Transportation Engineer
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
Designs and maintains transportation systems such as roads, ports, airports, and bus or subway systems.
Job Outlook
There were 156 Transportation Engineer job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 6625 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Transportation Engineer industry, which includes the Transportation Engineer career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2012:
Salary
Many new Transportation 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 $78,598.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $73,936.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Transportation Engineer postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $69,050.
Education and Experience
Posted Transportation 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 | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 75% |
| Master's Degree | 25% |
| Doctoral Degree | 0% |
| Other | 0% |
Posted Transportation 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 | 25% |
| 3 to 5 years | 36% |
| 6 to 8 years | 29% |
| 9+ years | 10% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Transportation 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 Skills (45%)
- Planning (34%)
- Microsoft Excel (22%)
- Teamwork / Collaboration (21%)
- Microsoft Office (18%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Civil Engineering (48%)
- Microstation (35%)
- Professional Engineer (30%)
- Project Management (26%)
- Highway Design (25%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Cost Estimation (20%)
- Scheduling (19%)
- Calculation (18%)
- Civil 3D (17%)
- Engineering Design and Installation (14%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Drainage Design (7%)
- Traffic Management (6%)
- Pavement Markings (5%)
- Bridge Design (4%)
- Highway Construction (4%)
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.
- Geotechnical Engineering (1%) – marginal value $11,605
- Bridge Engineering (2%) – marginal value $7,549
- Land Development (1%) – marginal value $6,280
- Highway Construction (4%) – marginal value $4,498
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Transportation Engineer skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Senior Transportation Engineer
- Highway Engineer
- Senior Continuous Improvement Engineer - Dedicated Transportation
- Senior Supply Chain Engineer - Dedicated Transportation
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.
- Civil Engineer
- Water / Wastewater Engineer
- Civil Engineering Manager
- Environmental Engineer
- Civil Engineering Technician
- Landscape Architect
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Transportation Engineer jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Ryder System Incorporated (738)
- Texas Department of Transportation (406)
- CDM Smith (362)
- Hntb (165)
- AECOM Technology Corporation (152)
North Carolina
- CDM Smith (37)
- Johnson (18)
- Ryder System Incorporated (15)
- Thompson Incorporated (13)
- Kimley-Horn and Associates (4)
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.