A new report from the American Society of Civil Engineers has found that civil engineering salaries are continuing to rise and that job satisfaction among those in the industry remains high.
However, the report found that employees are changing jobs for higher pay and new responsibilities. The report, 2024 ASCE Engineering Salary Report, was released on Friday and found that the median salary for civil engineers is $135,000. That new figure represents a 6 percent increase over salaries in a 2023 survey. Civil engineers with a Professional Engineers (PE) license, earn about $140,000 a year, nearly $42,000 more than those without a license or certification.
“Civil engineers are in high demand right now as projects to improve America’s infrastructure move from funding to design and construction,” ASCE 2024 President Marsia Geldert-Murphey, P.E., F.ASCE, said. “Their work to design, build, and improve the systems we all rely on for health, safety, and commerce benefits every community, and workforce shortages present a challenge to both public and private employers.”
The study found that 63.8 percent of those surveyed said they are satisfied or very satisfied with their compensation. But the survey found that because civil engineers are in high demand, some are voluntarily changing jobs. Nearly 9 percent said they had voluntarily changed jobs within the last year, with nearly three quarters (73.6 percent) saying the reason was for better pay. More than half said they were changing jobs for new responsibilities (60.4 percent) and career advancement (57.1 percent). More than 80 percent (85.6 percent) said they were either satisfied or very satisfied with their jobs.