Regional Planner
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Regional Planner plans and designs projects that maintain or improve the quality of life in a region. Addresses specific transportation, economic development, housing and environmental issues. Develops plans that address aesthetic as well as technical concerns. Identifies regional goals and anticipates the future impact of development.
Job Outlook
There were 29 Regional Planner job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 910 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Urban / Transportation Planner industry, which includes the Regional Planner career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2016:
Salary
Many new Regional 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
State
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Regional Planner postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $65,014.
Education and Experience
Posted Regional 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 | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 62.86% |
| Master's Degree | 32.97% |
| Doctoral Degree | 2.97% |
| Other | 6.04% |
Posted Regional 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 | 31.5% |
| 3 to 5 years | 50.61% |
| 6 to 8 years | 10.86% |
| 9+ years | 7.03% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Regional 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 (84.07%)
- Research (46.48%)
- Communication (43.74%)
- Management (30.22%)
- Coordinating (27.47%)
- Presentations (27.14%)
- Writing (26.15%)
- Microsoft Office (22.86%)
- Detail Oriented (18.13%)
- Verbal Communication Skills (16.48%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Geographic Information Systems (36.89%)
- Urban Planning (25.99%)
- Land Development (24.19%)
- Land Use (32.34%)
- Regional Planning (27.31%)
- Project Management (31.98%)
- Land-Use Planning (43.83%)
- Landscape Architecture (30.06%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Community Planning (7.19%)
- AutoCAD (11.02%)
- Policy Development (4.91%)
- Adobe Photoshop (11.5%)
- Workflow Management (2.99%)
- Legal Hearings (13.17%)
- Construction (8.86%)
- Civil Engineering (11.26%)
- Adobe InDesign (8.62%)
- ArcGIS (GIS Software) (9.46%)
- Data Analysis (11.98%)
- Economics (8.5%)
- Project Planning (14.37%)
- Comprehensive Planning (15.21%)
- Community Development (13.41%)
- Economic Development (8.98%)
- Environmental Planning (10.42%)
- Environmental Science (14.13%)
- Public Administration (14.01%)
- Geography (13.89%)
- Surveying (9.22%)
- Land Tenure (3.59%)
- Site Planning (13.05%)
- SketchUp (3D Modeling Software) (10.06%)
- Enterprise Planning Systems (3.71%)
- Land Zoning (17.96%)
- Transportation Planning (12.69%)
- Urban Design (11.5%)
- Urban Studies (9.1%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Land Use Policy (4.67%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Regional Planner skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Land Use Planner
- Planner
- Land Planner
- Land Use Specialist
- Planner Intern
- Event Planner
- Land Use Consultant
- Development Planner
- Lead Planner
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.
- Community Planner
- Urban Planner
- Land Development Project Manager
- Landscape Architect
- Environmental Planner / Scientist
- Conservation Scientist
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Regional Planner jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Aks Engineering And Forestry (25)
- Kimley-Horn (15)
- State of Massachusetts (14)
- Actalent (13)
- Stantec (12)
- Dowl (12)
- County of San Bernardino (12)
- Amentum (11)
- Loudoun County Government (10)
- Cushman & Wakefield (10)
North Carolina
- Mcadams (3)
- Kimley-Horn (3)
- Design Workshop (1)
- Altice USA (1)
- Jackson County (1)
- City Of Statesville (1)
- Town Of Waynesville (1)
- Cumberland County (1)
- Johnston County (1)
- Timmons Group (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.