Civil Engineer
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Civil Engineer designs and supervises large construction projects such as public buildings, roads, and waterways. Designs projects that meet the needs of users and the public and are structurally sound. Addresses environmental and land use issues in project design. May specialize in a particular aspect of design and construction, or a particular type of construction, such as transportation systems.
Job Outlook
There were 2400 Civil Engineer job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 72069 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Civil Engineer industry, which includes the Civil Engineer career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:
Salary
Many new Civil Engineer jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $86,625.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $84,268.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Civil Engineer postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $72,129.
Education and Experience
Posted Civil Engineer jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 72.31% |
| Master's Degree | 21.54% |
| Doctoral Degree | 3.7% |
| Other | 5.14% |
Posted Civil Engineer jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 30.71% |
| 3 to 5 years | 40.51% |
| 6 to 8 years | 13.83% |
| 9+ years | 14.95% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Civil Engineer positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Communication (35.32%)
- Management (27.22%)
- Planning (25.19%)
- Coordinating (18.47%)
- Leadership (16.91%)
- Microsoft Office (16.58%)
- Writing (16.46%)
- Operations (14.63%)
- Problem Solving (13.99%)
- Research (12.39%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- AutoCAD Civil 3D (24.79%)
- Project Engineering (16.89%)
- AutoCAD (26.82%)
- Civil Engineering (59.85%)
- Geotechnical Engineering (12.83%)
- Hydrology (10.53%)
- Land Development (13.84%)
- Project Management (42.59%)
- Stormwater Management (17.41%)
- Structural Engineering (9.68%)
- Grading (Landscape) (16.39%)
- MicroStation (CAD Design Software) (16.13%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Computer-Aided Design (12%)
- Business Development (8.68%)
- Construction (28.42%)
- Engineering Design Process (13.67%)
- Hydraulics (8.2%)
- Construction Management (14.44%)
- Subcontracting (7.35%)
- Submittals (Construction) (8.72%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Construction Inspection (3.33%)
- Roadway Design (5.17%)
- Bridge Design (3.91%)
- OpenRoads (Civil Design Software) (5.88%)
- Civil Engineering Design (6.49%)
- Civil Design (7.59%)
- Thermodynamics (3.55%)
- Engineering Calculations (4.6%)
- Engineering Geology (1.86%)
- Municipal Or Urban Engineering (1.33%)
- Fluid Mechanics (3.63%)
- Integral Calculus (3.52%)
- Erosion Control (3.79%)
- Erosions (5.33%)
- Site Planning (2.34%)
- Civil Site Design (3.49%)
- Sanitary Sewer (3.85%)
- Sediment Controls (3.74%)
- Soil Mechanics (4.45%)
- Slope Stability (1.6%)
Salary Boosting Skills
A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.
- OpenRoads (Civil Design Software) (12.6%)
- Project Engineering (36.22%)
- Thermodynamics (7.61%)
- Fluid Mechanics (7.78%)
- Integral Calculus (7.54%)
- Land Development (29.66%)
- Soil Mechanics (9.53%)
- Civil Site Design (7.48%)
- Structural Engineering (20.76%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Civil Engineer skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Civil Project Engineer
- Bridge Engineer
- Project Engineer
- Civil Engineering Intern
- Geotechnical Engineer
- Land Development Civil Engineer
- Lead Civil Engineer
- Roadway Engineer
- Civil Engineer-in-Training
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.
- Civil Engineering Manager
- Civil Engineering Technician
- Transportation Engineer
- Land Development Project Manager
- Water / Wastewater Engineer
- General Engineering Technician / Technologist
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Civil Engineer jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- GPAC (3101)
- Actalent (1765)
- AECOM (1205)
- WSP Global (1160)
- Kimley-Horn (1002)
- CDM Smith (876)
- HNTB (784)
- Stantec (760)
- Jacobs Engineering Group (667)
- Kiewit Corporation (642)
North Carolina
- GPAC (133)
- WSP Global (61)
- Timmons Group (58)
- AECOM (54)
- State of North Carolina (52)
- Ecs (50)
- Kimley-Horn (47)
- Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson (38)
- Actalent (32)
- Black & Veatch (32)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
- Biological and Agricultural Engineering Master's Degrees
- Civil Engineering Master's Degrees
- Engineering Management Analytics Graduate Certificates
- Performance Based Earthquake Engineering Graduate Certificates
- Watershed Assessment and Restoration Graduate Certificates
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.