Talent Maps / Austin / Civil Engineers

Austin Civil Engineer Talent Map (2026)

What civil engineers earn in metro Austin, which firms and public owners employ them, where in the metro they work, and the highway, airport, transit and water projects competing for them.

Hiring civil engineers in Austin?

A talent map shows where a group of professionals works, what they are paid and who else is trying to hire them. This one covers civil engineers in the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metro area. Pay figures come from the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey (May 2025), and the demand picture uses project and population data published from 2024 to 2026. Our civil engineering recruiters update it as new data comes out. See also our Austin structural, mechanical and electrical engineer talent maps.

$100,470Median civil engineer pay in metro AustinBLS, May 2025

$162,770+What the top 10% of Austin civil engineers earnBLS, May 2025

53,796People added to metro Austin in one year, the sixth most of any US metroCensus Bureau, 2025

$4.5BEstimated construction cost of I-35 Capital Express CentralTxDOT

$2.3BAustin Water five-year capital program, up from $1.4BAustin Water

$8.2BCurrent cost estimate for Project Connect light railTexas Tribune, 2026

Civil engineer salaries in Austin

The median civil engineer in metro Austin earns $100,470 a year, $3,610 more than the Texas median of $96,860 and $370 below the national median of $100,840. Austin pays more than the state from the 10th to the 75th percentile, but its top 10% start at $162,770, slightly below both the Texas and US figures. The hourly median is $48.30.

Annual pay percentile	Austin metro	Texas	United States
10th percentile	$65,380	$63,240	$68,240
25th percentile	$80,070	$77,200	$79,930
Median	$100,470	$96,860	$100,840
75th percentile	$128,890	$127,340	$129,680
90th percentile	$162,770	$164,330	$163,220

Civil Engineers (SOC 17-2051). Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, May 2025, via O*NET OnLine. Wage surveys run about a year behind current offers.

Civil engineering technicians, the drafters, inspectors and field techs who support design teams, earn a median of $62,320 in Austin, ranging from $43,690 at the 10th percentile to $94,870 at the 90th. The Texas median is $59,390 and the US median is $64,950.

What the spread means in practice: Austin pays close to national rates through most of the range. An employer offering the metro median to an experienced PE is usually competing against firms paying at or above the 75th percentile ($128,890).

Where Austin’s civil engineers work

Texas design firms with Austin offices

Most large Texas civil firms run Austin offices. Pape-Dawson, headquartered in San Antonio, has an office on North MoPac. Kimley-Horn has three Austin offices and Halff has two. Freese and Nichols, based in Fort Worth, has offices in Austin and San Marcos.

Houston-based LJA Engineering has five Austin offices plus Round Rock, and BGE has Austin North and Austin South offices. Garver and the employee-owned Carlson, Brigance & Doering also have Austin offices.

Austin firms now in national groups

Several Austin-founded firms now belong to larger companies. Doucet & Associates, founded in Austin in 1992 with more than 110 staff in six Texas offices, joined Kleinfelder in 2023. K Friese + Associates, founded in Austin in 2003, joined Lochner the same year.

Bury, once headquartered in Austin with 300 people, is now part of Stantec.

Public owners

Agencies that employ engineers and manage consultant contracts include TxDOT, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, Austin Water, the Austin Transit Partnership and the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority.

Austin Water alone maintains more than 3,800 miles of water mains, 2,900 miles of wastewater mains and 44 pump stations.

Contractors

Heavy civil contractors hire project engineers, field engineers and estimators. On I-35 Capital Express Central, Harper Brothers started with the MLK Jr. Blvd bridge, and Balfour Beatty has the Lady Bird Lake segment.

The airport program and Samsung’s Taylor fab site add more construction-side roles.

Where the talent sits: Austin submarkets

Central Austin and the I-35 corridor

TransportationTransit

I-35 Capital Express Central runs from Airport Blvd to Lady Bird Lake, and the Austin Transit Partnership is planning a 9.8-mile, 15-stop light rail line.

North MoPac and north Austin

Design firmsSite civil

Pape-Dawson’s Austin office is on North MoPac, and Kimley-Horn and BGE both run Austin North offices.

South Austin

Design firmsToll roads

Garver is on South Capital of Texas Highway and Carlson, Brigance & Doering is on West William Cannon. Kimley-Horn, Halff and BGE have south Austin offices, and CTRMA is studying 8 miles of MoPac South express lanes.

