What is a Construction Engineer?

If you want to take your career to new heights, you should look into becoming a construction engineer. As a construction engineer, you'll get to build upon your construction knowledge to oversee the design, planning, and implementation of large building and infrastructure projects. As part of this job, you'll be expected to develop construction plans, oversee engineering processes, draft technical support documents, and communicate with project leadership.

To guarantee successful project completion, you may need to oversee a variety of infrastructure systems, such as roads, dams, water supply systems, and utilities. You may also find yourself responsible for budgetary issues, time management, along with the oversight of the overall progress and safety of a project. In fact, your chief task as a construction engineer is to ensure the project is safe, smooth, and structurally sound.

To get into this field, you'll typically need a bachelor's degree in construction engineering or engineering. Those who wish to specialize in a specific type of construction engineering or work in an upper-level position should get a master's degree.

What Does a Construction Engineer Do

There are certain skills that many construction engineers 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 math skills, organizational skills and problem-solving skills.

Learn more about what a Construction Engineer does

How To Become a Construction Engineer

If you're interested in becoming a construction engineer, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 64.9% of construction engineers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 8.7% of construction engineers have master's degrees. Even though most construction engineers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Construction Engineer
Top Construction Engineer Jobs Near You

Construction Engineer 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 construction engineer can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as project engineer, progress to a title such as project manager and then eventually end up with the title director of construction.

Construction Engineer

Average Salary for a Construction Engineer

Construction Engineers in America make an average salary of $74,680 per year or $36 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $101,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $55,000 per year.
Average Construction Engineer Salary
$74,680 Yearly
$35.90 hourly
See More Salary Information

What Am I Worth?

salary-calculator

Roles and Types of Construction Engineer

The role of a construction engineer includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general construction engineer responsibilities:

  • Develops and maintains comprehensive integrated master project schedules including front-end loading, detail design, procurement, construction
  • This position will be supporting a large government contractor in an industrial environment. Candidate must have experience in at least one of the following areas: providing structural, electrical or mechanical engineering support to include code review, calculations
  • Providing services for and managing staff to carry out construction management/inspection services on bridges, roadways, transit

There are several types of construction engineer, including:

Engineer

Role:

Engineers design and develop new products in a variety of different industries. They might be mechanical or software engineers or create electric machinery, design chemical or geotechnical processes, or help to structure civil or management disciplines. Whatever the case may be, engineers are involved in creating the diverse technologies that facilitate the processes of our lives in different areas. Combining creative thinking with the principles of mathematics and science using a wide range of technical skills, engineers work on the design, manufacturing, installation, and maintenance of various products from machines, vehicles, buildings, and roads to software or social processes serving consumers, businesses, and societies.

Engineers are creative thinkers and brilliant problem solvers. They excel at mathematical, scientific, and mechanical analysis. They follow plans and blueprints with a strong focus, yet remain flexible and work well under pressure.

Engineers develop systems for solving various problems as members of a team. They know that a single component is worthless without their counterparts, so they have to be great communicators, as well, to be successful at their job.

  • Average Salary: $92,077
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Project Engineer

Role:

A project engineer is responsible for the planning and implementation of a project. In collaboration with the management of the enterprise, they review proposals and come up with project goals. They break down the process and create a viable schedule, and then coordinate and monitor the work.

The project, as such, sounds vague because it depends on the industry they work for. In any case, they go on regular meetings with clients to make sure the the evolution of the work matches their vision. It is their responsibility to carry out the work within the budget or to propose adjustments to it if they see fit.

The project engineer will analyze the performance of their team and present progress reports to stakeholders to make sure everyone is at the top of their game.

  • Average Salary: $75,050
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Civil Engineer

Role:

Civil Engineers are responsible for designing, building and supervising infrastructure projects and systems. A lot of times they're able to split their time between working outside and in an office. So, at least, you won't be spending all of your time outside. Which is especially important depending on the seasons. No one wants to spend all day outside in the sweltering heat, but they also probably don't want to freeze to death in the dead of winter.

  • Average Salary: $70,950
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree
View More

States With The Most Construction Engineer Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active construction engineer jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where construction engineers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Construction Engineer Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California3,045$86,524
2Texas1,692$68,130
3Florida1,240$71,503
4Virginia1,224$76,928
5New York881$86,600
6Georgia829$65,071
7Washington816$83,599
8North Carolina816$74,372
9Illinois813$71,271
10Pennsylvania798$76,789
11Colorado691$70,788
12Ohio661$70,113
13Maryland648$70,942
14Michigan603$66,634
15Massachusetts585$76,130
16Arizona557$65,257
17Oregon511$82,228
18Indiana483$65,541
19New Jersey444$78,986
20Minnesota427$72,646
21Tennessee403$80,616
22Wisconsin373$66,874
23South Carolina343$64,532
24Alabama340$72,190
25Iowa316$69,985
26Missouri310$72,862
27Utah296$66,029
28Connecticut244$77,596
29Nebraska214$64,618
30Louisiana209$78,164
31Kentucky203$82,082
32Nevada184$69,542
33Kansas181$64,170
34Oklahoma175$79,496
35Montana168$60,060
36Idaho154$70,550
37Arkansas138$64,972
38New Mexico132$66,886
39Delaware130$78,201
40Mississippi126$74,442
41New Hampshire124$70,227
42Maine119$77,521
43Hawaii117$63,185
44North Dakota112$69,561
45Alaska99$82,868
46West Virginia95$69,944
47South Dakota90$60,512
48Wyoming76$57,182
49Vermont70$74,029
50Rhode Island62$73,188

