How to hire a community planner

How to hire a community planner, step by step

Here's a step-by-step community planner hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a community planner job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new community planner
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a community planner do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a community planner, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect community planner also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   Here's a comparison of community planner salaries for various roles:

   Type of Community Planner	Description	Hourly rate
   Community Planner	Urban and regional planners develop land use plans and programs that help create communities, accommodate population growth, and revitalize physical facilities in towns, cities, counties, and metropolitan areas.	$22-43
   Urban Renewal Manager	An urban renewal manager has a multitude of roles he/she performs in the organization he/she finds himself in. They conduct detailed economic and statistical analysis of market trends... Show more	$26-54
   Urban Design Consultant	An urban design consultant is in charge of many projects, and so they have to oversee tasks and plan assignments. They are skilled in creating interior design solutions, space planning, sketching, and product selection... Show more	$24-37

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Community Planning
   • DOD
   • Demolition
   • Project Management
   • Community Development
   • GIS
   • PowerPoint
   • Visualization
   • Technical Assistance
   • Regional Planning
   • Strategic Communications
   • Economic Development
   • FAA
   • MRI

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Guide production planning activities ranging from developing and revising production schedules, forecasting trends and customer demand, and managing logistics.
   • Create material bill of materials (MBOM or EBOM) assisting with driving demand in MRP for development assemblies.
   • Create sophisticated GIS tool to maximize understanding of construction constraints by combining base specific data with regional and national data sets.
   • Perform on-site plaza, parking, and vehicle/bicycle/pedestrian infrastructure audits, supplement with GIS analysis techniques.
   • Perform project work for categorical exclusions in environmental assessments and feasibility studies in compliance with NEPA federal guidelines.
   • Direct inbound or outbound logistics operations, such as transportation or warehouse activities, safety performance, or logistics quality management.

   More community planner duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your community planner job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A community planner salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a community planner in South Carolina may be lower than in Massachusetts, and an entry-level community planner usually earns less than a senior-level community planner. Additionally, a community planner with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average community planner salary

   $65,352yearly

   $31.42 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level community planner salary

   $47,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 16, 2025

   Average community planner salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	District of Columbia	$97,727	$47
   2	California	$87,089	$42
   3	Massachusetts	$82,225	$40
   4	New York	$74,375	$36
   5	Oregon	$74,348	$36
   6	Washington	$72,237	$35
   7	Pennsylvania	$66,188	$32
   8	Louisiana	$64,124	$31
   9	Minnesota	$63,983	$31
   10	Kentucky	$59,691	$29
   11	Oklahoma	$59,107	$28
   12	Texas	$58,859	$28
   13	Colorado	$58,799	$28
   14	Nebraska	$57,961	$28
   15	Tennessee	$57,171	$27
   16	Georgia	$54,588	$26
   17	Mississippi	$54,295	$26
   18	Michigan	$53,335	$26
   19	Arizona	$50,021	$24
   20	Florida	$49,618	$24

   Average community planner salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Department of Homeland Security	$71,428	$34.34
   2	HDR	$70,948	$34.11	8
   3	Alliance Co	$70,026	$33.67
   4	Pacific Architects and Engineers	$68,816	$33.08
   5	U.S. Department of Transportation	$67,891	$32.64
   6	King County	$67,878	$32.63	5
   7	ASRC Federal	$67,524	$32.46
   8	Tetra Tech	$66,473	$31.96	3
   9	Rick Engineering	$66,091	$31.77	2
   10	Vectrus	$64,751	$31.13
   11	Rincon Consultants	$64,174	$30.85	6
   12	KBR	$64,161	$30.85	5
   13	Skagit County	$63,527	$30.54
   14	Federal Aviation Administration	$63,315	$30.44
   15	Scott County, Iowa	$62,694	$30.14
   16	Americorps	$62,285	$29.94	43
   17	PHMC	$61,812	$29.72	1
   18	Indian Health Service	$61,305	$29.47	4
   19	Greater Nashville Regional Council	$61,017	$29.34	3
   20	Florida Department of Transportation	$51,068	$24.55

4. Writing a community planner job description

   A good community planner job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a community planner job description:

   Community planner job description example

   About 1 in 5 Houston adults is considered illiterate, experiencing difficulty in completing tasks such as filling out job applications. The goal of the Houston Adult Literacy Project is to build the capacity of adult education and literacy organizations in Houston, which support low income, low literacy adult learners to help them to obtain and grow the skills they need to become self-sufficient and improve their qualities of life. Take action against adult illiteracy by becoming a Community Engagement VISTA, serving with Eight Million Stories. Eight Million Stories provides a network of support for the community though education, job readiness, employment and social/emotional support, that closes the opportunity gap for traditionally under-served youth. In Houston, 111,000 individuals categorized as opportunity youth. The obstacles faced supporting Opportunity Youth in finding pathways to success can be a complex challenge. They lack the exposure and equitable opportunities to transition into career pathways. There is a critical need for communities to provide pathways to opportunity for this population through a formal training program that develops the soft and hard skills that are critical to their success in adulthood. Further help on this page can be found by clicking here.
   
   Member Duties : As a Community Engagement VISTA, you will play a vital role in maintaining and strengthening our engagement plan that will support Eight Million Stories' capacity to serve the low-income low-literacy adult population. As a VISTA, you will build capacity by: increasing community engagement and partner site support, strengthening communications strategies, defining communications audiences and constituencies to deliver impactful messages, and staying abreast of literacy initiatives. The VISTA will mobilize local resources to increase the capacity of adult literacy programs to build lasting solutions to poverty.
   
   Program Benefits : Childcare assistance if eligible , Stipend , Choice of Education Award or End of Service Stipend , Training , Education award upon successful completion of service , Living Allowance , Relocation Allowance , Health Coverage* .
   Terms :
   
   Car recommended , Permits working at another job during off hours , Permits attendance at school during off hours .
   
   Service Areas :
   
   Community Outreach .
   
   Skills :
   
   General Skills , Public Speaking , Computers/Technology , Leadership , Writing/Editing , Team Work , Communications , Education , Conflict Resolution , Recruitment .

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right community planner for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with community planners they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit community planners who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your community planner job on Zippia to find and recruit community planner candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit community planners, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new community planner

   Once you have selected a candidate for the community planner position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the agreement with a contract.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new community planner. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a community planner?