Civil engineers

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2019 Workforce

413k

N/A

Average Age

42.1

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Average Salary

$95,643

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Average Male Salary

$98,586

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Average Female Salary

$80,829

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About

Civil engineers are most often employed by the Architectural, engineering & related services industry. The average yearly wage for Civil engineers was $95,643 in 2016. The top 3 most similar occupations to Civil engineers by wage are Marketing managers, Biomedical & agricultural engineers, and Medical scientists, & life scientists, all other.

Civil engineers are part of the Architecture & engineering occupations, along with Architects, except landscape and naval, Landscape architects, Surveyors, cartographers, & photogrammetrists, Aerospace engineers, Chemical engineers, and 16 more.

The top 3 locations that employ the most Civil engineers are Mission Bend (Southwest), Cinco Ranch & Four Corners PUMA, TX, Queen Anne & Magnolia PUMA, WA, and Lake View & Lincoln Park PUMA, IL. The top 3 locations with a relatively high concentration of Civil engineers are East of TX-6 & West of Beltway TX-8 PUMA, TX (79500US4804636), Mission Bend (Southwest), Cinco Ranch & Four Corners PUMA, TX, and Alhambra & South Pasadena Cities PUMA, CA.

Photo by Kristoffer Trolle

Management, business, science, & arts occupations Computer, engineering, & science occupations Architecture & engineering occupations

Employment

Information on the businesses and industries that employ Civil engineers and on wages and locations for those in the field. Architectural, engineering & related services is the industry that employs the most Civil engineers, both by share and by number, though the highest paid industry for Civil engineers, by average wage, is Lessors of real estate, and offices of real estate agents and brokers. Civil engineers are paid most in St. Johns County (North) PUMA, FL but are relatively concentrated in East of TX-6 & West of Beltway TX-8 PUMA, TX (79500US4804636).

Wages

Yearly Wage

$95,643

AVERAGE SALARY

± $2,414

In 2019, Civil engineers earned an average of $95,643, $40,119 more than than the average national salary of $55,524.

Marketing managers make somewhat more than Civil engineers while Biomedical & agricultural engineers make somewhat less. This chart shows the various occupations closest to Civil engineers as measured by average annual salary in the US.

Wage Distribution

0.3

WAGE GINI

In 2015, Civil engineers had a wage GINI coefficient of 0.3, which is lower than than the national average of 0.478. In other words, wages are distributed more evenly for Civil engineers (shown in red) than for the overall labor force (shown in gray).

Wage by Location

HIGHEST PAYING PUMAS

This map shows the Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) in the United States shaded by average annual wage for Civil engineers.

Spatial Concentration

PUMAs with a Relatively High Concentration of Civil engineers

This map displays which Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) in the United States have a relatively high population of Civil engineers.

Industries

Most Common

The most common industries employing Civil engineers, by number of employees, are Architectural, engineering & related services, Construction, and Administration of economic programs & space research.

Highest Paying

The highest paying industries for Civil engineers, by average wage, are Oil & gas extraction, Electronic component & product manufacturing, n.e.c. , Lessors of real estate, and offices of real estate agents and brokers, Taxi & limousine service, Scientific research & development services, Aerospace products & parts manufacturing, Oil & gas extraction, Pipeline transportation, Aircraft & parts manufacturing, Scientific research & development services, Computer Systems Design, Pipeline transportation, Pipeline transportation, Pipeline transportation, Aircraft & parts manufacturing, Electric power generation, transmission & distribution, Electric & gas, and other combinations, and Elementary & secondary schools.

Industries by Share

413k

2019 Workforce

± 15,756

12.7%

1 YEAR GROWTH

± 4.94%

The number of people employed as Civil engineers has been growing at a rate of 12.7%, from 366,370 people in 2018 to 412,957 people in 2019.

This graphic shows the share of Civil engineers employed by various industries. Architectural, engineering & related services employs the largest share of Civil engineers at 57%, followed by Construction with 25.5% and Administration of economic programs & space research with 3.82%.

Diversity

Demographic information on Civil engineers in the US. The average age of male Civil engineers in the workforce is 43.2 and of female Civil engineers is 36.6, and the most common race/ethnicity for Civil engineers is White (Non-Hispanic).

Gender Composition

345k

MALE WORKFORCE

± 14,394

68.4k

FEMALE WORKFORCE

± 6,421

83.4% of Civil engineers are Male, making them the more common gender in the occupation. This chart shows the gender breakdown of Civil engineers.

Race & Ethnicity

Most Common Race or Ethnicity of Civil engineers

White (Non-Hispanic)
Asian (Non-Hispanic)
White (Hispanic)

71.3% of Civil engineers are White (Non-Hispanic), making that the most common race or ethnicity in the occupation. Representing 11.2% of Civil engineers, Asian (Non-Hispanic) is the second most common race or ethnicity in this occupation. This chart shows the racial and ethnic breakdown of Civil engineers.

Age by Gender

43.2

AVERAGE MALE AGE

± 0.592

36.6

AVERAGE FEMALE AGE

± 1.14

The median age of Civil engineers is 42.1, and Male employees are generally 6.57 years older than than their Female counterparts.

Education

Data on higher education choices for Civil engineers from The Department of Education and Census Bureau. The most common major for Civil engineers is Engineering but a relatively high number of Civil engineers hold a major in Engineering.

Majors

ACS PUMS data only shows the major for bachelor's degrees. However, we can filter the data based on highest degree obtained.

MOST COMMON MAJORS

MOST SPECIALIZED MAJORS

Skills

Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for Civil engineers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Civil engineers need many skills, but most especially Complex Problem Solving. The revealed comparative advantage (RCA) shows that Civil engineers need more than the average amount of Technology Design, Science, and Programming.