Talent Maps / Greenville-Spartanburg / Civil Engineers

Greenville-Spartanburg Civil Engineer Talent Map (2026)

What civil engineers earn in Greenville and Spartanburg, which firms and public owners employ them, where in the Upstate they work, and the interstate, wastewater, airport and downtown projects competing for them.

Hiring civil engineers in the Upstate?

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 Upstate’s two federal metro areas: Greenville-Anderson-Greer, which spans Greenville, Anderson, Pickens and Laurens counties, and Spartanburg, which covers Spartanburg and Union counties. Pay figures come from the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey (May 2025), and the demand picture uses project data published from 2025 to 2026. Our civil engineering recruiters update it as new data comes out. See also our Greenville-Spartanburg structural, mechanical and electrical engineer talent maps.

$102,830Median civil engineer pay in metro GreenvilleBLS, May 2025

$160,610+What the top 10% of Greenville civil engineers earnBLS, May 2025

$1.6BWhat ReWa plans to invest in wastewater infrastructure from 2026 to 2035Citizen Portal, 2025

$1B+County Square redevelopment on 40 acres south of downtown GreenvilleUpstate Business Journal, 2026

35 milesStretch of I-85 from Exit 34 to Exit 69 that SCDOT is studying for upgradesSCDOT, 2025

$27.7MGSP runway rehabilitation, repaving more than 6,500 feet of runway in 2026FOX Carolina, 2026

Civil engineer salaries in Greenville-Spartanburg

The median civil engineer in the Greenville-Anderson-Greer metro earns $102,830 a year, $1,230 above the South Carolina median of $101,600 and $1,990 above the national median of $100,840. Greenville is strongest in the upper middle of the range. Its 75th percentile of $135,810 is $6,130 above the national figure. At the very top, its 90th percentile of $160,610 beats the state’s $156,380 but trails the national $163,220. The hourly median is $49.44.

Annual pay percentile	Greenville metro	Spartanburg metro	South Carolina	United States
10th percentile	$65,330	$64,840	$67,950	$68,240
25th percentile	$78,550	$69,110	$80,360	$79,930
Median	$102,830	$79,400	$101,600	$100,840
75th percentile	$135,810	$99,700	$131,550	$129,680
90th percentile	$160,610	$156,930	$156,380	$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.

Spartanburg is a different market. Its median is $79,400, $23,430 below Greenville’s, and its 75th percentile of $99,700 sits below Greenville’s median. At the top the two metros are close: Spartanburg’s 90th percentile is $156,930 against $160,610 in Greenville.

Civil engineering technicians, the drafters, inspectors and field techs who support design teams, earn a median of $49,830 in metro Greenville. That is below the South Carolina median of $53,710 and the national median of $64,950. Pay ranges from $39,040 at the 10th percentile to $78,080 at the 90th. In Spartanburg the technician median is $48,220.

Charlotte, the nearest large metro up I-85, pays about the same in the middle. Its civil median is $102,370, $460 below Greenville’s. Charlotte pays more at the top, with a 90th percentile of $164,990, $4,380 above Greenville’s $160,610. Firms with offices in both metros often compare offers across the state line.

Where Greenville-Spartanburg’s civil engineers work

Design firms

Kimley-Horn’s Greenville office at 550 South Main Street lists transportation and roadway work, water and wastewater utilities, development services, aviation consulting and structural engineering.

Thomas & Hutton’s office at 220 North Main Street covers civil site development, transportation, water and wastewater, surveying and structural design. It filed the development application for a proposed data center at 300 Jones Road in Spartanburg County in April 2026.

Public owners

SCDOT is running a planning study in 2026 of I-85 from Exit 34 to Exit 69, covering 35 miles and 18 interchanges. Partners include the Greenville-Pickens and Spartanburg area transportation studies, GSP International Airport and the SC Ports Authority.

Renewable Water Resources (ReWa) serves about 165,000 customer accounts from nine treatment facilities and told Greenville County it plans close to $1.6 billion of work from 2026 to 2035.

Developers and builders

RocaPoint Partners is lead developer of the County Square redevelopment, where road and utility work finished in March 2026. Copper Builders has started the Solaire townhomes on the site.

Verdae Development planned to begin site work on the 90-acre Bolden Street District on Laurens Road in mid-2026, a build-out expected to take 10 years or more.

Airport and inland port

GSP International Airport is repaving more than 6,500 feet of runway and about 11,000 feet of shoulder in a $27.7 million project funded mostly by federal money.

SC Ports finished a $55 million expansion of Inland Port Greer, adding 9,000 feet of rail and raising annual lift capacity to 300,000. Greer handled nearly 200,000 rail moves in 2025.

