Community Planner
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Community Planner plans and designs projects that maintain or improve the quality of life in a community. Addresses specific transportation, economic development, housing and environmental issues. Develops plans that address aesthetic as well as technical concerns. Identifies community goals and anticipates the future impact of development.
Job Outlook
There were 21 Community Planner job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 935 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Urban / Transportation Planner industry, which includes the Community Planner career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:
Salary
Many new Community Planner 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 $76,193.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $76,193.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Community Planner postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $65,619.
Education and Experience
Posted Community Planner 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 | 4.71% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 68.98% |
| Master's Degree | 35.19% |
| Doctoral Degree | 6.42% |
| Other | 6.42% |
Posted Community Planner 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 | 42.86% |
| 3 to 5 years | 46.46% |
| 6 to 8 years | 4.47% |
| 9+ years | 6.2% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Community Planner 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.
- Planning (85.35%)
- Management (38.93%)
- Communication (36.04%)
- Research (34.76%)
- Writing (31.55%)
- Presentations (23.1%)
- Coordinating (22.35%)
- Leadership (17.33%)
- Operations (17.11%)
- Microsoft Office (14.33%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Urban Planning (29.15%)
- Community Planning (44.29%)
- Economics (25.88%)
- Community Development (44.52%)
- Geography (21.02%)
- Geographic Information Systems (25.54%)
- Land Use (24.07%)
- Public Administration (28.14%)
- Urban Affairs (12.2%)
- Project Management (29.72%)
- Landscape Architecture (31.19%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Land Development (12.77%)
- Surveys (3.73%)
- Project Planning (19.1%)
- Data Collection (8.93%)
- Transportation Planning (10.28%)
- Policy Development (3.95%)
- Economic Development (19.55%)
- Construction (7.12%)
- Finance (16.27%)
- Grant Applications (7.34%)
- AutoCAD (3.05%)
- Regional Planning (16.72%)
- Public Policies (8.47%)
- Urban Design (14.58%)
- Data Analysis (9.38%)
- Land-Use Planning (15.48%)
- Historic Preservation (8.25%)
- ArcGIS (GIS Software) (8.25%)
- Comprehensive Planning (16.27%)
- Legal Hearings (7.8%)
- Political Sciences (16.84%)
- Economic Analysis (13.67%)
- Sociology (15.59%)
- Civil Engineering (9.38%)
- Social Sciences (5.42%)
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.
- Community Planning (54.37%)
- Geographic Information Systems (31.35%)
- Urban Planning (35.78%)
- Economics (31.76%)
- Geography (25.8%)
- Land Use (29.54%)
- Landscape Architecture (38.28%)
- Project Management (36.48%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Community Planner skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Planner
- Community Development Planner
- Interdisciplinary Engineer Architect
- Military Planner
- Community Development Intern
- Community Development Specialist
- Community Development Director
- Planner Intern
- Community Affairs Specialist
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.
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Community Planner jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- United States Department of Transportation (36)
- United States Navy (31)
- FEMA (30)
- HDR (27)
- Naval Facilities Engineering Command (15)
- State of Minnesota (15)
- Rincon Consultants (14)
- Stantec (13)
- United States Air Force (11)
- APA Corporation (9)
North Carolina
- City Of Rocky Mount (3)
- Institute For Building Technology & Safety (2)
- Charlotte County (2)
- NH Dept Of Natural And Cultural Resources (1)
- Stantec (1)
- Robeson County Fairgrounds (1)
- City of Durham (1)
- Town Of Leland (1)
- Town Of Kernersville (1)
- State of North Carolina (1)
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!
- Agricultural Education and Human Sciences Master's Degrees
- Leadership in Agriculture and Human Sciences 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.