Find a Job You Really Want In
Civil Engineers are one of the most common jobs in America. Additionally, a significant number of people work as civil engineers in every state in the union — it’s not like they are all just concentrated in California or the South.
Since civil engineers are such a prominent occupation, we at Zippia wanted to look at where civil engineers have it the best: where there are plenty of jobs to go around and people get paid what they deserve during every phase of their career.
To that end, we dove into the numbers from the BLS to figure out which states have the best opportunities for civil engineers.
After all the numbers had been crunched, we were left with this list of the best of best for America’s civil engineers:
So there you have it — Civil Engineers is the best of the best when it comes to being a civil engineer.
How did Civil Engineers end up here and does it really deserve this ranking? Read on to see how we completed our research on the best states for civil engineers and for more on the top ten states.
If youĂÂre interested, you can read more about the job scene here:
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- These Are The 10 Best Small Companies To Work For In McKinney
- Top 11 Best Start-Ups to Work For in Austin, TX
How we determined the best states to be a civil engineer
Here at Zippia, we talk to a lot of people of all different backgrounds looking for jobs. Our research has concluded that there are two common things people want in a job:
- Availability of jobs
- Higher Pay
So in order to find out the best states for civil engineers in America we needed to figure out where the jobs are and how well civil engineers get paid. This led to the following criteria taken from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s Occupational Employment Statistics for 2018:
- Location quotient. A measure of how common a job is a given state.
- Average annual salary.
- Average annual salary for entry level work.
- Average annual salary for experienced professionals.
To make all the salary numbers more apples to apples across states, we compared the salary data relative to the state’s cost of living.
Applying this standardization allows us to account for that fact that it costs more to live in certain in states. For example, the average salary for civil engineers in California is $109,680 and the average salary in Illinois is $94,570, but the Illinois salary actually goes further in paying for life’s essentials.
In order to develop and overall ranking, we ranked each state for each criteria from 1 to 50 where 1 was the best.
We then averaged all the rankings for a state into a Job Score with the state having the lowest overall Job Score earning the distinction of being the best state for civil engineers in America.
So without further ado, let’s get into just what made each state so great for civil engineers.
1. Texas
Total Jobs: 24,460
Average Annual Salary: $102,990
Average Entry Level Salary: $55,460
Average Experienced Salary: $166,010
Location Quotient: 0.95
2. Virginia
Total Jobs: 10,610
Average Annual Salary: $94,780
Average Entry Level Salary: $56,940
Average Experienced Salary: $144,090
Location Quotient: 1.31
3. Illinois
Total Jobs: 10,970
Average Annual Salary: $94,570
Average Entry Level Salary: $58,450
Average Experienced Salary: $138,220
Location Quotient: 0.87
4. Louisiana
Total Jobs: 3,000
Average Annual Salary: $98,700
Average Entry Level Salary: $59,490
Average Experienced Salary: $141,480
Location Quotient: 0.74
5. Mississippi
Total Jobs: 1,450
Average Annual Salary: $85,880
Average Entry Level Salary: $54,330
Average Experienced Salary: $128,380
Location Quotient: 0.61
6. Wyoming
Total Jobs: 850
Average Annual Salary: $85,220
Average Entry Level Salary: $53,980
Average Experienced Salary: $113,440
Location Quotient: 1.49
7. Oklahoma
Total Jobs: 2,360
Average Annual Salary: $91,090
Average Entry Level Salary: $52,940
Average Experienced Salary: $132,560
Location Quotient: 0.7
8. Tennessee
Total Jobs: 3,490
Average Annual Salary: $93,810
Average Entry Level Salary: $53,010
Average Experienced Salary: $139,010
Location Quotient: 0.56
9. Alabama
Total Jobs: 4,370
Average Annual Salary: $84,320
Average Entry Level Salary: $48,470
Average Experienced Salary: $131,130
Location Quotient: 1.06
10. Missouri
Total Jobs: 5,320
Average Annual Salary: $86,710
Average Entry Level Salary: $52,350
Average Experienced Salary: $125,510
Location Quotient: 0.9
There You Have It – The Best States To Be A Civil Engineer
If you’re looking to start out your career as a civil engineer these are the states that should be at the top of your list. You’ll find high pay, available jobs, and chances for career advancement.
If you’re curious, here are the worst states to be a civil engineer in America:
For more reading, check out:
- These Are The 100 Highest Paying Jobs In Austin
- These Are The 100 Highest Paying Jobs In Dallas
- These Are The 100 Highest Paying Jobs In Fort Worth
- These Are The 100 Highest Paying Jobs In Houston
- These Are The 100 Highest Paying Jobs In San Antonio
- These Are The 100 Highest Paying Jobs In Texas
- These Are The 100 Largest Companies In Texas
Detailed List Of The Best States For civil engineers
| Rank | State | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas | $102,990 |
| 2 | Virginia | $94,780 |
| 3 | Illinois | $94,570 |
| 4 | Louisiana | $98,700 |
| 5 | Mississippi | $85,880 |
| 6 | Wyoming | $85,220 |
| 7 | Oklahoma | $91,090 |
| 8 | Tennessee | $93,810 |
| 9 | Alabama | $84,320 |
| 10 | Missouri | $86,710 |
| 11 | Washington | $93,120 |
| 12 | Colorado | $93,560 |
| 13 | Nevada | $100,700 |
| 14 | North Carolina | $86,270 |
| 15 | Arkansas | $81,780 |
| 16 | Nebraska | $84,240 |
| 17 | Michigan | $82,240 |
| 18 | Indiana | $82,420 |
| 19 | Florida | $89,480 |
| 20 | North Dakota | $83,460 |
| 21 | Delaware | $91,410 |
| 22 | New Mexico | $88,840 |
| 23 | Kentucky | $82,840 |
| 24 | Georgia | $81,110 |
| 25 | Kansas | $82,340 |
| 26 | Minnesota | $90,760 |
| 27 | Pennsylvania | $88,740 |
| 28 | South Carolina | $84,660 |
| 29 | West Virginia | $82,210 |
| 30 | Iowa | $83,940 |
| 31 | Utah | $80,690 |
| 32 | Wisconsin | $78,660 |
| 33 | Idaho | $78,280 |
| 34 | Montana | $77,480 |
| 35 | New Jersey | $103,760 |
| 36 | Arizona | $84,770 |
| 37 | Ohio | $82,180 |
| 38 | California | $109,680 |
| 39 | South Dakota | $77,030 |
| 40 | Oregon | $88,270 |
| 41 | Connecticut | $93,630 |
| 42 | Maryland | $86,110 |
| 43 | New York | $102,250 |
| 44 | Hawaii | $86,680 |
| 45 | Massachusetts | $94,210 |
| 46 | New Hampshire | $83,970 |
| 47 | Maine | $82,160 |
| 48 | Vermont | $74,960 |
| 49 | Rhode Island | $87,220 |
Author
Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.
