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Job outlook for street engineers in the United States
Are street engineer jobs in demand?
Street engineer job and salary trends over time
Street engineer jobs over time
Street engineer job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 46 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 46 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 47 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 47 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 46 | 0.00% |
Average street engineer salary over time
Street engineer salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $68,454 | $32.91 | +1.7% |
| 2025 | $67,287 | $32.35 | +0.5% |
| 2024 | $66,962 | $32.19 | +2.2% |
| 2023 | $65,517 | $31.50 | +1.5% |
| 2022 | $64,566 | $31.04 | +1.6% |
Street engineer jobs by state
Most common states for street engineers
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 218 | 31% |
| 2 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 723 | 9% |
| 3 | Delaware | 961,939 | 85 | 9% |
| 4 | Colorado | 5,607,154 | 427 | 8% |
| 5 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 339 | 8% |
| 6 | Alaska | 739,795 | 58 | 8% |
| 7 | Washington | 7,405,743 | 531 | 7% |
| 8 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 448 | 7% |
| 9 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 74 | 7% |
| 10 | California | 39,536,653 | 2,220 | 6% |
| 11 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 442 | 6% |
| 12 | North Dakota | 755,393 | 44 | 6% |
| 13 | Vermont | 623,657 | 36 | 6% |
| 14 | Georgia | 10,429,379 | 474 | 5% |
| 15 | Utah | 3,101,833 | 151 | 5% |
| 16 | Nebraska | 1,920,076 | 97 | 5% |
| 17 | Idaho | 1,716,943 | 81 | 5% |
| 18 | Hawaii | 1,427,538 | 69 | 5% |
| 19 | Maine | 1,335,907 | 64 | 5% |
| 20 | Wyoming | 579,315 | 29 | 5% |
Most common cities for street engineers
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Detroit | 1 | 0% | $54,890 |
Street Engineer job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of street engineer experts
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Ohio University
University of Texas at Tyler
Rockhurst University
University of Miami
George Fox University
Pace University
Alabama A&M University
University of Hawaii at Manoa
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Boise State University
University of Houston/Clear Lake
Northeastern University
Sweet Briar College
Embry-Riddle, Prescott
Dakota County Technical College
Tufts University
What Street Engineer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Simeng Li Ph.D.: Most of the time, your salary is positively correlated with the value you can create for your employer. Therefore, make yourself marketable by obtaining your PE license as soon as possible and getting other certifications in your specialized area whenever possible. Stay updated with industry trends and continuously improve your skills and build your reputation. Lastly but most importantly, be comfortable with negotiating your salary for your new position or promotion. Articulate your value based on your skills, education, and experience.
What Street Engineer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Bhaven Naik PhD, PE, PTOE, RSP: Ability to analyze data … course in statistics will be very helpful. As well, the core classes in Civil Engineering are going to be very beneficial. As much as the new technology and all is quickly taking shape, there is going to be a need for the basics in the coming years.
What will help Street Engineers increase their earning potential?
Bhaven Naik PhD, PE, PTOE, RSP: By being proactive … researching the current job salaries – ASCE have a great site for doing that. By continuous learning … getting licensure (PE, PTOE etc.) and also a Master’s degree (Civil or MBA).
Dr. Mena Souliman Ph.D., P.E., F.IRF.
Ronald D. Brazzel Endowed Professor of Civil EngineeringUniversity of Texas at Tyler
Civil Engineering
What will help Street Engineers increase their earning potential?
Dr. Mena Souliman Ph.D., P.E., F.IRF.: People often appreciate the variety of projects and the opportunity to solve real-world problems that come with being a civil engineer. Additionally, seeing tangible results, such as completed infrastructure projects, can be rewarding. However, challenges like dealing with bureaucratic processes, long hours during project deadlines, and the potential for work to be affected by external factors like weather or funding constraints can be sources of frustration. Overall, satisfaction in the field often depends on individual preferences and the specific work environment.
What Street Engineer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
John Kevern Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, FACI, LEED AP: Communicating effectively both written and verbally is and always is hugely important. This includes the ability to utilize AI successfully to write and check documents as a tool but not as a crutch.
Esber Andiroglu PhD, PE, LEED AP
Associate Professor of Practice, Dept. of Civil & Architectural Engineering, Director of Construction Management ProgramsUniversity of Miami
Architectural Engineering
What general advice would you give to a Street Engineer?
Esber Andiroglu PhD, PE, LEED AP: Interdisciplinary and transformative design and construction approaches; integration of emerging technological innovations into practice; integration of software tools into everyday problem solving; solid knowledge about smart systems and AI applications; good understanding and ability to use data analytics
Ben Giudice Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Civil EngineeringGeorge Fox University
Department of Mechanical, Civil, and Biomedical Engineering
What soft skills should all Street Engineers possess?
Ben Giudice Ph.D.: Soft skills are vital in civil engineering, and the ones that are most important at the early stages of people's careers include both written and oral communication. Writing memos and reports, emails, talking to people in the field or on the phone - all of these are incredibly important to civil engineering.
