What They Do: Civil engineering technologists and technicians help civil engineers plan, design, and build infrastructure and development projects.
Work Environment: Civil engineering technologists and technicians work in offices, helping civil engineers plan and design projects. They also visit construction jobsites to collect or test materials or to observe activities as a project inspector.
How to Become One: An associate's degree, preferably in civil engineering technology, is typically required to enter the occupation.
Salary: The median annual wage for civil engineering technologists and technicians was $64,950 in May 2025.
Job Outlook: Employment of civil engineering technologists and technicians is projected to grow 3 percent from 2025 to 2035, about as fast as the average for all occupations.
Related Careers: Compare the job duties, education, job growth, and pay of civil engineering technologists and technicians with similar occupations.
Civil engineering technologists and technicians help civil engineers to plan, design, and build highways, bridges, utilities, and other infrastructure projects. They also help to plan, design, and build commercial, industrial, residential, and land development projects.
Civil engineering technologists and technicians typically do the following:
Civil engineering technicians typically install, troubleshoot, and maintain designs created by engineers. They may work under the direction of engineers or engineering technologists.
Civil engineering technologists typically help licensed engineers improve designs or incorporate new technology. They may be team leaders, instructing civil engineering technicians on installing equipment, systems, or structures.
These technologists and technicians observe progress on a jobsite, collect data, and complete reports to document project activities. Because they are not licensed, civil engineering technologists and technicians cannot approve designs or supervise the overall project.
In addition, civil engineering technologists and technicians sometimes estimate construction costs, develop specifications, and prepare drawings. They also may set up and monitor various instruments for traffic studies. Their duties often require use of software to design projects, collect and analyze data, prepare reports, and manage files.
Civil engineering technologists and technicians hold about 66,300 jobs. The largest employers of civil engineering technologists and technicians are as follows:
| Engineering services | 40% |
| State government, excluding education and hospitals | 27% |
| Local government, excluding education and hospitals | 19% |
| Construction | 3% |
Civil engineering technologists and technicians work in offices, helping civil engineers plan and design projects. They also visit construction jobsites to collect or test materials or to observe activities as a project inspector. They may work at several sites, using cars or trucks as a mobile office.
Civil engineering technologists and technicians frequently work on teams with civil engineers, surveyors and surveying technicians, construction workers, and others involved with projects.
Civil engineering technologists and technicians usually work full time. When working at construction sites, their schedules may be subject to factors that affect construction, such as weather. Their schedules also may be tied to those of the construction projects they are involved with.
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Although not always required, an associate's degree in civil engineering technology is preferred for employment as a civil engineering technician.
Prospective civil engineering technologists and technicians should take courses in science and math, such as chemistry, physics, geometry, and trigonometry.
Employers may prefer to hire engineering technologists and technicians who have an associate's degree from a program accredited by ABET, although a degree is not always required. Engineering technology programs also are available at technical or vocational schools that award a postgraduate certificate or diploma.
Degree and nondegree programs may include coursework in subjects such as engineering, design, and sciences.
Some employers require a bachelor's degree in engineering technology for civil engineering technologists.
Some civil engineering technologists and technicians enter the occupation after gaining work experience in a related occupation, particularly as drafters or CAD operators. Drafters or CAD operators working for an engineering firm may advance to civil engineering technologist or technician positions as their knowledge of design and construction increases.
Certification is not needed to enter this occupation, but it can help technicians advance their careers. The National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies (NICET) is one of the primary organizations overseeing certification for civil engineering technicians.
Certification as a technician requires passing an exam and providing documentation, including a work history, recommendations, and for most programs, supervisor confirmation of specific experience. NICET requires technicians to update their skills and knowledge through a recertification process that encourages continuing professional development.
Civil engineering technologists and technicians may advance in their careers by learning to design systems for a variety of projects, such as storm sewers, and to become skilled at reading graphical drawings of proposed projects.
Technicians who obtain appropriate education or certification may advance to become technologists.
Critical-thinking skills. Civil engineering technologists and technicians carry out project plans and designs that engineers have approved. They must be able to understand and interpret the reports and documents describing these projects.
Decision-making skills. Civil engineering technologists and technicians must be able to discern which information is most important and which actions will help keep a project on schedule.
Math skills. Civil engineering technologists and technicians use math for analysis, design, and troubleshooting.
Observational skills. Civil engineering technologists and technicians sometimes visit jobsites to assess a project and report back to the engineer.
Problem-solving skills. As assistants to civil engineers, these technologists and technicians must be able to help engineers identify problems and design projects to solve them.
Writing skills. Civil engineering technologists and technicians must be able to prepare reports that are well organized and clearly convey information.
Salary and job outlook data updated October 2026 from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook (May 2025 wages, 2025-35 employment projections).
The median annual wage for civil engineering technologists and technicians was $64,950 in May 2025. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $44,220, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $98,980.
In May 2025, the median annual wages for civil engineering technologists and technicians in the top industries in which they worked were as follows:
| Local government, excluding education and hospitals | $76,190 |
| Engineering services | $63,340 |
| Construction | $61,980 |
| State government, excluding education and hospitals | $61,950 |
Civil engineering technologists and technicians usually work full time. When working at construction sites, their schedules may be subject to factors that affect construction, such as weather. Their schedules also may be tied to those of the construction projects they are involved with.
Employment of civil engineering technologists and technicians is projected to grow 3 percent from 2025 to 2035, about as fast as the average for all occupations.
About 6,100 openings for civil engineering technologists and technicians are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.
The country’s infrastructure, such as bridges, roads, levees, airports, and dams, will need to be repaired, maintained, and enhanced. In addition, more waste treatment plants will be needed to help clean the nation’s waterways, and water systems must be maintained to reduce or eliminate the loss of potable water. Civil engineers plan, design, and oversee this work, and civil engineering technologists and technicians will be needed to assist the engineers in these projects.
However, employment growth in this occupation may be limited as improved drafting tools, such as computer-aided design (CAD) software, increase worker productivity.
| Occupational Title | Employment, 2025 | Projected Employment, 2035 | Change, 2025-35 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percent | Numeric | |||
| Civil engineering technologists and technicians | 70,900 | 73,200 | 3 | 2,300 |
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American Society of Certified Engineering Technicians
National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies (NICET)
A portion of the information on this page is used by permission of the U.S. Department of Labor.