Talent Maps / Dallas-Fort Worth / Civil Engineers

Dallas-Fort Worth Civil Engineer Talent Map (2026)

What civil engineers earn in Dallas-Fort Worth, which employers hold the talent, where in the Metroplex they work, and the airport, highway and water projects competing for them through 2031.

Hiring civil engineers in DFW?

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 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington 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 in 2025 and 2026. Our civil engineering recruiters update it as new data comes out. See also our DFW structural, mechanical, electrical and data center engineer talent maps.

$96,920Median civil engineer pay in Dallas-Fort WorthBLS, May 2025

$158,170+What the top 10% of DFW civil engineers earnBLS, May 2025

34,000Civil engineers employed in TexasProjections Central, 2024

2,520Projected civil engineering job openings a year in Texas through 2034Projections Central

$12B+DFW Airport’s capital plan, including new Terminal F and a rebuilt Terminal CDFW Airport, 2025

123,557People added to the DFW metro in one year, the second most of any US metroCensus Bureau, 2025

Civil engineer salaries in Dallas-Fort Worth

The median civil engineer in Dallas-Fort Worth earns $96,920 a year, level with the Texas median ($96,860) and about $3,900 below the national median of $100,840. At the top of the market, DFW’s highest-paid 10% earn $158,170 or more, about $5,050 below the national figure and about $6,160 below Texas, where Houston’s energy and petrochemical work pulls senior pay up.

Annual pay percentile	DFW metro	Texas	United States
10th percentile	$61,720	$63,240	$68,240
25th percentile	$77,710	$77,200	$79,930
Median	$96,920	$96,860	$100,840
75th percentile	$124,870	$127,340	$129,680
90th percentile	$158,170	$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 $65,360 in DFW, ranging from $46,010 at the 10th percentile to $92,360 at the 90th. That median is above both Texas ($59,390) and the US ($64,950).

What the spread means in practice: entry-level pay in DFW starts below the national market, but the middle of the range tracks Texas closely. An employer offering the metro median to an experienced PE is usually competing against firms paying at or above the 75th percentile ($124,870).

Where DFW’s civil engineers work

Most civil engineers in the Metroplex work for one of four kinds of employer. Each one hires for different skills and competes for the same people in different ways.

Consulting and design firms

The largest pool of civil engineers in the metro. Two of the world’s biggest design firms are headquartered in Dallas: AECOM, on Noel Road in North Dallas, and Jacobs, downtown on Bryan Street. Freese and Nichols, founded in 1894, is headquartered in Fort Worth and has about 1,400 staff in 35 offices.

Other firms with large DFW teams include Halff (Richardson), Kimley-Horn (Fort Worth and Frisco), Teague Nall and Perkins (Fort Worth, Allen and Denton), Dunaway (Fort Worth and Dallas) and Pacheco Koch, a Westwood company founded in Dallas in 1990.

Public agencies

Owners that employ their own engineers and manage consultant contracts. TxDOT’s Dallas District office is in Mesquite. DFW International Airport runs one of the largest airport capital programs in the country.

Others include the North Texas Municipal Water District in Wylie and the engineering and public works departments of Dallas, Fort Worth and the fast-growing suburban cities and counties.

Contractors

Heavy civil and building contractors hire project engineers, field engineers and estimators, often with a design background.

Balfour Beatty is building the I-30 Canyon project downtown. A joint venture of Austin Commercial, Azteca Enterprises and Alpha & Omega is the design-builder on DFW Airport’s Terminal C, with HNTB, KAI and ADPI managing the program.

Developers and owners

Data center developers are now a major source of site civil, grading and utility work in the southern and western Metroplex. DataBank’s Red Oak campus covers 292 acres and STACK’s Lancaster campus 193 acres.

Industrial, logistics and master-planned residential developers keep land development teams busy across Collin, Denton and Tarrant counties. See our Texas data center tracker.

Where the talent sits: DFW submarkets

The Metroplex covers more ground than most states’ largest cities combined, and commutes shape who will take a job. Civil engineering talent clusters in five parts of the metro.

Downtown and Uptown Dallas

TransportationPublic sectorBuildings

Jacobs headquarters, City of Dallas departments and the downtown work on I-30 Canyon, I-345 and the convention center rebuild. The deepest pool for urban transportation and public-sector work.

North Dallas and the north corridor

Land developmentTransportationWater

AECOM headquarters on Noel Road, plus Richardson, Plano, Frisco and Allen, home to Halff, Kimley-Horn’s Frisco office and TNP’s Allen office. Collin County added 42,966 people in 2025, the second-largest gain of any US county.

Fort Worth

WaterTransportationLand development

Freese and Nichols headquarters and offices for Kimley-Horn, Dunaway and TNP. The city of Fort Worth grew 11.9% from 2020 to 2025, against 1.9% for the city of Dallas, which keeps land development and infrastructure demand high.