Where the talent sits: Greenville-Spartanburg submarkets

Downtown Greenville and the West End

Land developmentVertical civil

County Square’s first phase has 10 mixed-use buildings and three parking garages, and the project is expected to finish in spring 2028. Site work began in late 2025 on Greenville Gateway, 327 apartments at the I-385 entrance to downtown.

Greer and the GSP corridor

AviationFreight

GSP expects passenger traffic to grow about 5% a year for the next 10 years. Inland Port Greer sits on the I-85 corridor with overnight Norfolk Southern rail to the Port of Charleston.

Laurens Road and Mauldin

Land developmentSports venues

The Bolden Street District sits on the Swamp Rabbit Trail near downtown. In Mauldin, a 6,300-seat soccer stadium at BridgeWay Station began construction in September 2025.

Spartanburg County

TransportationUtilities

The Spartanburg metro was the third-fastest growing in the nation from July 2024 to July 2025. SCDOT’s $480 million widening of I-85 through Spartanburg and Cherokee counties was down to final paving in August 2025.

Anderson County

Industrial sitesPower

Adeptus USA is investing $215.6 million in a plant in Honea Path due to open in the second quarter of 2027. Duke Energy’s new gas plant on Highway 81 South is set to start construction in summer 2027.

What’s driving demand for civil engineers in Greenville-Spartanburg

The I-85 corridor. SCDOT’s 2026 study will evaluate widenings, interchange improvements, ramp metering and possibly managed lanes, with findings expected in early 2027. A widening from Exit 40 to Exit 69 was pushed back in April 2025 to a 2030 construction start.
Wastewater. ReWa’s plan of close to $1.6 billion from 2026 to 2035 covers new treatment capacity and pipe renewal, funded by rates, new-account fees, state revolving funds and bonds.
Downtown Greenville. The County Square redevelopment is a more than $1 billion project. RocaPoint has started a four-story, roughly 380-space city garage on Howe Street due in May 2027.
Airport work. GSP’s runway project runs through December 12, 2026, and a $27.5 million solar canopy and battery microgrid is due in fall 2027.
New plants. Isuzu is refurbishing a 1 million square foot facility on more than 200 acres on Augusta Road for a $280 million truck plant due to start in 2027. Adeptus plans 217 jobs in Anderson County.
Population growth. The Greenville-Anderson-Greer metro reached 1,014,101 residents in July 2025, its first year above 1 million.

Civil specialties tied to these projects

Transportation and interchange engineers for SCDOT’s I-85 work and county road programs.
Water and wastewater engineers for ReWa’s treatment and pipe programs.
Site and land development engineers for County Square, Bolden Street and suburban growth across both metros.
Aviation and freight civil engineers for GSP’s airfield and Inland Port Greer.
Industrial site engineers for new plants such as Isuzu in Greenville County and Adeptus in Anderson County.

The talent pipeline

Clemson University. Clemson’s Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering is ABET-accredited, as are its environmental engineering and other engineering degrees.
Related talent. Structural engineers on the same downtown and industrial projects are covered in our Greenville-Spartanburg structural engineer talent map.
Licensing. Senior roles usually require a South Carolina PE license from the SC State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Surveyors. The path is an ABET-accredited degree, the FE exam, four years of progressive experience under a licensed engineer and the PE exam, which candidates may take before the four years are done.

What this means if you’re hiring

Price senior roles above the national line. Greenville’s 75th percentile of $135,810 is $6,130 above the US figure, so plan on that much or more for licensed PEs.
Expect Charlotte to compete. Its median is within $460 of Greenville’s, and its 90th percentile is $4,380 higher.
Do not price Greenville roles on Spartanburg data. Spartanburg’s median of $79,400 is $23,430 lower, and candidates can move between the two metros easily.
Match offers to long programs. County Square runs to 2028, ReWa’s plan to 2035 and Duke’s Anderson plant from 2027 to 2031.

Need civil engineers in the Upstate?

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 803.832.4646 or see our Greenville engineering recruiters page. For Spartanburg County roles, see our Spartanburg engineering recruiters page.

Hire civil engineers

Frequently asked questions

How much do civil engineers make in Greenville?

The median civil engineer salary in the Greenville-Anderson-Greer metro is $102,830 a year, according to May 2025 BLS data. The middle half earn between $78,550 and $135,810, and the top 10% earn $160,610 or more. In the Spartanburg metro the median is $79,400.

Do civil engineers earn more in Greenville or Charlotte?

About the same. Greenville’s median is $102,830, $460 above Charlotte’s $102,370, but Charlotte’s 90th percentile is higher at $164,990 against $160,610. See our Charlotte civil engineer talent map.

Who hires civil engineers in Greenville-Spartanburg?

Design firms such as Kimley-Horn and Thomas & Hutton, developers such as RocaPoint Partners and Verdae Development, and public owners such as SCDOT, ReWa, GSP International Airport and SC Ports.

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