What Street Engineer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Ben Giudice Ph.D.: If you like working with people and serving your community, being a civil engineer can be very rewarding. You can also contribute to a healthier environment by developing more environmentally friendly designs. There is a wide variety of different kinds of work that civil engineers do, as it is a very broad discipline. Because of this, it is likely that something within civil engineering will excite and interest you. I haven't known anyone who was a civil engineer that disliked it! Compared with other engineering disciplines, the pay is not quite as high on average, but there are generally more opportunities available on a more consistent basis, and there are jobs available everywhere in the world nearly all the time.
What will help Street Engineers increase their earning potential?
Ben Giudice Ph.D.: There is a huge demand for civil engineers across the nation. All of the junior civil engineering students at George Fox University this year had internships for the summer lined up by the end of March. Every senior either had a job offer signed by the end of March, or had multiple offers they were still weighing. The need for civil engineers will never go away, as society will always need qualified civil engineers to support all aspects of civilization. You can also work nearly anywhere in the world, as practically wherever there are people, there is a need for civil engineering.
James Albrecht
Professor of Criminal Justice and Homeland Security, retired NYPD Captain/Commanding OfficerPace University
Criminal Justice and Homeland Security Department
What hard/technical skills are most important for Street Engineers?
James Albrecht: There are basic phenomena that all civil engineers have to understand and fully comprehend. These are the skills that you will learn in detail in books in college or at your training site. But a top-tier civil engineer must not only be acutely familiar with the project objectives but also must be exceptionally aware of the environment in which the building or structure has been or will be placed. As such, one must be cognizant of potential hazards posed by climate or people. There may be expressed concerns or mandates about building in hurricane, tornado or flooding prone areas, but a civil engineer must take into consideration population density, proximity to a high-value person, structure, or historic site (e.g., City Hall, electric company, Liberty Bell, etc.), and potential for mass casualty or extreme damage if attacked by radical elements or rioters. Unfortunately, this is the world that we live in today.
Pooja Preetha Ph.D.
Assistant ProfessorAlabama A&M University
Department of Mechanical and Civil Engineering
What skills stand out on Street Engineer resumes?
Pooja Preetha Ph.D.: According to my previous experiences, they are a combination of soft skills like creative thinking, problem-solving and hard skills like strong math and project management with the knowledge of tools like AutoCAD and GIS.
What are the biggest trends we'll see in the Street Engineer job market given the pandemic?
Panos Prevedouros Ph.D.: Most jobs will be in engineering disciplines needed for infrastructure maintenance, upgrade, and replacement. Also, a lot of new developments have been deferred by the pandemic, so if there is no surprise in the lending rates, development will grow and possibly skyrocket in 2022 and beyond.
Engineering disciplines related to transit will shrink. Transit has lost about 80 percent of its riders and is unlikely to regain many of them for reasons such as depleted municipal budgets, people's desire to avoid dense crowds even after the pandemic ends, and robocars presence in five to ten years.
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Street Engineers?
Shannon Bartelt-Hunt Ph.D.: Students graduating now must demonstrate more flexibility and adaptability than ever before. Some summer internships were postponed or canceled, providing less training opportunities. For civil engineering, we don't foresee a long term impact on job placement for our graduates. The pandemic highlights how public health and infrastructure are related, and we anticipate more infrastructure-focused jobs being created in the future.
What type of skills will young Street Engineers need?
Shannon Bartelt-Hunt Ph.D.: Skills that are always needed for civil engineering graduates are communication and teamwork. Demand for civil engineers to work as part of interdisciplinary teams to solve our global infrastructure challenges will require excellent technical skills and a team player, and a good communicator.
What experience really stands out on Street Engineer resumes?
Shannon Bartelt-Hunt Ph.D.: Experiences that stand out on resumes are things that showcase their expertise and potential to demonstrate leadership. This can be through internships, extracurricular activities, or research. It's essential to show impacts - what you accomplished through your actions.
What type of skills will young Street Engineers need?
Nick Hudyma PhD PE: Civil engineering is a technical discipline that is founded in mathematics, physics, and the natural sciences. Technical skills have always been, and will continue to be, important. The coronavirus pandemic has shown us the importance of professional skills. Civil engineers must be able to communicate effectively, using a range of techniques to a wide variety of audiences.
In my opinion, visualization skills will begin to become very important. I can envision a coupled work environment, having technical analyses and designs working behind the scenes with visualizations being presented to clients. Civil engineers will need to present their work, not using traditional 2D blueprints and plan sets, but using 3D and 4D visualizations, which will include either virtual reality or augmented reality. This is especially important as our designs become more complex, and we continue in-fill development in dense urban areas.
What experience really stands out on Street Engineer resumes?
Nick Hudyma PhD PE: Internship and coop experiences have always stood out on resumes. I believe students should augment their resumes with a civil engineering portfolio. When students showcase their academic work, especially analysis and design projects, to potential employers, they will have a much more engaging conversation during their interviews.