Arlington, the mid-cities and DFW Airport

AviationTransportation

UT Arlington’s civil engineering department and the DFW Airport capital program sit in the middle of the metro, within reach of commuters from both Dallas and Fort Worth.

East and south metro

WaterData centersSite civil

NTMWD in Wylie and fast-growing Kaufman County to the east, and the data center corridor through Lancaster, Wilmer, Red Oak and Midlothian to the south. Heavy demand for site development, grading, utilities and water supply work.

What’s driving demand for civil engineers in DFW

DFW Airport. The airport’s capital plan now tops $12 billion. It includes Terminal F, about $4 billion and 31 gates, with the first phase opening in 2027, and a roughly $3 billion rebuild of Terminal C, due for completion in 2030. Nine new Terminal C gates opened in June 2026.
I-30 Canyon. TxDOT’s $888 million rebuild of 2.3 miles of I-30 through downtown Dallas started in January 2026. It widens the highway from six to 12 main lanes and runs to 2031.
I-345. The $1.7 billion plan to rebuild the elevated highway between downtown and Deep Ellum still has about $1 billion unfunded, and construction is not expected before 2029.
Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. Dallas is rebuilding its convention center as a $3.8 billion, 2.1 million square foot project. Demolition is underway and completion has slipped to 2030.
Water supply. The North Texas Municipal Water District planned about $1.7 billion of capital spending in fiscal 2026, more than $1.3 billion of it for water supply. New Lake Texoma pipelines start construction in late 2026 and will add about 90 million gallons a day by late 2029.
Statewide transportation funding. TxDOT’s 2027 Unified Transportation Program, approved in August 2026, plans $138 billion of work across Texas.
Population growth. The DFW metro reached 8,477,157 people in July 2025, up 11.0% since 2020. Every new subdivision, school and road needs civil design.

Civil specialties tied to these projects

Transportation and roadway design for TxDOT, I-30, I-345 and suburban arterials.
Bridge and structural engineers for interchanges, deck parks and elevated highway work.
Aviation civil engineers for airfield, terminal and landside work at DFW and Love Field.
Site and land development engineers for data centers, industrial parks and master-planned communities.
Water resources and pipeline engineers for NTMWD, regional water districts and city utilities.
Geotechnical engineers for foundations on North Texas expansive clay soils.
Construction engineering and inspection (CEI) staff for TxDOT, airport and private projects.

The talent pipeline

UT Arlington. UTA’s BS in civil engineering has been ABET accredited since 1967, and the university calls it the oldest and most comprehensive civil program in North Texas.
SMU. The Lyle School of Engineering in Dallas offers ABET-accredited BS degrees in civil engineering and environmental engineering.
UNT. The University of North Texas in Denton offers an ABET-accredited construction engineering technology degree and an accredited construction management program.
Growth. Texas is projected to grow from 34,000 civil engineers in 2024 to 38,420 in 2034, a 13% increase against 5% nationally, with about 2,520 openings a year from growth and retirements. Read more in our Texas civil engineer statistics.
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

Price senior roles against the top of the market. For licensed PEs and project managers, plan on the 75th percentile ($124,870) or higher, not the median.
Expect competition through 2031. The airport, I-30 Canyon, the convention center, water supply and the data center build-out all want transportation, site and inspection engineers at the same time.
Recruit near the work. A strong candidate in Frisco may turn down a job in south Fort Worth because of the drive. Map the commute before you write the job post.
Grow your own. UTA, SMU and UNT turn out civil and construction graduates every year. Pairing EITs with senior PEs is often faster than waiting for the perfect experienced hire.

Need civil engineers in Dallas-Fort Worth?

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

Call 214.257.7733 or see our Dallas engineering recruiters page.

Hire civil engineers

Frequently asked questions

How much do civil engineers make in Dallas-Fort Worth?

The median civil engineer salary in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metro is $96,920 a year, according to May 2025 BLS data. The middle half earn between $77,710 and $124,870, and the top 10% earn $158,170 or more.

How many civil engineers are there in Texas?

Texas employed about 34,000 civil engineers in 2024, and that number is projected to reach 38,420 by 2034, with roughly 2,520 openings a year.

Who hires the most civil engineers in DFW?

Consulting and design firms employ the largest share, including Dallas-headquartered AECOM and Jacobs, Fort Worth-headquartered Freese and Nichols, Halff, Kimley-Horn and Teague Nall and Perkins. TxDOT, DFW Airport, the North Texas Municipal Water District and the metro’s cities are the largest public employers.

Is Dallas-Fort Worth a good market for civil engineers?

Demand is strong. DFW added more people than any US metro but one in 2025, and the airport’s $12 billion-plus capital plan, I-30 Canyon, the convention center rebuild and new water supply pipelines will keep transportation, water and site engineers busy through at least 2031. Read more on whether civil engineering is a good career.

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