Civil Engineer vs Environmental Engineers: $101K vs $107K Median Pay

Civil Engineer vs Environmental Engineers: what changes?

Consider Civil Engineer if you want to perform engineering duties in planning, designing, and overseeing construction and maintenance of building structures and facilities, such as roads, railroads, airports, bridges, harbors, channels, dams…. Consider Environmental Engineers if you would rather research, design, plan, or perform engineering duties in the prevention, control, and remediation of environmental hazards using various engineering disciplines. Both list bachelor's degree; compare training and prior experience separately.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Civil Engineer and Environmental Engineers. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

Compare the practical differences

Civil Engineer

National median pay (2025): $100,840
Route into the job: Bachelor's degree
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: BLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.
Work to investigate: Direct engineering activities, ensuring compliance with environmental, safety, or other governmental regulations.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 22,700

Know before you choose

Review the full career brief for day-to-day working conditions.

See the full Civil Engineer brief

Environmental Engineers

National median pay (2025): $107,110
Route into the job: Bachelor's degree
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: BLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.
Work to investigate: Design, or supervise the design of, systems, processes, or equipment for control, management, or remediation of water, air, or soil quality.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 2,300

Know before you choose

Review the full career brief for day-to-day working conditions.

See the full Environmental Engineers brief

How the national numbers differ

Civil Engineer has the edge on annual openings

Civil Engineer is at 22,700 annual openings, compared with 2,300 annual openings for Environmental Engineers.

Environmental Engineers has the edge on median pay

Environmental Engineers is at $107,110, compared with $100,840 for Civil Engineer.

Civil Engineer has the edge on projected growth

Civil Engineer is at 6.4% projected growth, compared with 6.3% projected growth for Environmental Engineers.

73.3/ 100

Civil Engineer

61.1/ 100

Environmental Engineers

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

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