (2025–35). Annual openings include both new jobs and replacement of workers who leave the occupation.
The same job in Japan
| Civil Engineers United States | 土木設計技術者 Japan | 土木・建築工学研究者 Japan | 耐震診断 Japan | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median / average pay | $100,840 | ¥6.25M ≈ $39,742 | ¥8.02M ≈ $51,002 | ¥6.79M ≈ $43,183 |
| Pay in 10 years (est.) | $130,100 | ¥8.24M | ¥8.67M | ¥9.04M |
| Outlook score | 56 | 67 | 38 | 65 |
| AI replacement risk | 68% High | 53% Moderate | 59% Moderate | — |
| Workers | 368K | — | — | — |
Matched by occupation (SOC code). Yen converted at 157.25 JPY/USD for reference; Japanese figures are averages, U.S. figures are medians, and the surveys define occupations differently.
Skills, education and requirements for Civil Engineers
Key skills
O*NET skill level ratings (0–7).
Key knowledge areas
What the work involves
Important abilities
Education of workers
Training before entry
Related work experience
Job Zone 4 — considerable preparation needed (O*NET)
Difficulty of entry: ★★★☆☆ Moderate (from education, training, experience and Job Zone)
How to become civil engineers
A step-by-step guide for this occupation is being prepared. The education, training and experience data above show the typical path.
Career path and how to earn more as civil engineers
Career-path guidance is being prepared. Pay by percentile is shown in the Pay section.