City planner vs economic developer

The differences between city planners and economic developers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a city planner has an average salary of $64,562, which is higher than the $51,285 average annual salary of an economic developer.

The top three skills for a city planner include planning commission, GIS and regional planning. The most important skills for an economic developer are data entry, financial statements, and business community.

City planner vs economic developer overview

	City Planner	Economic Developer
Yearly salary	$64,562	$51,285
Hourly rate	$31.04	$24.66
Growth rate	4%	6%
Number of jobs	18,747	72,804
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 62%	Bachelor's Degree, 64%
Average age	42	45
Years of experience	2	-

City planner vs economic developer salary

City planners and economic developers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	City Planner	Economic Developer
Average salary	$64,562	$51,285
Salary range	Between $47,000 And $88,000	Between $37,000 And $70,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	-
Highest paying state	California	-
Best paying company	Citi	-
Best paying industry	Government	-

Differences between city planner and economic developer education

There are a few differences between a city planner and an economic developer in terms of educational background:

	City Planner	Economic Developer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 62%	Bachelor's Degree, 64%
Most common major	Urban Planning	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	Harvard University

City planner vs economic developer demographics

Here are the differences between city planners' and economic developers' demographics:

	City Planner	Economic Developer
Average age	42	45
Gender ratio	Male, 64.7% Female, 35.3%	Male, 55.3% Female, 44.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.8% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Asian, 9.5% White, 67.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	Black or African American, 6.3% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 11.9% Asian, 11.2% White, 64.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	13%	8%

Differences between city planner and economic developer duties and responsibilities

City planner example responsibilities.

Guide production planning activities ranging from developing and revising production schedules, forecasting trends and customer demand, and managing logistics.
Utilize planning relate software and GIS applications; and basic statistics and mathematical calculations.
Direct inbound or outbound logistics operations, such as transportation or warehouse activities, safety performance, or logistics quality management.
Construct engaging PowerPoint presentations for clients.

Economic developer example responsibilities.

Develop windows forms programs to automate manual in-house processes integrate with third party applications using Microsoft VB.Net.
Research banking trends and deliver weekly PowerPoint presentations on economic conditions and monetary policy.
Perform all aspects of analysis including data acquisition and manipulation, programming, data visualization, and presentation of results.
Research banking trends and deliver weekly PowerPoint presentations on economic conditions and monetary policy.

City planner vs economic developer skills

Common city planner skills

Planning Commission, 9%
GIS, 7%
Regional Planning, 6%
City Planning, 6%
Community Development, 5%
City Ordinances, 5%

Common economic developer skills

Data Entry, 14%
Financial Statements, 10%
Business Community, 8%
Technical Assistance, 8%
Business Plan, 6%
EDA, 5%

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City Planner vs Economic Developer

Updated January 8, 2025

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