Civil engineers

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Total Workforce

366k

Average Age

41.8

Average Salary

$91,360

Average Male Salary

$93,864

Average Female Salary

$76,190

About

Civil engineers are most often employed by the Architectural, engineering & related services industry. The average yearly wage for Civil engineers was $91,360 in 2016. The top 3 most similar occupations to Civil engineers by wage are Computer programmers, Industrial production managers, and Financial examiners.

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 Huntsville (North) & Madison (East) Cities PUMA, AL, Mount Pleasant Town PUMA, SC, and Raleigh City (North) PUMA, NC. The top 3 locations with a relatively high concentration of Civil engineers are Huntsville (North) & Madison (East) Cities PUMA, AL, Concord (South), Walnut Creek (East) & Clayton Cities PUMA, CA, and Plano City (West) PUMA, TX.

Photo by Kristoffer Trolle

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

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 Taxi & limousine service. Civil engineers are paid most in Middlesex (West Central) & Worcester (East) Counties PUMA, MA but are relatively concentrated in Huntsville (North) & Madison (East) Cities PUMA, AL.

Wages

Yearly Wage

$91,360

AVERAGE SALARY

± $2,505

In 2018, Civil engineers earned an average of $91,360, $37,472 more than than the average national salary of $53,888.

Financial examiners make somewhat more than Civil engineers while Computer programmers make somewhat less. This chart shows the various occupations closest to Civil engineers as measured by average annual salary in the US.

Wage Distribution

0.309

WAGE GINI

In 2018, Civil engineers had a wage GINI coefficient of 0.309, which is lower than than the national average of 0.479. 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 Taxi & limousine service, Scientific research & development services, Scientific research & development services, Pipeline transportation, Aircraft & parts manufacturing, and Electric power generation, transmission & distribution.

Industries by Share

366k

2018 Workforce

± 14,842

2.45%

1 YEAR GROWTH

± 5.63%

The number of people employed as Civil engineers has been growing at a rate of 2.45%, from 357,625 people in 2017 to 366,370 people in 2018.

This graphic shows the share of Civil engineers employed by various industries. Architectural, engineering & related services employs the largest share of Civil engineers at 61.2%, followed by Construction with 22.1% and Administration of economic programs & space research with 3.06%.

Diversity

Demographic information on Civil engineers in the US. The average age of male Civil engineers in the workforce is 42.7 and of female Civil engineers is 36.5, and the most common race/ethnicity for Civil engineers is White (Non-Hispanic).

Gender Composition

314k

MALE WORKFORCE

± 13,753

51.9k

FEMALE WORKFORCE

± 5,593

85.8% 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)

73.9% of Civil engineers are White (Non-Hispanic), making that the most common race or ethnicity in the occupation. Representing 10.3% 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

42.7

AVERAGE MALE AGE

± 0.613

36.5

AVERAGE FEMALE AGE

± 1.25

The median age of Civil engineers is 41.8, and Male employees are generally 6.2 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 degree-majorss. However, we can filter the data based on highest degree-majors 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 Reading Comprehension, Mathematics, and Critical Thinking. The revealed comparative advantage (RCA) shows that Civil engineers need more than the average amount of Technology Design, Management of Financial Resources, and Operations Analysis.