Environmental Engineer
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
An Environmental Engineer develops solutions to environmental problems using engineering, biology, chemistry, and geology. Addresses pollution control, waste disposal, recycling, or public health issues. Works on local environmental issues, such as polluted groundwater, or global or regional issues, such as acid rain. Works with environmental scientists and public policymakers to identify problems and develop technologies that benefit people and protect the environment.
Job Outlook
There were 400 Environmental Engineer job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 12863 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Environmental Engineer industry, which includes the Environmental Engineer career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:
Salary
Many new Environmental 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 $90,785.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $87,543.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Environmental Engineer postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $75,038.
Education and Experience
Posted Environmental 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 | 3.06% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 75.83% |
| Master's Degree | 28.09% |
| Doctoral Degree | 6.94% |
| Other | 3.48% |
Posted Environmental 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 | 22.52% |
| 3 to 5 years | 40.74% |
| 6 to 8 years | 14.78% |
| 9+ years | 21.96% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Environmental 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 (36.45%)
- Management (32.43%)
- Writing (24.34%)
- Leadership (23.35%)
- Operations (22.71%)
- Planning (22.53%)
- Investigation (19.09%)
- Research (16.5%)
- Problem Solving (14.48%)
- Microsoft Excel (13.29%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Groundwater (19.92%)
- Project Management (37.77%)
- Environmental Engineering (71.29%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Sampling (Statistics) (13.43%)
- Technical Writing (7.28%)
- Auditing (12.46%)
- Data Collection (10.14%)
- Soil Science (16.64%)
- Construction (16.59%)
- Subcontracting (9.9%)
- Field Research (7.91%)
- Air Quality (10.38%)
- Risk Analysis (4.49%)
- Business Development (9.43%)
- Environmental Science (20.81%)
- Environmental Resource Management (5.68%)
- Data Analysis (15.71%)
- Stormwater Management (14.97%)
- Engineering Design Process (13.79%)
- Computer-Aided Design (11.04%)
- Civil Engineering (15.51%)
- Wastewater (15.64%)
- Waste Management (8.73%)
- Chemical Engineering (19.04%)
- Site Assessment (6.71%)
- Environment Health And Safety (12.45%)
- Environmental Compliance (21.66%)
- Regulatory Compliance (11.99%)
- Geology (12.85%)
- Environmental Consulting (7.39%)
- Mechanical Engineering (9.06%)
- Pollution Prevention (7.25%)
- Environmental Laws (19.96%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (1.77%)
- Environmental Remediation (4.43%)
- Sediment (9.14%)
- Remediation Systems (5.49%)
- Air Permitting (7.63%)
- Coastal Engineering (3.27%)
- Atmospheric Dispersion Modeling (3.3%)
- Soil Contamination (5.51%)
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.
- Air Permitting (100%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Environmental Engineer skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Coastal Engineer
- Environmental Engineering Intern
- Environmental Project Engineer
- Environmental Manager
- Environmental Remediation Engineer
- Air Quality Engineer
- Project Engineer
- Engineer
- Staff Environmental Engineer
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.
- Environmental Compliance Specialist
- Environmental Planner / Scientist
- Water / Wastewater Engineer
- Civil Engineer
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Environmental Engineer jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- CDM Smith (1317)
- AECOM (310)
- WSP Global (304)
- Actalent (185)
- Jacobs Engineering Group (169)
- Ramboll (146)
- Barr Engineering Co. (124)
- Boeing (116)
- Arcadis (99)
- Stantec (95)
North Carolina
- CDM Smith (47)
- State of North Carolina (39)
- WSP Global (17)
- AECOM (11)
- N.C Department Of Transportation (8)
- JLL (7)
- Research Triangle Institute (7)
- Actalent (6)
- Black & Veatch (5)
- Moffatt & Nichol (5)
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!
- Agriculture Data Science Graduate Certificates
- Biological and Agricultural Engineering Master's Degrees
- Climate Adaptation Graduate Certificates
- Environmental Engineering Master's Degrees
- 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.