Talent Maps / Greenville-Spartanburg / Structural Engineers

Greenville-Spartanburg Structural Engineer Talent Map (2026)

What structural engineers earn in Greenville and Spartanburg, which design firms and owners employ them, where in the Upstate they work, and the arena, hotel, hospital and mixed-use projects competing for them.

Hiring structural 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 structural 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 and structural engineering recruiters update it as new data comes out. See also our Greenville-Spartanburg civil, mechanical and electrical engineer talent maps.

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

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

$282MBon Secours Wellness Arena renovation and expansion, approved in June 2026WYFF, 2026

241,000 sq ftSpartanburg Regional heart and vascular hospital, due to open in 2030Upstate Business Journal, 2026

29 storiesGreenville Gateway tower with 327 apartments at the I-385 entrance to downtownThe State, 2025

100,000 sq ftConference center planned for the Falls Park Conference DistrictUpstate Business Journal, 2026

Structural engineer salaries in Greenville-Spartanburg

BLS does not publish a separate code for structural engineers. It groups them with civil engineers, so the figures below are for civil engineers (SOC 17-2051) and describe the nearest official benchmark. The median in the Greenville-Anderson-Greer metro is $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’s 90th percentile is $160,610, against $156,380 statewide and $163,220 nationally. 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), the BLS group that includes structural engineers. 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 and field techs who support structural teams, earn a median of $49,830 in metro Greenville, against $53,710 for South Carolina and $64,950 nationally. Pay ranges from $39,040 at the 10th percentile to $78,080 at the 90th.

Spartanburg’s median for the same code is $79,400, $23,430 below Greenville’s, though its 90th percentile of $156,930 is close to Greenville’s. Charlotte’s median is $102,370, $460 below Greenville’s, and its 90th percentile of $164,990 is $4,380 higher. Because the BLS code blends road, site and building engineers, structural engineers who design towers or arenas often earn more than the median. Treat the 75th percentile of $135,810 as a floor for licensed senior hires.

Where Greenville-Spartanburg’s structural work is

Structural design firms

Britt, Peters and Associates is based at 101 Falls Park Drive in Greenville, with offices in Mount Pleasant, Charlotte, Norfolk and Athens. It works in concrete, steel, masonry, mass timber and other materials, and it is advertising for a licensed structural engineer with three to five or more years of experience.

Kimley-Horn’s Greenville office and Thomas & Hutton’s Greenville office both list structural engineering alongside civil work.

Developers

RocaPoint Partners leads County Square. Auro Hotels plans South Carolina’s first JW Marriott in the Bowater Building at 55 East Camperdown Way, with two new hotel towers.

NR Gateway Greenville is developing the 29-story Greenville Gateway tower at 250 North Church Street.

Public and institutional owners

The Greenville Arena District is renovating the Bon Secours Wellness Arena and its 12-acre campus. Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System is building a $325 million heart hospital.

GSP International Airport is replacing all the 1980s glass systems in Concourses A and B in a $10 million project running from June to October 2026.

Industrial owners

BMW completed a $1.7 billion investment in 2026 that expanded Plant Spartanburg and built the Plant Woodruff battery plant. NorthMark Strategies is converting a former Kohler plant in Spartanburg County into a computing center.

Where the talent sits: Greenville-Spartanburg submarkets

Downtown Greenville and Falls Park

High-riseHospitality

The Falls Park Conference District covers more than six acres and would add a 100,000 square foot conference center, a residential building, two office buildings and a 1,250-space garage. The Design Review Board reviews it on October 15, 2026.

West End and County Square

Mid-riseParking structures

Phase one at County Square has 10 mixed-use buildings and three garages. Final plans are approved or conditionally approved for seven-story and six-story residential buildings with ground-floor retail.

North Academy Street

ArenaLong-span

The $282 million arena plan adds an expanded concourse, glassier facades and a two-story outdoor terrace. A planned 7,000-seat amphitheater will be considered later.

Spartanburg medical district

Healthcare

The 241,000 square foot heart hospital will sit in front of the existing Heart Center on Serpentine Drive. It will be built in phases and include a new power plant.

Mauldin and the suburbs

StadiumMixed use

A 6,300-seat soccer stadium is going up at BridgeWay Station in Mauldin, funded by the city, the state and Greenville Pro Soccer.

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

The arena. Greenville’s design review board approved the $282 million renovation and expansion of Bon Secours Wellness Arena on June 18, 2026, and reviews the campus plan in October.
Hotels and conference space. The JW Marriott plan renovates a four-story office building and adds two hotel towers. It would connect by skybridge over Falls Street to a hotel annex at the new conference center, which has a 30,000 square foot ballroom.
County Square. The more than $1 billion project has finished its road and utility work and is moving into vertical construction, with completion expected in spring 2028.
Healthcare. Spartanburg Regional’s $325 million hospital adds 104 beds and is due to serve patients in 2030.
Residential towers. Greenville Gateway is a 29-story building with 327 apartments, and the city is putting $7.256 million into sidewalks, a plaza and other public space around it.
Industrial buildings. Isuzu is refurbishing a 1 million square foot building on Augusta Road for a $280 million truck plant, and the Valara data center is converting the former Kohler plant on South Pine Street.

Structural specialties tied to these projects

High-rise and hotel tower design for downtown Greenville and the Falls Park Conference District.
Long-span and arena engineers for the Bon Secours Wellness Arena and the planned amphitheater.
Healthcare structural engineers for the Spartanburg Regional hospital.
Parking structure engineers for County Square’s garages and the 1,250-space conference district garage.
Industrial and adaptive reuse engineers for plant conversions such as Isuzu’s building and the former Kohler plant.

The talent pipeline

Clemson University. Clemson’s Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering is ABET-accredited and feeds structural design firms across the Upstate.
Licensing. Structural engineers in responsible charge usually need 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.
Related talent. Civil engineers on the same projects are covered in our Greenville-Spartanburg civil engineer talent map.

What this means if you’re hiring

Price senior roles at the 75th percentile. For licensed PEs, plan on $135,810 or higher.
Expect Charlotte to compete. Firms such as Britt, Peters and Associates have offices in both metros, and Charlotte’s 90th percentile is $164,990.
Do not lean on Spartanburg’s median. At $79,400 it is $23,430 below Greenville’s, so benchmark against Greenville for building roles.
Match offers to long schedules. County Square targets spring 2028 and the heart hospital 2030.

Need structural engineers in the Upstate?

Apollo Technical has recruited engineers since 2010. Our recruiting teams place structural, building and industrial 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 structural engineers

Frequently asked questions

How much do structural engineers make in Greenville?

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

Do structural engineers earn more in Greenville or Charlotte?

About the same at the median. Greenville’s 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 structural engineer talent map.

Who hires structural engineers in Greenville-Spartanburg?

Design firms such as Britt, Peters and Associates, Kimley-Horn and Thomas & Hutton, developers such as RocaPoint Partners and Auro Hotels, and owners such as the Greenville Arena District, Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System, GSP International Airport and BMW.

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