Round Rock, Taylor and Williamson County

Land developmentIndustrial

Williamson County added 23,814 people in 2025, the ninth most of any US county. LJA and Carlson, Brigance & Doering have Round Rock offices, and Samsung is building its fabs in Taylor.

Southeast Austin and AUS

AviationConstruction

Austin-Bergstrom is adding Concourse B, a new arrivals and departures hall, midfield taxiways and a 7,000-space garage.

What’s driving demand for civil engineers in Austin

I-35 Capital Express Central. TxDOT estimates construction at about $4.5 billion. Work started in October 2024 and is expected to finish in 2033, weather permitting. The project lowers the mainlanes from Airport Blvd to Lady Bird Lake, removes the upper decks and adds two non-tolled HOV lanes each way. The North and South projects add $606 million and $548 million.
Austin-Bergstrom (AUS). Council has authorized $1.031 billion to build Concourse B, a 26-gate concourse and tunnel, and $820 million for a new arrivals and departures hall, both opening in the early 2030s. Midfield taxiways ($320 million) finish in 2027. The airport is on track for 22 million passengers in fiscal 2026, against an original design for 11 million.
Project Connect. The Austin Transit Partnership’s light rail line is now estimated at $8.2 billion. It received federal environmental approval in 2026 and plans to break ground in 2027, with riders no earlier than 2033. ATP is seeking $4.1 billion in federal money and has received none so far.
Austin Water. The utility’s five-year capital program grew from $1.4 billion to $2.3 billion.
Toll roads. The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority is studying MoPac South express lanes, the 290 Extension and added capacity on 183A.
Samsung Taylor. Samsung announced a $17 billion fab in 2021. Fab 1 is on track to begin operations in 2026, and Fab 2 construction is due to start by the end of 2026. See our Austin semiconductor engineering recruiters.
Growth. Metro Austin reached 2,620,945 people in July 2025. The Census Bureau found that growth in large metros was strongest in outer counties, especially in Texas.

Civil specialties tied to these projects

Transportation and roadway design for I-35 and the toll road projects.
Bridge engineers for the I-35 rebuild and its new crossings.
Aviation civil engineers for the AUS concourse, taxiway and terminal work.
Water and wastewater engineers for Austin Water’s capital program.
Transit engineers for Project Connect light rail.
Site and land development engineers for Williamson County growth and industrial sites such as Taylor.
Construction engineering and inspection (CEI) staff for TxDOT and airport projects.

The talent pipeline

UT Austin. The Cockrell School’s civil engineering program ranked No. 4 in the 2025-2026 U.S. News graduate rankings.
Texas State University. The Ingram School of Engineering in San Marcos offers an ABET-accredited BS in civil engineering.
Texas outlook. Read more in our Texas civil engineer statistics and is civil engineering a good career.
Licensing. Senior roles usually require a Texas PE license, issued by the Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors.

What this means if you’re hiring

Transportation engineers are in short supply. I-35, the airport and the toll road projects all want roadway, bridge and traffic engineers at once.
Price senior roles at the 75th percentile. For licensed PEs, plan on $128,890 or higher.
Recruit near the work. Growth in Williamson County and the Taylor fab site pull site civil work north and east of the city.
Use the local schools. UT Austin and Texas State both graduate civil engineers in the metro.

Need civil engineers in Austin?

Apollo Technical has recruited engineers since 2010. Our recruiting teams place civil, transportation, water and site development engineers on a contract, contract-to-hire and direct hire basis.

Call 512.686.1181 or see our Austin engineering recruiters page.

Hire civil engineers

Frequently asked questions

How much do civil engineers make in Austin?

The median civil engineer salary in metro Austin is $100,470 a year, according to May 2025 BLS data. The middle half earn between $80,070 and $128,890, and the top 10% earn $162,770 or more.

Do civil engineers earn more in Austin or San Antonio?

Austin pays more. Its median is $100,470, against $88,290 in the San Antonio metro. See our San Antonio civil engineer talent map.

Who hires civil engineers in Austin?

Texas design firms with Austin offices, such as Pape-Dawson, Kimley-Horn, Halff, Freese and Nichols, LJA and BGE, public owners such as TxDOT, Austin-Bergstrom, Austin Water and the Austin Transit Partnership, and contractors on I-35 such as Harper Brothers and Balfour Beatty.

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