Civil Engineers
The national median wage for civil engineers is $95,890 across 326K jobs. After cost of living, Washington goes furthest at $120,117, and 39 of 78 metros beat the national median once prices are counted.
What the job pays, metro to metro
Each line runs from the lowest metro to the highest. The mark is the national median.
BLS OES, latest release
78 metro areas tracked
Best value: top metros by cost-adjusted wage
Wages adjusted for local cost of living. A longer blue bar means the salary goes further there.
All metro areas
Sorted by cost-adjusted wage. Tap a column head to re-sort; metro names link to the city page where we track one.
| # | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | VA | $121,318 | $120,117 | 4,923 | 8.2 |
| 2 | San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA | CA | $134,209 | $118,769 | 2,528 | 5.6 |
| 3 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | WA | $123,428 | $113,237 | 3,034 | 7.6 |
| 4 | Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX | TX | $107,855 | $111,191 | 3,071 | 4.7 |
| 5 | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA | NY | $119,322 | $110,483 | 9,147 | 7.3 |
| 6 | Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT | CT | $114,710 | $110,298 | 529 | 7.0 |
| 7 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI | IL | $109,095 | $110,197 | 4,976 | 6.2 |
| 8 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA | GA | $105,040 | $108,289 | 4,061 | 7.4 |
| 9 | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | MN | $105,359 | $107,509 | 2,582 | 7.4 |
| 10 | Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI | MI | $100,871 | $107,310 | 3,278 | 8.2 |
| 11 | Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | PA | $104,996 | $107,139 | 4,651 | 8.5 |
| 12 | Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN | TN | $99,404 | $106,886 | 1,680 | 8.4 |
| 13 | Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH | MA | $114,812 | $106,307 | 3,538 | 7.1 |
| 14 | Anchorage, AK | AK | $108,361 | $106,236 | 374 | 7.5 |
| 15 | Madison, WI | WI | $98,228 | $105,622 | 615 | 8.2 |
| 16 | Wilmington, DE-MD-NJ | DE | $103,930 | $104,980 | 360 | 7.2 |
| 17 | Raleigh-Cary, NC | NC | $98,610 | $104,904 | 735 | 4.9 |
| 18 | Kansas City, MO-KS | MO | $94,298 | $102,498 | 1,348 | 6.7 |
| 19 | Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA | NE | $92,193 | $102,437 | 594 | 5.9 |
| 20 | Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN | KY | $92,109 | $102,343 | 1,008 | 6.7 |
| 21 | Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX | TX | $98,454 | $101,499 | 1,644 | 6.6 |
| 22 | St. Louis, MO-IL | MO | $93,331 | $101,447 | 1,574 | 6.3 |
| 23 | Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | NC | $95,278 | $101,360 | 2,103 | 8.4 |
| 24 | Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO | CO | $102,085 | $101,074 | 1,674 | 5.6 |
| 25 | Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA | IA | $89,101 | $100,113 | 540 | 7.2 |
| 26 | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | TX | $96,109 | $99,081 | 5,773 | 8.3 |
| 27 | Columbus, OH | OH | $91,151 | $99,077 | 1,139 | 5.7 |
| 28 | Providence-Warwick, RI-MA | RI | $100,034 | $99,044 | 791 | 5.3 |
| 29 | Charleston-North Charleston, SC | SC | $91,361 | $98,238 | 625 | 8.3 |
| 30 | Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV | NV | $94,757 | $97,688 | 1,344 | 6.7 |
| 31 | Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | AZ | $98,456 | $97,481 | 2,505 | 5.6 |
| 32 | Boise City, ID | ID | $88,685 | $97,456 | 620 | 8.3 |
| 33 | Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown, CT | CT | $101,307 | $97,411 | 541 | 5.4 |
| 34 | Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI | WI | $90,170 | $96,957 | 1,192 | 8.0 |
| 35 | Birmingham-Hoover, AL | AL | $87,092 | $96,769 | 519 | 5.2 |
| 36 | Cleveland-Elyria, OH | OH | $88,944 | $96,678 | 780 | 5.2 |
| 37 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | CA | $109,052 | $96,506 | 5,957 | 6.0 |
