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 24 Regional Planner job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 959 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 2015:

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

The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $75,708.

State

The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $75,708.

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 $64,821.

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	72.68%
Master's Degree	36.5%
Doctoral Degree	1.77%
Other	7.19%

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	30.97%
3 to 5 years	53.4%
6 to 8 years	10.27%
9+ years	5.35%

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 (83.84%)
Research (47.45%)
Communication (43.69%)
Presentations (32.22%)
Management (31.91%)
Writing (30.45%)
Coordinating (29.09%)
Microsoft Office (23.57%)
Verbal Communication Skills (18.04%)
Detail Oriented (17.1%)

Defining Skills

A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.

Geographic Information Systems (38.45%)
Urban Planning (25.37%)
Land-Use Planning (49.03%)
Landscape Architecture (31.63%)
Land Development (23.21%)
Land Use (34.13%)
Project Management (35.72%)
Regional Planning (29.92%)

Necessary Skills

A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.

Community Planning (8.08%)
Policy Development (5.12%)
AutoCAD (9.22%)
ArcGIS (GIS Software) (11.38%)
Adobe Photoshop (10.69%)
Legal Hearings (16.27%)
Comprehensive Planning (20.59%)
Adobe InDesign (8.42%)
Civil Engineering (9.78%)
Project Planning (18.89%)
Economics (9.78%)
Community Development (14.11%)
Environmental Planning (15.02%)
Environmental Science (12.29%)
Due Diligence (8.65%)
Economic Development (11.49%)
Adobe Creative Suite (7.74%)
Data Analysis (13.31%)
Public Administration (16.84%)
Environmental Studies (7.62%)
Surveying (7.39%)
Geography (13.88%)
Site Planning (11.95%)
SketchUp (3D Modeling Software) (8.99%)
Planning Permission (1.25%)
Land Zoning (16.04%)
Urban Design (15.36%)
Urban Studies (9.1%)
Transportation Planning (12.86%)

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.

Geographic Information Systems (65.63%)
Regional Planning (51.07%)

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
Service Planner
Development Planner
Event Planner
Planner Intern
Estate 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.

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

Stantec (23)
Cushman & Wakefield (22)
Aks Engineering And Forestry (22)
State of Massachusetts (21)
Loudoun County Government (16)
Association Of Metropolitan Planning Organizations (14)
Actalent (11)
Friends Of Adaptive Recreation Of Loudoun County Virginia (11)
Rincon Consultants (10)
Dowl (8)

North Carolina

Mcadams (4)
Town of Chapel Hill (2)
Altice USA (1)
Womble Bond Dickinson (Us) Llp (1)
City Of Statesville (1)
Town Of Waynesville (1)
Craven County Co (1)
Johnston County (1)
American Engineering (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!

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.

Planning and Analysis