Civil Engineer Salary (2026), outlook and how to become one

Civil Engineers earn a median of $100,840 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025). That is 98% above the $50,980 median for all US occupations. That works out at $48.48/hr. The middle half earn between $79,930 and $129,680. The top 10% earn $163,220 or more.

The median hourly wage for civil engineers is $48.48 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). On a full-year basis the $100,840 annual median works out to about $8,400 a month before tax.

BLS does not publish a starting salary. The nearest measure is the low end of the pay range: the lowest-paid 10% of civil engineers earn less than $68,240 a year and the bottom quarter less than $79,930 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). New workers often start near that end, but where a particular job starts depends on the employer, the state and the credentials you bring, so read these as the bottom of the range rather than a guaranteed entry wage.

Yes, more often than not. The median is $100,840, so more than half of civil engineers earn over $100,000 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025). In 21 states the median itself is above $100,000: California ($122,500), Alaska ($114,730), Washington ($110,000), Massachusetts ($106,730), and 17 more.

The highest state medians for Civil Engineers are California ($122,500), Alaska ($114,730), Washington ($110,000) (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Adjusted for local prices using BEA Regional Price Parities, Louisiana moves to the top at $119,469.

BLS does not split civil engineers' pay by specialty or employer, but its range shows how far the top end runs: the highest-paid 10% earn more than $163,220, against a median of $100,840 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Location moves pay the most in the published data: the best-paying states are California ($122,500), Alaska ($114,730), Washington ($110,000). BLS also counts 2 specialty careers inside this occupation (bridge engineer, coastal engineer), which share its federal pay figures.

Yes. BLS reports a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education for Civil Engineers, and O*NET rates the preparation needed as considerable preparation. In O*NET's survey of people already doing the job, 85.7% hold bachelor's degree.

Yes. Employment is projected to grow 6.4% over 2025–2035, faster than the 3.5% average for all occupations (BLS EP, 2025–2035). BLS still projects about 22,700 openings a year, mostly from workers retiring or moving to other work.

Civil engineers plan, design, and supervise the construction and maintenance of building and infrastructure projects. A core O*NET task: direct engineering activities, ensuring compliance with environmental, safety, or other governmental regulations. Employers most often ask for Analytical or scientific software, Computer aided design CAD software, Data base user interface and query software.

Most work more than 40. In O*NET's survey of people in the job, 57% of civil engineers usually work more than 40 hours a week, 43% work exactly 40 and 0% work fewer. 71% say their schedule is regular and 24% irregular. Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, Work Context.

O*NET scores Civil Engineers highest on the Realistic, Investigative and Conventional interest areas, so the work mixes hands-on, practical work with tools, machines or the outdoors with investigating, analysing and solving problems with ideas and data. On NueCareer's MBTI-to-interest mapping that lines up most closely with ISTJ personalities. Personality is a fit signal, not a gate. The free NueCareer quiz scores your own profile against all 1,731 careers in the bank.

About 8 years to a PE licence: 4 years of accredited degree plus about 4 years of qualifying experience. Licensure is not required for entry-level jobs, so the working career starts at four years. The PE adds roughly four more years of verifiable progressive experience under supervision, and considerably longer if your degree is not from an accredited engineering program.

Yes, and it is issued by the state you work in, not nationally. Each state issues its own licences and NCEES's members are the 69 engineering and surveying licensing boards of the states, District of Columbia, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. NCEES writes and administers the exams; the state board grants the licence and sets the exact experience, education and application requirements, and many states provide additional paths beyond the common one. Some states require continuing education to keep the licence. Most recognise licensure from other states where requirements meet or exceed their own. States also define what the seal does: Texas requires a licence holder's seal on any plan, specification, plat or report issued for a project to be constructed or used in the state, and bars a public official responsible for enforcing laws affecting engineering practice from accepting such a document unless it bears an engineer's seal.

The FE (Fundamentals of Engineering exam) and the PE Civil (Principles and Practice of Engineering exam, Civil). The first exam on the path to a PE, designed for students close to finishing or recent graduates of an EAC/ABET-accredited program. Computer-based, year round, 110 questions in a six-hour appointment that includes a two-minute nondisclosure agreement, an eight-minute tutorial, five hours and 20 minutes of exam and a 25-minute scheduled break. $225 paid directly to NCEES. Seven discipline versions exist, of which FE Civil is the one to take.

Women make up 21.8% of civil engineers, against 47.1% of all employed people: more men than in the workforce as a whole. 21.0% are 55 or older, close to the 23.2% across all jobs. The median worker is 41.3 years old (all workers: 42.1). Source: BLS Current Population Survey, 2025 annual averages.