What type of skills will young Street Engineers need?
Dr. Thomas L. Harman: Besides the obvious skills of being able to apply engineering principles and appropriate mathematics or design techniques to the solution of real-world problems, a young graduate today must remain aware of the rapid changes taking place in many engineering disciplines.
Adaptability is a vital skill for today's engineer as the technology in so many areas is changing fast. The need for "Lifelong Learning" definitely applies to our engineering students today.
As one example, in robotics, the use of Machine Learning techniques is being applied to self-driving cars, as well as many problems that require the perception of a situation, analysis, and then action. The combination of hardware and software necessary for these applications is becoming more available. It is not clear which future techniques will succeed on a large scale, but students need to be aware of the rapid changes occurring in Computer Science and Computer Engineering.
Are there any particularly good places in the United States for Street Engineers to find work opportunities?
Dr. Thomas L. Harman: Computer Engineering, which combines aspects of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, has been important in every advance in electronics technology over many decades. Examples include Personal Computers, the internet, the Internet of Things, and many medical applications and advances. Designing and maintaining these systems and products requires a thorough knowledge of modern hardware and software available to a designer.
Therefore, areas of the country with technical hubs for innovation are likely places for employment.
Link
Houston:
Top industries/employers: aeronautics, tourism, science, technology, medicine and healthcare, research, energy, renewable resources (wind, solar), manufacturing, transportation, education, oilfield equipment, entertainment and media, fashion, banking, real estate, distribution, and transportation.
Houston has manufacturing, medical, and space industries that rival any city in the U.S.
Houston, Austin, and Dallas/Fort Worth are cities in Texas.
What are the best companies to work for a Street Engineer?
Nik Brown Ph.D.: Small companies, labs, or think tanks are given a lot of responsibility as a recent graduate.
Bethany Brinkman
Associate Professor and DirectorSweet Briar College
Margaret Jones Wyllie ’45 Engineering Program
Are there any particularly good places in the United States for Street Engineers to find work opportunities?
Bethany Brinkman: Historically, many of our graduates have gone to work for larger companies or government sub-contractors; however, during the pandemic, we saw many of these opportunities disappear due to hiring freezes or program reductions. Smaller, local companies stepped up and were more flexible in their hiring practices, so they could provide socially distant internships and employment. I think this is where Sweet Briar's general engineering degree is very helpful - our students have a broad base of knowledge, can adapt quickly, and communicate well, so they thrive in challenging circumstances.
How do you envision technology impacting Street Engineers in the next 5 years?
Bethany Brinkman: From a teaching standpoint, I would imagine that remote teaching technologies will continue to be integrated more into classroom learning. While hands-on learning is essential for engineering, a balance with remote teaching can provide additional experiences and resources. It was interesting to note how some students felt more comfortable participating in a remotely-led class - the introduction of an intermediate computer screen allowed them to feel more comfortable asking questions.
At Sweet Briar, we take pride in our small class sizes, and interactive curriculum, and these will not change, but I envision a greater use of technology to work closely with other schools and design clients. We have done this for clients in Brazil in our sophomore design class, Engineering Design in the Community, for many years, but the increase in technological acceptance will emphasize that even undergraduate engineers from rural Virginia can have a large impact on clients around the world. There are lots of implications for future engineering designs, too! How can engineering graduates create technologies that can be employed by a socially distant workforce? How can networks be strengthened to support an increasingly non-centralized society?
Andy Gerrick
Associate Professor and ChairEmbry-Riddle, Prescott
Department of Mechanical Engineering
How do you envision technology impacting Street Engineers in the next 5 years?
Andy Gerrick: Artificial intelligence will render many careers obsolete. I believe it will have a tremendous effect on engineering, but rather than replacing engineers, it will become our most valuable tool. I tell my students that many smart people predict the machines will become smarter than us and take over the world. However, I predict the last thing the machines will master is creativity, so the artists and the engineers will be the last ones standing.
Alan Hancock
Civil Engineering Technology InstructorDakota County Technical College
Civil Engineering Technologies
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Street Engineers?
Alan Hancock: Not at all. Highway construction was one of the first to open up, and we are considered "essential," always. During COVID, we still had an 85% graduate placement rate. Usually, it is 500%, meaning 100% for the last ten years have had their pick of about five excellent jobs each. It will and is picking up every day.
What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Street Engineers in the next 3-5 years?
Karen Panetta Ph.D.: Robotics and any technology that helps alleviate human contact to reduce the spread of disease. Robotics have been typically very expensive and used for space exploration or manufacturing, but we will see more applications of specific application-based robots in our everyday lives. This includes disinfecting robots, health monitoring robots in schools and community spaces and delivery services.
The pandemic has also renewed our sense of need for internet security, privacy, and access to service. When all our social and educational interactions had to move to virtual platforms, we became aware of just how small and ill-prepared the world was and how inequitable the availability of these services was to parts of the world.