Career
Civil engineers
Design roads, bridges, water systems and the infrastructure of daily life.
$100,840
Median pay
+6.4%
Job growth, 2025–35
22,700
Openings a year
Bachelor's degree
Typical education
4 years
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- 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.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on objects & tools, then ideas & analysis?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Direct engineering activities, ensuring compliance with environmental, safety, or other governmental regulations.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Speaking, Critical Thinking.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
4 years of education after high school (bachelor's degree), for a median of $100,840 a year and 22,700 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- Civil EngineeringSee the degree →
- Civil Engineering, GeneralCIP 14.0801
- Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental EngineeringCIP 14.0802
- Structural EngineeringCIP 14.0803
- Transportation and Highway EngineeringCIP 14.0804
- Water Resources EngineeringCIP 14.0805
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Civil Engineering Technologists and Technicians$64,950 · +3.2%
- Transportation Engineers
- Construction Managers$114,990 · +9.1%
- Water/Wastewater Engineers
- Construction and Building Inspectors$74,690 · +0.0%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.