Talent Maps / Miami / Structural Engineers

Miami Structural Engineer Talent Map (2026)

What structural engineers earn in metro Miami, which design firms and public owners employ them, where in South Florida they work, and the supertowers, bridges and recertification work competing for them.

Hiring structural engineers in Miami?

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 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metro area, which spans Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties and is called metro Miami or South Florida here. Pay figures come from the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey (May 2025), and the demand picture uses project and building-rule data published from 2024 to 2026. BLS does not publish a separate structural engineer wage, so it counts them with civil engineers. Our civil engineering recruiters update it as new data comes out. See also our Miami civil, electrical and data center engineer talent maps.

$83,750Median civil and structural engineer pay in metro MiamiBLS, May 2025

$127,70075th percentile pay, the level for senior licensed structural engineersBLS, May 2025

950 ftCipriani Residences Miami, 85 stories, topped out in July 2026Thornton Tomasetti

1,049 ftWaldorf Astoria Hotel and Residences Miami, due in 2028Newsweek, 2026

$668MConstruction loan for the Waldorf Astoria towerFlorida YIMBY, 2024

1,025 ftSignature Bridge span in the I-395 rebuild, with 400 or more sensorsFDOT

Structural engineer salaries in Miami

BLS has no structural engineer code and groups the work with civil engineers (SOC 17-2051). The median civil engineer in metro Miami earns $83,750 a year. That is $14,820 below the Florida median of $98,570 and $17,090 below the national median of $100,840. The gap is at the bottom and middle of the range. The 25th percentile is $64,350, against $76,740 statewide. At the top, the metro’s 90th percentile of $165,880 is above the national $163,220. Structural engineers on towers and bridges tend to sit toward that upper end.

Annual pay percentile	Miami metro	Florida	United States
10th percentile	$54,990	$58,640	$68,240
25th percentile	$64,350	$76,740	$79,930
Median	$83,750	$98,570	$100,840
75th percentile	$127,700	$128,450	$129,680
90th percentile	$165,880	$166,680	$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, inspectors and field techs who support design teams, earn a median of $68,860 in metro Miami, above the Florida median of $63,410 and the national median of $64,950. Pay ranges from $43,160 at the 10th percentile to $100,960 at the 90th.

What the spread means in practice: Tampa’s civil engineer median is $100,570, or $16,820 above Miami’s. A structural engineer with PE and threshold building experience can be priced well above the metro median. Pay data for structural work in particular is thin, so confirm with live offers.

Where Miami’s structural work comes from

Structural design firms

Thornton Tomasetti’s Miami office at 80 SW 8th Street was structural engineer and threshold inspector on Cipriani Residences Miami and worked on Inter Miami’s Nu Stadium. It also does building inspections under Florida Senate Bill 4-D.

CHM Structural Engineers is structural engineer on the Waldorf Astoria tower. Kimley-Horn’s Coral Gables office offers structural engineering among its services.

Developers and contractors

Mast Capital developed Cipriani Residences. PMG is developing the Waldorf Astoria, with John Moriarty & Associates as general contractor.

Merrimac Ventures and Aria Development Group are developing the 32-story, 606-unit 600 Miami Worldcenter.

Public owners

FDOT’s Miami-Dade office is building the I-395, SR 836 and I-95 rebuild with its six-arch Signature Bridge and the Golden Glades Interchange, where 23 old bridges come down and 32 go up.

Miami-Dade County sets building recertification rules, and its airport and port run capital plans.

Existing building owners

Condo and office owners need recertification and milestone reports signed by Florida engineers. Miami-Dade requires a structural engineer with state specialization for threshold buildings of four or more stories.

Where the talent sits: Miami submarkets

Brickell and Downtown Miami

High-riseSupertall

Cipriani Residences and the Waldorf Astoria are both rising in the urban core. Miami Worldcenter covers 27 acres downtown.

Midtown and I-395 corridor

BridgesTransportation

The $866 million I-395 job runs to late 2029 and centers on a Signature Bridge with six arches.

