Employees changing jobs for higher pay and new responsibilities
Reston, Virginia — Civil engineering salaries continue to increase, but at a slower rate than in years past, according to the 2024 ASCE Civil Engineering Salary Report released today by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). The survey found the median salary (from all sources) for civil engineers is $135,000, a 6% increase compared to the 2023 salary survey. This year’s average base salary increase of 5% is the smallest in three years, after a 7% increase in 2023 and 6% in 2022. Civil engineers with a Professional Engineers (PE) License, on average, earn about $140,000 a year, nearly $42,000 more than those without a license or certification. Overall, 63.8% of survey respondents say they are satisfied or very satisfied with their compensation.
“Civil engineers are in high demand right now as projects to improve America’s infrastructure move from funding to design and construction,” said ASCE 2024 President Marsia Geldert-Murphey, P.E., F.ASCE. “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.”
With civil engineers in high demand, 8.5% of civil engineers surveyed voluntarily changed jobs within the last year, with 73.6% saying better pay was a reason for changing employers. Those civil engineers who changed jobs received a median pay increase of 18%. Civil engineers are also changing jobs for new responsibilities (60.4%) and career advancement (57.1%). Job satisfaction among civil engineers remains high, with 85.6% of survey respondents saying they are either satisfied or very satisfied with their jobs.
Like many fields, civil engineers say many employers are shifting away from full-time remote or hybrid work. Only 8.2% of people surveyed say their work is fully remote, the same as last year. Hybrid work decreased from 47% to 45.9% over the last year, while fully in-person work grew from 44.8% to 45.9%. Nearly 98% of respondents say their employer offers benefits like health insurance.
The ASCE Salary Report is released every fall, collected from responses of Society members about their jobs and financial compensation. This year’s report is derived from approximately 3,000 member responses.
About the American Society of Civil Engineers
Founded in 1852, the American Society of Civil Engineers represents more than 160,000 civil engineers worldwide and is America's oldest national engineering society. ASCE works to raise awareness of the need to maintain and modernize the nation's infrastructure using sustainable and resilient practices, advocates for increasing and optimizing investment in infrastructure, and improve engineering knowledge and competency. For more information, visit www.asce.org or www.infrastructurereportcard.org and follow us on Twitter, @ASCETweets and @ASCEGovRel.
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