How To Become A Highway Engineer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a highway engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Alan Hancock

The job of a Highway Engineer is to estimate and supervise the cost, plan and execute projects according to the company's budget. This is a rewarding but diverse career. Some of the daily routines of Highway Engineers include conducting site surveys, organizing deliverable packages, etc. The job of a Highway Engineer is similar to that of a Civil Engineer, but what differentiates them is the ability to invent: Highway Engineers once invented roads made of stones and gravels. These guys are capable of creating roads out of different mixtures, which is why some skills are needed to perfect it.

There are some skills you need to acquire to increase your chances of getting this job. Some of them include good management skills, good analytical skills, strong technical skills, good communication skills, the ability to think critically, good leadership skills, creative skills, and negotiation skills. As for the salary of an average Highway Engineer, it depends on the size of the organization, the experience of the candidate, and the country of residents. In the United States, Highway Engineer earns as high as $65,767 per annum but can still go as low as $55,000 depending on the factors we listed above.

What general advice would you give to a highway engineer?

Alan Hancock

Civil Engineering Technology Instructor, Dakota County Technical College

It is a high, well-paying field that dates back at least 5,000 years to the Egyptians. It cannot be outsourced and will always, no matter what, be needed. Electricians have only been around about 120 years, and IT only about 30 years. We are proven and stable.

ScoreHighway EngineerUS Average

Salary

5.6

Avg. Salary $71,538

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.3

Growth rate 7%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.30%

Asian 16.65%

Black or African American 3.58%

Hispanic or Latino 10.54%

Unknown 4.58%

White 64.36%

Gender

female 7.10%

male 92.90%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress level

7.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.1

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a highway engineer

Explore highway engineer education requirements

Most common highway engineer degrees

Bachelor's

79.7 %

Associate

9.5 %

Master's

7.6 %

Start to develop specific highway engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
Autocad	17.95%
Highway Design	15.71%
Civil 3D	10.00%
CAD	9.66%
Engineering Design	8.60%

Complete relevant highway engineer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New highway engineers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a highway engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real highway engineer resumes.

Research highway engineer duties and responsibilities

Manage Jenkins security by providing specific access to authorize developers/testers using project base matrix authorization strategy.
Utilize a number of highway design and planning programs, COGO, AutoCAD, and hand computers.
Supervise and perform geotechnical work as soil sampling, core sampling, etc.
Design of one interchange design (plan, profile and gore area grading).

Prepare your highway engineer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your highway engineer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a highway engineer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable highway engineer resume templates

Build a professional highway engineer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your highway engineer resume.