Civil Engineers are highly trained professionals who plan, design, and oversee the construction of major public works projects. They can be employed by either the government or private entities like construction firms, consultancy firms, or even universities. Most of the work is done in an office setting, but they also go to project sites to ensure projects are running smoothly.
A successful civil engineer should have experience in civil engineering work and communication skills, , attention to detail, and analytical skills. They should also have critical thinking skills to solve technical problems and develop creative solutions.
Civil engineers work full time 40 hours a week from Monday to Friday from 9 to 5. They work on a project by project basis and may need to work extra hours to ensure the projects meet their intended deadlines.
Civil Engineer/Project Manager Overview
Working as a Civil Engineer/Project Manager
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a civil engineer/project manager. For example, did you know that they make an average of $37.1 an hour? That's $77,160 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 20,500 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Civil Engineer/Project Manager Do
There are certain skills that many civil engineer/project managers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed leadership skills, organizational skills and math skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a civil engineer/project manager, we found that a lot of resumes listed 19.6% of civil engineer/project managers included project management, while 14.9% of resumes included civil 3d, and 6.3% of resumes included business development. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the civil engineer/project manager job title. But what industry to start with? Most civil engineer/project managers actually find jobs in the professional and construction industries.
How To Become a Civil Engineer/Project Manager
If you're interested in becoming a civil engineer/project manager, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 56.6% of civil engineer/project managers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 31.6% of civil engineer/project managers have master's degrees. Even though most civil engineer/project managers have a college degree, it's impossible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a civil engineer/project manager. When we researched the most common majors for a civil engineer/project manager, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on civil engineer/project manager resumes include associate degree degrees or doctoral degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a civil engineer/project manager. In fact, many civil engineer/project manager jobs require experience in a role such as civil engineer. Meanwhile, many civil engineer/project managers also have previous career experience in roles such as project engineer or project manager.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the right jobs to get there.
Civil Engineer/Project Manager Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a civil engineer/project manager can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as project manager, progress to a title such as manager, project management and then eventually end up with the title manager, project management.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Civil Engineer/Project Manager
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Allsearch Recruiting Civil Engineering Project Manager-Environmental Consulting-Base To 90K Civil Engineering Project Manager-Environmental Consulting-Base To 90K | Allsearch Recruiting Allsearch Recruiting | 01/22/2021 01/22/2021 | $90,00001/22/2021 $90,000 |
Ball Corporation Project Engineer I-Assurance Portfolio Manager (APM), Civil Space Project Engineer I-Assurance Portfolio Manager (APM), Civil Space | Ball Corporation Ball Corporation | 01/22/2021 01/22/2021 | $126,50001/22/2021 $126,500 |
Ball Corporation/Ball Aerospace Project Engineer I-Assurance Portfolio Manager (APM), Civil Space Project Engineer I-Assurance Portfolio Manager (APM), Civil Space | Ball Corporation/Ball Aerospace Ball Corporation/Ball Aerospace | 01/22/2021 01/22/2021 | $126,50001/22/2021 $126,500 |
City of Thornton Project Manager I/II/Civil Engineer-Thornton Water Project Project Manager I/II/Civil Engineer-Thornton Water Project | City of Thornton City of Thornton | 12/22/2020 12/22/2020 | $76,31712/22/2020 $76,317 |
Randstad Senior Civil Engineer Project Manager Senior Civil Engineer Project Manager | Randstad Randstad | 12/18/2020 12/18/2020 | $100,00012/18/2020 $100,000 |
Calculate your salary
Use Zippia's Salary Calculator to see how your pay matches up.
Top Colleges for Civil Engineer/Project Managers
1. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI • Public
2. Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA • Private
3. California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo, CA • Public
4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA • Private
5. New York University
New York, NY • Private
6. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Blacksburg, VA • Public
7. Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, GA • Public
8. Cornell University
Ithaca, NY • Private
9. Texas Tech University
Lubbock, TX • Public
10. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
Top Skills For a Civil Engineer/Project Manager
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 19.6% of civil engineer/project managers listed project management on their resume, but soft skills such as leadership skills and organizational skills are important as well.
- Project Management, 19.6%
- Civil 3D, 14.9%
- Business Development, 6.3%
- Construction Documents, 6.1%
- Construction Projects, 4.9%
- Other Skills, 48.2% See All Civil Engineer/Project Manager Skills
Best States For a Civil Engineer/Project Manager
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a civil engineer/project manager. The best states for people in this position are Alaska, California, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Civil engineer/project managers make the most in Alaska with an average salary of $120,381. Whereas in California and Pennsylvania, they would average $101,360 and $86,720, respectively. While civil engineer/project managers would only make an average of $86,001 in Texas, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Alaska
$120,382
Avg. Salary
2. California
$101,360
Avg. Salary
3. Texas
$86,002
Avg. Salary
How Do Civil Engineer/Project Manager Rate Their Jobs?
Top Civil Engineer/Project Manager Employers
Civil Engineer/Project Manager Videos
