What does a community planner do?
As a community planner, your job is to develop programs and plans for the utilization of land within your community. You are responsible for improving the community by achieving community goals such as the revitalization of infrastructure and physical facilities and accommodating population growth. Other duties include advising civic leaders on how to best use the land resources, working closely with other stakeholders in the development of new construction projects, and managing a team of specialists and guiding their work.
Community planner responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real community planner resumes:
- 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.
- Participate in the ISO certification process and train in federal shipment regulations.
Community planner skills and personality traits
We calculated that 31% of Community Planners are proficient in Community Planning, DOD, and Demolition. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Communication skills, and Leadership skills.
We break down the percentage of Community Planners that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Community Planning, 31%
Work with clients to provide population-based research, community planning and development services.
- DOD, 25%
Ensured network compliance with policies, laws and regulations governing DoD telecommunications management practices and standards.
- Demolition, 23%
Created and coordinated demolition cost estimate worksheet project programming.
- Project Management, 4%
Provide communication planning, project management, marketing and graphic design to small businesses.
- Community Development, 2%
Assisted local governments with community development projects.
- GIS, 2%
Performed on-site plaza, parking, and vehicle/bicycle/pedestrian infrastructure audits, supplemented with GIS analysis techniques.
Common skills that a community planner uses to do their job include "community planning," "dod," and "demolition." You can find details on the most important community planner responsibilities below.
Analytical skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a community planner to have is analytical skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "urban and regional planners analyze information and data from a variety of sources, such as market research studies, censuses, and environmental impact studies." Community planners often use analytical skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "analyzed and planned community development programs for oil shale development in utah and colorado. "
Communication skills. Many community planner duties rely on communication skills. "urban and regional planners must be able to communicate clearly and effectively because they interact with colleagues and stakeholders, prepare research reports, give presentations, and meet with a wide variety of audiences, including public officials, interest groups, and community members.," so a community planner will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways community planner responsibilities rely on communication skills: "plan and coordinate communications support for key engagement/outreach initiatives. "
Leadership skills. community planners are also known for leadership skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to community planner responsibilities, because "urban and regional planners must be able to manage projects, which may include overseeing tasks and planning assignments." A community planner resume example shows how leadership skills is used in the workplace: "integrated multiple schedules into program master plan and presented to program leadership. "
The three companies that hire the most community planners are:
- KBR4 community planners jobs
- Rincon Consultants4 community planners jobs
- Hagerty3 community planners jobs
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Compare different community planners
Community planner vs. 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. They also develop initiatives to support pricing, brand positioning, and other marketing communications efforts. They may have to design and develop commercial strategic platforms for development planning. They may also need to hire and train new staff.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a community planner are more likely to require skills like "community planning," "dod," "demolition," and "project management." On the other hand, a job as an urban renewal manager requires skills like "salesforce," "crm," "on-time closure," and "saas." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Urban renewal managers tend to reach lower levels of education than community planners. In fact, urban renewal managers are 7.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Community planner vs. 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. They have to analyze information and data gotten from market research studies and censuses. They also have to do presentations and prepare reports.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that community planner responsibilities requires skills like "community planning," "dod," "demolition," and "project management." But an urban design consultant might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "urban design," "sketch," "landscape architecture," and "design guidelines."
On average, urban design consultants earn a lower salary than community planners. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, urban design consultants earn the most pay in the telecommunication industry with an average salary of $63,199. Whereas community planners have higher pay in the professional industry, with an average salary of $68,614.In general, urban design consultants achieve higher levels of education than community planners. They're 21.3% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Community planner vs. Housing grant analyst
When it comes to planning an internship, an intern's duties will depend on the directives of supervising staff or a manager. Typically, an intern's responsibilities will revolve around performing clerical tasks such as processing documents, producing reports and presentations, responding to calls and correspondence, and managing schedules. There are also instances where an intern must share ideas and insights, attend meetings, maintain records, update databases, and assist staff in various tasks while under more experienced colleagues' supervision.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from community planner resumes include skills like "community planning," "dod," "demolition," and "project management," whereas a housing grant analyst is more likely to list skills in "provide technical assistance," "grants management," "affordable housing," and "appeals. "
Housing grant analysts earn the highest salary when working in the education industry, where they receive an average salary of $55,298. Comparatively, community planners have the highest earning potential in the professional industry, with an average salary of $68,614.Most housing grant analysts achieve a similar degree level compared to community planners. For example, they're 4.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.8% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Community planner vs. Planning internship
Types of community planner
Updated January 8, 2025
