Talent Maps / Chicago / Civil Engineers

Chicago Civil Engineer Talent Map (2026)

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

Hiring civil engineers in Chicago?

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 Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro area, which takes in northeastern Illinois and northwest Indiana. 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 Chicago structural, mechanical and electrical engineer talent maps.

$100,160Median civil engineer pay in metro ChicagoBLS, May 2025

$159,940+What the top 10% of Chicago civil engineers earnBLS, May 2025

5,194,625People in Cook County in July 2025, the second most populous county in the USCensus Bureau, 2026

$5.75BCTA Red Line Extension, which broke ground in April 2026Block Club Chicago

$8.8BORDNext program at O’Hare, with the Global Terminal due in 2033Daily Herald, 2026

$855.3MMWRD capital improvement program for 2026MWRD

Civil engineer salaries in Chicago

The median civil engineer in metro Chicago earns $100,160 a year, $400 above the Illinois median of $99,760 and $680 below the national median of $100,840. Chicago pays more than the national figure at the low end: its 10th percentile is $74,130, against $68,240 nationally. At the top the gap narrows, with a 90th percentile of $159,940 against $163,220 nationally. The hourly median is $48.16.

Annual pay percentile	Chicago metro	Illinois	United States
10th percentile	$74,130	$69,590	$68,240
25th percentile	$80,020	$79,650	$79,930
Median	$100,160	$99,760	$100,840
75th percentile	$126,570	$125,990	$129,680
90th percentile	$159,940	$157,410	$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 $81,360 in Chicago, above the Illinois median of $79,190 and well above the national median of $64,950. Pay ranges from $51,940 at the 10th percentile to $126,520 at the 90th.

What the spread means in practice: Chicago pays close to the national median for engineers and well above it for technicians. The metro pays more than Dallas-Fort Worth ($96,920) and Atlanta ($88,000), so candidates relocating from those markets will usually expect a raise.

Where Chicago’s civil engineers work

Chicago-based design firms

Sargent & Lundy, founded in 1891, is headquartered at 77 W. Wacker Drive and works from more than 30 offices on power generation, nuclear and grid projects. Benesch was founded in downtown Chicago in 1946 and still has an office on Wacker Drive.

Primera Engineers, founded in 1987 and headquartered in Chicago, has nearly 400 employees across 25 states and is a certified women-owned business.

Suburban and national firms

Christopher B. Burke Engineering, based in Rosemont, has more than 260 staff, including over 100 licensed PEs and 22 certified floodplain managers.

HNTB’s Chicago office worked on the Kennedy Expressway. Arup’s Chicago office is on the design team for O’Hare’s new Concourse D.

Public owners

IDOT District 1, based in Schaumburg, covers Cook, Lake, McHenry, Kane, DuPage and Will counties and 2,775 miles of state-maintained roads.

The CTA, the Chicago Department of Aviation and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) all run large capital programs.

Contractors and testing

The Walsh Group, headquartered on W. Adams Street, is part of Walsh-VINCI Transit Community Partners, which holds the $2.9 billion Red Line Extension design-build contract.

AECOM Hunt Clayco Bowa is the joint venture general contractor on Concourse D, and Terracon is on its design team.

Where the talent sits: Chicago submarkets

The Loop and West Loop

Design firmsContractors

Sargent & Lundy and Benesch on Wacker Drive, Walsh on W. Adams Street, and Bally’s casino tower going up in River West.

O’Hare and the northwest suburbs

AviationTransportation

The ORDNext program at O’Hare, IDOT’s District 1 office in Schaumburg and Christopher B. Burke Engineering in Rosemont.

Far South Side

TransitSite civil

The Red Line Extension from 95th Street to 130th Street, and the quantum computing park at the former U.S. Steel South Works site.

South Loop and the lakefront

Venues

The Chicago Fire’s $750 million stadium at The 78, on the Chicago River, due to open for the 2028 MLS season.

Northwest Indiana

VenuesTransportation

Lake County, Indiana, is part of the Chicago metro. The Bears’ board voted in June 2026 to move ahead with plans for a stadium in Hammond, and Primera has an office in Crown Point.

