Civil engineering salary

The average civil engineering salary in the US has been pegged at USD 63,000 p.a. by one source. The salary range starts around USD 47,000 p.a. and rises up to USD 70,000 p.a. Another source quotes the average civil engineering salary around USD 51,400 p.a. rising to USD 79,900 p.a. The lowest-paid 10 percent earned less than USD 42,600 p.a. and the highest-paid 10 percent earned more than USD 94,700 p.a. According to a 2005 salary survey, civil engineers with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering started at USD 43,700 p.a. on average, engineers with a master's degree started at USD 48,000 p.a. and the civil engineering salaryfor Ph.D.s started at USD 59,600 p.a. For those who want to be at the top of the pile there is the case of an engineer who took home a cool packet of USD 500,000 p.a. including bonuses.

As a civil engineer you would be required to design roads, buildings, airports, tunnels, dams, bridges, or water supply and sewage systems. Civil engineering is one of the oldest branches of engineering and it requires a good sense of economy, foresight, local conditions and materials. Civil engineers normally choose between opportunities such as project managers, design engineers, consultants, research professionals, construction engineers and even as teaching professionals. The specialties within civil engineering are many and include structural, construction, environment, and transportation.

Due to the nature of the work civil engineers usually work in areas where industry and business is concentrated. Typically civil engineering work is at project construction sites. Many times the work places are far away from cities. A 40-hour week is common and as a site engineer you would require to travel to remote sites.

To become a civil engineer you require a bachelor's degree in engineering. Normally every civil engineer gets a license from the State to offer services directly to the public. The license can be obtained by having 4 years of relevant work experience (by practicing under an experienced engineer) and passing a qualifying exam. For those inclined to teach, a graduate degree, like a Ph.D., is needed.

All engineering students require a good math and science fundamentals and so is the case with civil engineers. The first two years at engineering schools focus on studying math, science, engineering basics, the arts, and social sciences and in the last 2 years, the courses are in the chosen engineering branch. Successful civil engineers are creative, analytical and detail-oriented. To be a successful project manager civil engineers could develop inter-personal skills. Typically project managers deal with many people who come from a wide range of fields.

According to statistics civil engineers held about 237,000 jobs in the US in 2004. Roughly half of them worked for architectural, engineering, and related firms and in the design of new construction areas. A third worked in government and the remaining worked in the construction industry. The good news for aspiring civil engineers is that this is one branch that will never go out of fashion and will always have an increase in demand.