Personal or work email, both work. No account needed. Unsubscribe anytime.
The national median salary for Civil Engineers is $99,590 per year ($47.88/hr) according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2024. The middle 50% of earners make between $78,790 and $128,294 annually. Top earners at the 90th percentile reach $160,992 per year. There are approximately 355,410 civil engineers employed in the United States.
About This Role
BLS Standard Occupational Classification 2018
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. Includes architectural, structural, traffic, and geotechnical engineers.
Career Outlook
BLS Employment Projections · 2024-2034
10-year growth
+5.0%
Faster than average
Annual openings
24K
per year, on avg
Workforce today
369K
as of 2024
Why those openings exist
8% from new growth92% from people leaving the role
Most openings come from replacement, not growth. Retention matters more than recruiting here.
Typical entry requirements
Education
Bachelor's degree
Experience
None
On-the-job training
None
Industry Wage Breakdown
Top 5 industries by employment · median annual wage, sector-specific
Industry
Workforce
Median Pay
Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services
NAICS 541300
197K
$99,410
State Government, excluding Schools and Hospitals (OEWS Designation)
NAICS 999200
37K
$98,850
Local Government, excluding Schools and Hospitals (OEWS Designation)
NAICS 999300
36K
$108,790
Nonresidential Building Construction
NAICS 236200
25K
$80,980
Federal Executive Branch (OEWS Designation)
NAICS 999100
10K
$114,210
Wage range across top 5 industries: $80,980 to $114,210 (41% spread)
Wage Percentiles
Hourly & annualized (2,080 hours)
Percentile
Hourly Rate
Annual Salary
P10
$31.69
$65,915
P25
$37.88
$78,790
P50MEDIAN
$47.88
$99,590
P75
$61.68
$128,294
P90
$77.40
$160,992
Market Context Signal
JOLTS · professional sector
Cooling
Openings Rate
4.2%
Quits Rate
2.0%
Professional & Business Services openings tumbled 318K in March -- the largest single-sector drop in this release. Openings rate fell from 5.5% to 4.2%. Layoffs jumped to 527K (+99K). White-collar demand has cooled abruptly.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average civil engineers salary?
The national median salary for Civil Engineers is $99,590 per year ($47.88/hr) according to BLS OEWS May 2024 data. The middle 50% earn between $78,790 and $128,294 annually.
How much do top-earning civil engineers make?
The 90th percentile salary for Civil Engineers is $160,992 per year ($77.40/hr). The 75th percentile is $128,294 per year.
What is the entry-level salary for civil engineers?
Entry-level Civil Engineers (10th percentile) earn approximately $65,915 per year ($31.69/hr). The 25th percentile is $78,790 per year.
Wage figures on this page come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2024 release. OEWS surveys roughly 1.1 million establishments annually. It is the most comprehensive employer-reported wage dataset in the United States.
P10 through P90 percentiles represent the wage distribution across all surveyed employers (not self-reported by workers). Geographic adjustments use BLS-derived cost multipliers calibrated from regional wage variation.
Wages are estimates. Individual compensation depends on experience, education, employer size, industry, and negotiation. Use this as benchmark context, not absolute ground truth.
CompSignal is a free labor market intelligence tool built for HR, compensation, and talent acquisition teams. We make BLS data, the same primary source Mercer and Radford cross-reference in their paid surveys, searchable and actionable without an enterprise subscription.
Built and maintained by Falcon Incentives, a compensation strategy and incentive design consultancy.