Civil Engineering Technician
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
Works with civil engineers on large public construction and infrastructure projects such as roads, buildings, bridges or utilities. Assists with preparation and review of blueprints and plans, site inspections, meeting design specifications, developing cost estimates and preparing project reports.
Job Outlook
There were 806 Civil Engineering Technician job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 15639 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Civil Engineering Technician industry, which includes the Civil Engineering Technician career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2012:
Salary
Many new Civil Engineering Technician 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 $51,982.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $49,577.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Civil Engineering Technician postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $42,568.
Education and Experience
Posted Civil Engineering Technician 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 | 22% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 16% |
| Master's Degree | 6% |
| Doctoral Degree | 0% |
| Other | 55% |
Posted Civil Engineering Technician 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 | 49% |
| 3 to 5 years | 34% |
| 6 to 8 years | 7% |
| 9+ years | 10% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Civil Engineering Technician 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 Skills (%)
- Planning (%)
- Physical Abilities (%)
- Microsoft Office (%)
- Research (%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Civil Engineering (30%)
- AutoCAD (25%)
- Civil 3D (15%)
- Surveys (14%)
- Computer Aided Drafting/Design (CAD) (13%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Project Management (19%)
- Calculation (18%)
- Scheduling (18%)
- Repair (17%)
- Cost Estimation (10%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Land Survey (%)
- Field Surveys (%)
- Land Development (%)
- Traffic Engineering (%)
- Erosion Control (%)
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 along with the marginal value: the average salary difference between postings that request that skill and those that do not.
- Geographic Information System (GIS) Data (%) – marginal value $0
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Civil Engineering Technician skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Engineering Technician
- Field Technician II
- Field Technician
- Survey Technician
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.
- Surveying / Mapping Technician
- Civil Engineer
- Mechanical Engineer Surveyor
- General Engineering Technician / Technologist
- Transportation Engineer
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Civil Engineering Technician jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Black & Veatch (348)
- CBRE Group (210)
- Charter Communications (181)
- Texas Department of Transportation (145)
- Builders Firstsource (132)
North Carolina
- Duke Energy Corporation (50)
- Nc Department Transportation (35)
- Charter Communications (29)
- Johnson (24)
- Mcgill Associates (24)
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!
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.