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Planning internship vs urban planner

The differences between planning interns and urban planners can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a planning internship and an urban planner. Additionally, an urban planner has an average salary of $65,316, which is higher than the $33,695 average annual salary of a planning internship.

The top three skills for a planning internship include GIS, data collection and arcgis. The most important skills for an urban planner are GIS, infrastructure, and visualization.

Planning internship vs urban planner overview

Planning InternshipUrban Planner
Yearly salary$33,695$65,316
Hourly rate$16.20$31.40
Growth rate4%4%
Number of jobs57,33513,883
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 78%Bachelor's Degree, 64%
Average age4242
Years of experience22

What does a planning internship do?

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.

What does an urban planner do?

An urban planner is responsible for evaluating land use and condition and providing comprehensive plans and programs that would be beneficial for the entire community. Urban planners' tasks also cover conducting field investigations and collect environmental studies, performing market research and creating proposals for approval of the officials, reviewing recommendations and addressing issues which concern the land and resources, and strategizing comprehensive area plans. An urban planner must consider the community's best interest that would promote growth and development.

Planning internship vs urban planner salary

Planning interns and urban planners have different pay scales, as shown below.

Planning InternshipUrban Planner
Average salary$33,695$65,316
Salary rangeBetween $26,000 And $42,000Between $47,000 And $89,000
Highest paying CityWashington, DCWashington, DC
Highest paying stateAlaskaCalifornia
Best paying companyZSMapbox
Best paying industryProfessionalConstruction

Differences between planning internship and urban planner education

There are a few differences between a planning internship and an urban planner in terms of educational background:

Planning InternshipUrban Planner
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 78%Bachelor's Degree, 64%
Most common majorBusinessUrban Planning
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Planning internship vs urban planner demographics

Here are the differences between planning interns' and urban planners' demographics:

Planning InternshipUrban Planner
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 52.7% Female, 47.3%Male, 66.6% Female, 33.4%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 4.8% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 12.6% Asian, 9.5% White, 67.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%Black or African American, 4.6% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 12.3% Asian, 9.3% White, 67.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%
LGBT Percentage13%13%

Differences between planning internship and urban planner duties and responsibilities

Planning internship example responsibilities.

  • Manage and post the feeds on Facebook for the clients
  • Manage and operate the space utilization software (CAFM) and develop space planning layouts utilizing AutoCad.
  • Manage and coordinate activities between the ACM CEO and board members, VIP sponsors, and charity groups.
  • Research and analyze various investment reports and products: stocks, bonds, mutual funds, annuities, manage accounts.
  • Maintain expansive parkland data sets using ArcGIS software to attain accountability for government databases.
  • Create informative InDesign books of past projects.
  • Show more

Urban planner example responsibilities.

  • Manage all aspects of production plan in direct compliance with MRP and master schedule.
  • Guide production planning activities ranging from developing and revising production schedules, forecasting trends and customer demand, and managing logistics.
  • Coordinate allocation of CDBG funds for community development and maintenance including demolition and asbestos abatement.
  • Assess compliance with NIST and DoD policies and procedures.
  • Prepare conceptual and design lot layouts and site plans using freehand and AutoCAD.
  • Coordinate with the FAA on all obstructions to airspace and for temporary crane waivers.
  • Show more

Planning internship vs urban planner skills

Common planning internship skills
  • GIS, 10%
  • Data Collection, 7%
  • ArcGIS, 6%
  • Data Analysis, 5%
  • Project Management, 4%
  • Photoshop, 4%
Common urban planner skills
  • GIS, 11%
  • Infrastructure, 6%
  • Visualization, 5%
  • ArcGIS, 5%
  • Sketch, 5%
  • Community Development, 4%

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