What does a land planner do?
A land use planner is responsible for the planning and development stage of land development. Typically, they interact with a client to decide how to convert the land for commercial or personal use. After creating a plan, they need to ensure the project's safety and efficiency. This career requires someone who has practical communication skills, customer-service skills, and flexibility.
Land planner responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real land planner resumes:
- Guide production planning activities ranging from developing and revising production schedules, forecasting trends and customer demand, and managing logistics.
- Devise GIS tools to conduct impact analysis on both current planning and area plans for local communities.
- Direct inbound or outbound logistics operations, such as transportation or warehouse activities, safety performance, or logistics quality management.
- Create PowerPoint presentations for meetings in business plans and meetings at executive levels.
Land planner skills and personality traits
We calculated that 14% of Land Planners are proficient in GIS, Real Estate, and Regional Planning. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Communication skills, and Leadership skills.
We break down the percentage of Land Planners that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- GIS, 14%
Performed on-site plaza, parking, and vehicle/bicycle/pedestrian infrastructure audits, supplemented with GIS analysis techniques.
- Real Estate, 10%
Led real estate consulting for the foundation.
- Regional Planning, 10%
Prepared demographic profiles for neighborhood planning areas and population projections by traffic zone for Regional Planning Commission.
- Photoshop, 9%
Worked with the marketing team using Photoshop & PageMaker.
- Natural Resources, 5%
Reviewed and commented on DRI's, DCI's and zoning cases to ensure environmental protection of natural resources or mitigation.
- Development Projects, 4%
Reviewed and processed incoming residential subdivision and commercial development projects.
Most land planners use their skills in "gis," "real estate," and "regional planning" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential land planner responsibilities here:
Analytical skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a land 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." Land planners often use analytical skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "general plan project development, entrepreneur land analysis, plan future land development, see resume. "
Communication skills. Another essential skill to perform land planner duties is communication skills. Land planners responsibilities require that "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." Land planners also use communication skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "developed strong communication channels with distribution, transmission and station engineering and project management groups. "
Leadership skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of land planners is leadership skills. This skill is critical to many everyday land planner duties, as "urban and regional planners must be able to manage projects, which may include overseeing tasks and planning assignments." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "monitor and took leadership in inventory planning with multiple contract manufacturers, our supplier hub logistics facility and our hp manufacturer. "
The three companies that hire the most land planners are:
- Burns & McDonnell7 land planners jobs
- AKS Engineering & Forestry5 land planners jobs
- ERM4 land planners jobs
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Compare different land planners
Land planner vs. Housing grant analyst
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 similarities exist, there are also some differences between land planners and housing grant analyst. For instance, land planner responsibilities require skills such as "gis," "real estate," "regional planning," and "photoshop." Whereas a housing grant analyst is skilled in "provide technical assistance," "grants management," "technical assistance," and "affordable housing." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Housing grant analysts really shine in the education industry with an average salary of $55,298. Comparatively, land planners tend to make the most money in the construction industry with an average salary of $66,323.The education levels that housing grant analysts earn slightly differ from land planners. In particular, housing grant analysts are 5.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a land planner. Additionally, they're 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Land planner vs. Urban design consultant
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.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real land planner resumes. While land planner responsibilities can utilize skills like "real estate," "regional planning," "photoshop," and "natural resources," urban design consultants use skills like "urban design," "sketch," "landscape architecture," and "adobe photoshop."
Urban design consultants may earn a lower salary than land planners, but urban design consultants earn the most pay in the telecommunication industry with an average salary of $63,199. On the other hand, land planners receive higher pay in the construction industry, where they earn an average salary of $66,323.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Urban design consultants tend to reach higher levels of education than land planners. In fact, they're 20.7% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for land planners in the next 3-5 years?
Scott Roper Ph.D.
Professor of Geography, Castleton University
As far as more in-depth and more specialized changes to the field, I think geographic information systems will be more prevalent in the next 3-5 years. I've already seen signs of this. A few years ago, I began to include a week-long unit in GIS in one of my introductory geography courses. About two years later, a graduate of our Political Science program came up to me and told me she had gotten a position at a local waste management company. To organize the data she was asked to manage, she began to use the GIS program I had introduced in my course. She thoroughly impressed her supervisor, who had been entirely unfamiliar with GIS. The beautiful thing about GIS is that it can be used in careers involving historical research, criminal justice, sociology, and social work, land-use planning, business, and anything. As the political science graduate showed, having just a little experience with GIS gives social science graduates an advantage over their peers.
Land planner vs. Community development planner
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from land planner resumes include skills like "real estate," "photoshop," "natural resources," and "development projects," whereas a community development planner is more likely to list skills in "r," "technical assistance," "site development," and "hud. "
Most community development planners achieve a similar degree level compared to land planners. For example, they're 2.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.8% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Land planner vs. Planning internship
Types of land planner
Updated January 8, 2025
