Civil Engineer vs Landscape Architects: $101K vs $80K Median Pay

Civil Engineer vs Landscape Architects: 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 Landscape Architects if you would rather plan and design land areas for projects such as parks and other recreational facilities, airports, highways, hospitals, schools, land subdivisions, and commercial, industrial, and residential sites. Both list bachelor's degree; compare training and prior experience separately.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Civil Engineer and Landscape Architects. 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

Landscape Architects

National median pay (2025): $79,870
Route into the job: Bachelor's degree; Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: Internship or residency follows qualifying education. Check its duration, pay, and licensing requirements.
Work to investigate: Confer with clients, engineering personnel, or architects on landscape projects.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 1,700

Know before you choose

Training continues through internship/residency after the degree path.

See the full Landscape Architects brief

How the national numbers differ

Civil Engineer has the edge on annual openings

Civil Engineer is at 22,700 annual openings, compared with 1,700 annual openings for Landscape Architects.

Civil Engineer has the edge on projected growth

Civil Engineer is at 6.4% projected growth, compared with 4.4% projected growth for Landscape Architects.

Civil Engineer has the edge on median pay

Civil Engineer is at $100,840, compared with $79,870 for Landscape Architects.

73.3/ 100

Civil Engineer

51/ 100

Landscape Architects

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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