How Much a Civil Engineer Earns in the United States 2021

¿How much does a civil engineer earn in the United States 2021? The salary of a civil engineer in the United States it is $ 78,288 per year on average, which translates to $ 6,524 per month. The salaries that these civil engineering professionals receive in the United States vary. Stay to know more about how much civil engineers earn in USA.

The civil Engineering is a branch of engineering that focuses on the design, planning and construction of various structures through which various needs of a population are met.


The civil engineering career Despite not being one of the highest paid careers in the United States, it is undoubtedly a profession that is among the most popular.

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Civil engineer how much you earn

The salary of a civil engineer in the United States, It may be different depending on who has hired you, for example, one who works in the federal government sector, exceeds the salary of those civil engineering graduates who are practicing their profession for the state government.


Those who work for the federal government, earn an average annual salary of $ 89,450, while civil engineers who are working for the state government, may be earning an approximate of $ 74,300 per year.


In the case of the private sector, the employer of a construction company may be paying the civil engineering professional who has been chosen in the vacancy a salary that can range from $ 75,000 to $ 100,000 per year, the reason why the The salary of this type of engineering professional is high, it is due to the demands that it entails.

The location where you are working is another factor that directly influences how much does a civil engineer earn in the USA, by way of reference these are the cities with the highest average salaries for civil engineering in the United States:

  • Anchorage, Alaska: $ 76,901
  • Riverside, California: $ 73,734
  • San Francisco, California: $ 86,558
  • Houston, Texas: $ 70,679
  • San Jose, California: $ 86,539

What does a civil engineer do?

The functions of a civil engineer include the design and supervision of construction works to be carried out, whether it is the public sector, such as the construction of bridges or pedestrian crossings, roads, tower buildings or airports.

A civil engineer It is also dedicated to ensuring the proper maintenance of infrastructures, so that they can meet specific needs, as well as ensuring that they are prepared for natural events of force majeure that may occur.

Although civil Engineers They are usually carrying out tasks related to the project from their office, they also usually make monitoring visits that allow them to know if the construction to be carried out is progressing in order according to plan, working regularly full time, for 40 hours a week.

Why is America good to study civil engineering?

To answer this question, it is important to note that the United States is one of the countries that has earned the greatest positive reputation when it comes to studying a university degree, because no matter what state of the United States you are in, in the end you will have a wide variety of options to enrich yourself as a professional.

This is due to the high quality of the educational institutions or universities found in the United States, which also requires that once you have received your degree in civil engineering from an American university, that degree will open many doors for you internationally.

If you want to become a civil engineer in the United States, you can take a degree of degree in civil engineering, which has a duration of 4 to 5 years on average. Some universities to study civil engineering in the United States are:

  • University Of California - Barkeley.
  • Georgia Institute Of Technology.
  • Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Stanford University.

Civil engineering specialties

Civil engineering as such usually has a fairly broad field, which means that this discipline has different subspecialties, below I show you which are the areas of specialization of civil engineering:

  • Construction management: If you want to specialize in the supervision of construction projects, ensuring the minimum risk of the works, the security forces and be in charge of other professionals involved in the project, then this specialization may be for you.
  • Environmental engineering specialty: If your passion is to improve the environment and quality of life where human beings live, taking advantage of natural light sources or other natural resources, becoming an environmental civil engineer would be your best option.
  • Geotechnical engineering: As a civil engineer specialized in geotechnical engineering, you will be able to compile and interpret the properties that make up the soil in order to give recommendations on whether the land is fertile for building.
  • Structural engineering: As an expert in structures, you will be in charge of recommending the most suitable materials for the construction of structures that do not collapse due to their own weight, as well as the assembly of these materials to model the structures.
  • Transportation engineer: This specialization enables you to work in the construction of transport systems, whether they are the lines of a metro in your city, tunnels, among other types of projects that involve the mobility of society from one point to another in the city.

Take into account that within the academic programs, the one you have chosen must be approved by ABET (ABET Accredited) which is a board that accredits and guarantees that a certain educational program of a university or college is complying with the minimum standard quality that is required for the training of said students.

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