| 38 | Pittsburgh, PA | PA | $94,450 | $96,378 | 1,443 | 7.2 |
| 39 | Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | OR | $100,934 | $96,128 | 1,725 | 6.9 |
| 40 | Honolulu, HI | HI | $104,403 | $95,783 | 470 | 6.3 |
| 41 | Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN | IN | $88,042 | $95,698 | 937 | 4.7 |
| 42 | Albuquerque, NM | NM | $86,016 | $95,573 | 535 | 5.3 |
| 43 | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | MD | $99,312 | $95,492 | 1,739 | 7.0 |
| 44 | Oklahoma City, OK | OK | $83,860 | $95,295 | 852 | 5.7 |
| 45 | Richmond, VA | VA | $96,213 | $95,260 | 1,031 | 6.9 |
| 46 | Salt Lake City, UT | UT | $90,395 | $95,153 | 1,226 | 8.2 |
| 47 | Burlington-South Burlington, VT | VT | $92,015 | $94,861 | 133 | 5.3 |
| 48 | Columbia, SC | SC | $88,051 | $94,678 | 392 | 5.2 |
| 49 | Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN | OH | $86,869 | $94,423 | 1,483 | 7.4 |
| 50 | New Orleans-Metairie, LA | LA | $82,051 | $93,240 | 469 | 4.7 |
| 51 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL | FL | $95,073 | $92,304 | 4,394 | 8.0 |
| 52 | Portland-South Portland, ME | ME | $89,431 | $92,197 | 218 | 5.5 |
| 53 | Cheyenne, WY | WY | $83,489 | $91,746 | 84 | 5.6 |
| 54 | Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC | VA | $92,143 | $91,231 | 1,059 | 7.1 |
| 55 | San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | CA | $103,037 | $91,183 | 1,962 | 6.5 |
| 56 | Wichita, KS | KS | $81,656 | $90,729 | 256 | 5.1 |
| 57 | Manchester-Nashua, NH | NH | $95,143 | $90,612 | 292 | 5.8 |
| 58 | Fargo, ND-MN | ND | $80,237 | $90,154 | 197 | 4.9 |
| 59 | Tulsa, OK | OK | $78,253 | $88,924 | 601 | 6.0 |
| 60 | Sioux Falls, SD | SD | $78,073 | $88,719 | 301 | 7.5 |
| 61 | Grand Rapids-Kentwood, MI | MI | $83,232 | $88,545 | 571 | 5.7 |
| 62 | Baton Rouge, LA | LA | $77,855 | $88,472 | 426 | 5.7 |
| 63 | Memphis, TN-MS-AR | TN | $82,124 | $88,305 | 627 | 6.3 |
| 64 | Jacksonville, FL | FL | $90,280 | $87,650 | 1,001 | 6.7 |
| 65 | Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR | AR | $76,247 | $87,640 | 614 | 8.2 |
| 66 | Jackson, MS | MS | $76,126 | $87,501 | 273 | 5.5 |
| 67 | Tucson, AZ | AZ | $87,864 | $86,994 | 681 | 6.8 |
| 68 | Rochester, NY | NY | $92,562 | $85,706 | 602 | 6.0 |
| 69 | Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | FL | $88,271 | $85,700 | 1,932 | 6.4 |
| 70 | San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX | TX | $82,904 | $85,468 | 1,879 | 7.5 |
| 71 | Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | CA | $96,191 | $85,125 | 1,316 | 6.6 |
| 72 | Billings, MT | MT | $76,188 | $84,653 | 153 | 6.1 |
| 73 | Knoxville, TN | TN | $78,174 | $84,058 | 655 | 6.5 |
| 74 | Charleston, WV | WV | $74,117 | $82,352 | 138 | 5.5 |
| 75 | El Paso, TX | TX | $78,948 | $81,390 | 373 | 5.0 |
| 76 | Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | FL | $83,821 | $81,380 | 1,281 | 5.1 |
| 77 | Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY | NY | $86,465 | $80,060 | 664 | 6.6 |
| 78 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | CA | $88,113 | $77,976 | 1,835 | 4.6 |
Frequently asked questions
What is the median salary for Civil Engineers?
The national median annual wage for civil engineers is $95,890, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) data.
Where do civil engineers earn the most after adjusting for cost of living?
After adjusting for local cost of living, the top-paying metro areas for civil engineers are Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV ($120,117), San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA ($118,769), Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA ($113,237).
How many metro areas have data for civil engineers?
We show wage and employment estimates for civil engineers across 78 metro areas in the United States. The national median wage is the latest BLS OES figure; individual metro values are modeled from it using local cost of living and regional labor-market patterns rather than taken from the published metro-level OES tables.