What’s driving demand for civil engineers in Chicago

CTA Red Line Extension. The 5.6-mile, $5.75 billion extension from 95th Street to 130th Street broke ground on April 24, 2026. It adds four stations and a new rail yard near 120th Street. Demolition and utility relocation run through 2027, track and station work through 2029, and service is due in 2030.
O’Hare. The $8.8 billion ORDNext program is under way. Concourse D, a $1.3 billion, 19-gate building, broke ground in August 2025 and is due in late 2028. The first phase of Concourse E starts later in 2026 and finishes in 2030. Work on the Global Terminal starts in 2029, with opening set for 2033 and the full program for 2034.
IDOT and Rebuild Illinois. IDOT’s FY 2026-2031 Multi-Year Program, announced in October 2025, totals $50.6 billion, with $32.5 billion for state and local roads and bridges. It is the largest in state history.
Water and sewer. MWRD adopted a $1.8 billion budget for 2026, including an $855.3 million capital program for aging infrastructure, two intercepting sewer rehabilitations and a new treatment facility at the O’Brien plant. Chicago also has about 412,000 known lead service lines and had replaced around 8,000 by early 2026. NRDC says the federal rule will require about 20,000 replacements a year.
Bears stadium. No site is final. The Bears’ board voted on June 5, 2026, to move ahead with a stadium in Hammond, Indiana, but Gov. Pritzker and legislative leaders met NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on October 1 about keeping the team in Illinois. The team’s consultant put public infrastructure for an Arlington Heights stadium at $855 million.
Bally’s casino. The $1.7 billion casino at 777 W. Chicago Ave. set its final structural beam in April 2026. In August, Bally’s paused work on the hotel, events center and restaurants during a dispute with the city, but says the casino opens in early 2027.
Quantum park. Construction began on September 30, 2025, at the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park on the former South Works site, backed by $500 million in state funding. The first phase is due to finish in 2027.

Civil specialties tied to these projects

Transit and rail engineers for the Red Line Extension and its rail yard.
Aviation civil engineers for Concourses D and E and the Global Terminal.
Transportation and roadway design for IDOT District 1 and the Multi-Year Program.
Water, wastewater and stormwater engineers for MWRD, lead service line replacement and suburban utilities.
Site and land development engineers for The 78, the quantum park and a possible Bears stadium.
Geotechnical engineers and materials testing staff for caissons, tunnels and deep foundations at O’Hare and downtown.
Construction engineering and inspection (CEI) staff for IDOT, CTA and airport work.

The talent pipeline

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Its civil engineering graduate program is ranked No. 1 and its undergraduate program No. 3 by U.S. News. Its students pass the FE exam at 94.5%, against 68% nationally.
University of Illinois Chicago. UIC’s civil engineering BS is ABET-accredited.
Illinois Tech. Illinois Tech’s civil and architectural engineering BS programs are both ABET-accredited.
Northwestern University. Northwestern’s civil engineering BS in Evanston is ABET-accredited.
Licensing basics. Read our guide to PE vs EIT vs no license.
Licensing. Senior roles usually require an Illinois PE license, issued by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR). Structural design in Illinois needs a separate SE license.

What this means if you’re hiring

Price at the national level. Chicago’s median is within $700 of the national figure, so offers pitched below market lose candidates.
Price senior roles at the 75th percentile. For licensed PEs, plan on $126,570 or higher. The top 10% earn $159,940 or more.
Transit and aviation work runs to 2034. The Red Line Extension and ORDNext keep transit, aviation and geotechnical engineers busy for years.
Post the pay range. Since January 1, 2025, Illinois employers with 15 or more employees must list pay and benefits in job postings.

Need civil engineers in Chicago?

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 847.994.3030 or see our Chicago engineering recruiters page.

Hire civil engineers

Frequently asked questions

How much do civil engineers make in Chicago?

The median civil engineer salary in metro Chicago is $100,160 a year, according to May 2025 BLS data. The middle half earn between $80,020 and $126,570, and the top 10% earn $159,940 or more.

Do civil engineers in Chicago earn more than the national median?

About the same. Chicago’s median is $100,160, against $100,840 nationally. Chicago pays more than Dallas-Fort Worth ($96,920) and Atlanta ($88,000). See our Dallas-Fort Worth and Atlanta civil engineer talent maps.

Who hires civil engineers in Chicago?

Chicago-based firms such as Sargent & Lundy, Benesch and Primera, suburban and national firms such as Christopher B. Burke Engineering, HNTB and Arup, contractors such as Walsh, and public owners such as IDOT, the CTA, the Chicago Department of Aviation and MWRD.

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