Construction Engineer Education

Construction Engineer Majors

Civil Engineering
33.5 %
Mechanical Engineering
12.9 %
Business
8.5 %

Construction Engineer Degrees

Bachelors

64.9 %

Associate

11.9 %

High School Diploma

8.9 %

Top Colleges for Construction Engineers

1. New York University

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,828

Enrollment

26,339

2. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI • Private

In-State Tuition

$15,262

Enrollment

30,079

3. California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo

San Luis Obispo, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,816

Enrollment

21,047

4. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

5. Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,465

Enrollment

6,483

6. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

7. San Diego State University

San Diego, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,488

Enrollment

30,018

8. Georgia Institute of Technology

Atlanta, GA • Private

In-State Tuition

$12,424

Enrollment

15,201

9. University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Lincoln, NE • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,242

Enrollment

20,592

10. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

Top Skills For a Construction Engineer

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, 17.6% of construction engineers listed tractor trailer on their resume, but soft skills such as math skills and organizational skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Construction Engineer Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Construction Engineer templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Construction Engineer resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

Construction Engineer Resume
Construction Engineer Resume
Construction Engineer Resume
Construction Engineer Resume
Construction Engineer Resume
Construction Engineer Resume
Construction Engineer Resume
Construction Engineer Resume
Construction Engineer Resume
Construction Engineer Resume
Construction Engineer Resume
Construction Engineer Resume
Construction Engineer Resume
Construction Engineer Resume
Construction Engineer Resume
Construction Engineer Resume

Construction Engineer diversity

Construction Engineer Gender Distribution

Male
Male
91%
Female
Female
9%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among construction engineers, 9.3% of them are women, while 90.7% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among construction engineers is White, which makes up 67.8% of all construction engineers.

  • The most common foreign language among construction engineers is Spanish at 46.8%.

Online Courses For Construction Engineer That You May Like

Advertising Disclosure  

1. Construction Project Management

coursera

Construction Project Management introduces learners to Project Initiation and Planning. Columbia University professor, Ibrahim Odeh, along with industry experts join together to provide a comprehensive overview of the construction industry. There are 10 modules that allow learners to become knowledgeable of construction management within the dynamic construction industry. Professor Odeh teaches learners about the fundamentals of the Project Development Cycle while guest lecturers discuss Lean...

2. Construction Management

coursera

The Construction Management specialization is curated for professionals in the construction and civil engineering industry looking to advance their careers. Through this specialization, students will gain comprehensive industry knowledge along with the latest trends and development within the industry. This 5-course specialization will cover the major facets of construction management including project initiation and planning, scheduling techniques and procedures, cost estimating and control,...

3. Mastering Construction/Project Management

udemy
4.3
(500)

Mastering Construction-Project Management in less than 10 Hours...

Show More Online Courses For Construction Engineer
Job type you want
Full Time
Part Time
Internship
Temporary

Best States For a Construction Engineer

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a construction engineer. The best states for people in this position are New York, California, Washington, and Alaska. Construction engineers make the most in New York with an average salary of $86,600. Whereas in California and Washington, they would average $86,524 and $83,599, respectively. While construction engineers would only make an average of $82,868 in Alaska, 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. Oregon

Total Construction Engineer Jobs: 511
Highest 10% Earn:
$112,000
Location Quotient:
1.49

$82,228

Avg. Salary

View 511 Construction Engineer Jobs In OR

2. Washington

Total Construction Engineer Jobs: 816
Highest 10% Earn:
$114,000
Location Quotient:
1.35

$83,599

Avg. Salary

View 816 Construction Engineer Jobs In WA

3. Alaska

Total Construction Engineer Jobs: 99
Highest 10% Earn:
$103,000
Location Quotient:
1.43

$82,868

Avg. Salary

View 99 Construction Engineer Jobs In AK
Full List Of Best States For Construction Engineers

How Do Construction Engineers Rate Their Jobs?

Working as a Construction Engineer? Share your experience anonymously.
Overall Rating*
Career Growth
Work/Life balance
Pay/Salary

Top Construction Engineer Employers

Most Common Employers For Construction Engineer

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Exxon Mobil$109,073$52.4411
2Chevron$108,340$52.0917
3Parsons$97,148$46.7135
4AT&T$95,052$45.7012
5New York Power Authority$83,626$40.209
6Lockheed Martin$80,835$38.8620
7Fluor Corporation$78,599$37.79146
8Raytheon Technologies$78,365$37.689
9AECOM$77,638$37.3324
10Sanveo$76,986$37.0151
Show More

What Are The Best Companies To Work For A Construction Engineer?

Dr. Maryam Keshtzari

Assistant Professor of Industrial & Systems Engineering, University of San Diego

Since individuals have different career goals, they have different definitions for "the best" companies to get hired.

I believe new graduates must consider their long-term professional development when they want to accept an offer. Large companies usually have the resources to train their young employees and interns. Having said that, I would suggest young professionals consider starting their career with large companies. One of the advantages of holding a Systems Engineering degree is that it covers a broad range of disciplines, which gives the graduates the flexibility to work in almost every industry. Therefore, because of the interdisciplinary approach in Systems Engineering, graduates can pursue careers in many public and private sectors, including but not limited to, aerospace, defense, high-tech, manufacturing, transportation, healthcare, airline, and delivery services industry.

I have seen many graduates getting jobs in companies such as FedEx, Boeing, Walmart, Amazon, Southwest, etc. But again, there are a lot of promising opportunities in smaller private firms that graduates may consider. Let's remember that systems engineers' main role is to optimize the process in firms, and it is something that all companies (regardless of their size) can benefit from.Show more

Construction Engineer Videos

A Day in the Life of a Civil Engineer
What Do Civil Engineers Do?

Construction Engineer Related Careers

Construction Engineer Related Jobs

What Similar Roles Do

Resume For Related Jobs

Updated April 6, 2023