North Miami-Dade

BridgesInterchanges

Golden Glades is an $908 million rebuild due in fall 2031, with a major ramp milestone planned for 2028.

Port and airport

MarineAviation

PortMiami’s Terminal G is a $345 million project, and the airport plans a $1 billion Concourse D expansion for 2027 to 2030.

Broward and Palm Beach

TransportationRail

FDOT District 4 covers Broward, Palm Beach, Martin, Indian River and St. Lucie counties. Brightline’s Miami to West Palm Beach segment opened in 2018.

What’s driving demand for structural engineers in Miami

Supertall towers. Cipriani Residences topped out in July 2026 at 950 feet. The Waldorf Astoria reached its 75th floor in May 2026 and is due in 2028 at 1,049 feet.
Condo and office pipeline. 600 Miami Worldcenter has 606 units, a $95 million construction loan and closings expected in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Recertification and milestone inspections. Miami-Dade buildings built from 1983 to 1997 were due by December 31, 2024, then every 10 years. Reports within 90 days of notice must be signed by a Florida PE or architect.
Golden Glades. The $908 million project includes 32 new bridges and began in March 2024.
I-395 and the Signature Bridge. The $866 million project is due in late 2029 and uses a 1,025-foot arched span.
Ports and airport. Royal Caribbean has broken ground on a $345 million cruise terminal at PortMiami, and the MIA gate expansion starts in 2027.

Structural specialties tied to these projects

High-rise concrete engineers for post-tensioned slabs, shear walls and wind design. Cipriani uses reinforced concrete columns with shear walls.
Bridge engineers for Golden Glades and I-395.
Threshold inspection and special inspector engineers for towers of four stories or more.
Building recertification and forensic engineers for aging condo stock.
Marine and port structures engineers for terminals, piers and berths.

The talent pipeline

University of Miami. UM’s College of Engineering has ABET-accredited bachelor’s programs in civil, architectural and environmental engineering.
Florida International University. FIU’s College of Engineering and Computing offers ABET-accredited engineering programs in Miami.
Florida Atlantic University. FAU’s civil engineering degree is ABET-accredited.
Licensing. Senior roles require a Florida PE license from the Florida Board of Professional Engineers. Licensure takes an ABET-accredited degree, the FE and PE exams and 4 years of supervised experience.

What this means if you’re hiring

Pay for the PE and the tower experience. Plan on $127,700 or more at the 75th percentile for licensed engineers, and above that for supertall or threshold experience.
Expect Tampa and Orlando to compete. Tampa’s civil median of $100,570 is $16,820 above Miami’s.
Recertification work is steady. It repeats every 10 years for many buildings, so it supports permanent and contract roles.
Big jobs are staggered. Cipriani finishes in 2027, the Waldorf Astoria in 2028 and the I-395 job in 2029, which spreads out the demand.

Need structural engineers in Miami?

Apollo Technical has recruited engineers since 2010. Our recruiting teams place structural, bridge, high-rise and building recertification engineers on a contract, contract-to-hire and direct hire basis.

Call 813.701.2797 or see our Miami engineering recruiters page.

Hire structural engineers

Frequently asked questions

How much do structural engineers make in Miami?

BLS counts structural engineers with civil engineers. The median civil engineer salary in metro Miami is $83,750 a year, according to May 2025 data. The middle half earn between $64,350 and $127,700, and the top 10% earn $165,880 or more.

Do structural engineers earn more in Miami or Tampa?

Tampa has the higher median on the BLS civil engineer code, at $100,570 against $83,750 in Miami. See our Tampa structural engineer talent map.

Who hires structural engineers in Miami?

Structural firms such as Thornton Tomasetti and CHM Structural Engineers, multidiscipline firms such as Kimley-Horn, developers such as Mast Capital and PMG, general contractors such as John Moriarty & Associates, and public owners such as FDOT, Miami-Dade County and PortMiami.

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