Hiring a civil engineering technologist in St. Paul, MN

Employers in the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI area pay civil engineering technologists and technicians a median of $79,890, with the middle half of the market between $72,400 and $94,000. St. Paul residents working in architecture and engineering occupations report a median of $83,401, which is 4% above what the metro pays for this role.

What does a civil engineering technologist earn here?

Place of work

What employers pay

Annual wages paid by employers in the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI area. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
25th percentile	$72,400
Median	$79,890
75th percentile	$94,000

Half of civil engineering technologists and technicians in this area earn between $72,400 and $94,000. A band set below $72,400 competes for the bottom quarter of the market.

Place of residence

What St. Paul residents earn

$83,401

Median earnings of St. Paul residents working in architecture and engineering occupations, 3,759 people. Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011. Where people live, not where they work, so it is not the same measurement as the wages beside it.

The 4% figure is not a pay gap. ACS counts the civilian employed population 16 and over, part-time and part-year work included; OEWS counts wage-and-salary jobs only. The two populations differ, so read this number against other cities rather than as a shortfall: the same definitional difference applies to every city equally, which is what makes a city-to-city reading sound.

The two sit close together, so pay alone is unlikely to be what wins or loses this hire.

What does the role actually involve?

Core tasks

Calculate dimensions, square footage, profile and component specifications, and material quantities, using calculator or computer.
Read and review project blueprints and structural specifications to determine dimensions of structure or system and material requirements.
Draft detailed dimensional drawings and design layouts for projects to ensure conformance to specifications.
Confer with supervisor to determine project details such as plan preparation, acceptance testing, and evaluation of field conditions.
Analyze proposed site factors and design maps, graphs, tracings, and diagrams to illustrate findings.

O*NET 29.1, task statements for SOC 17-3022.

Tools and technologies in demand

Autodesk AutoCAD, Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D, Bentley MicroStation, Geographic information system GIS systems, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Autodesk Revit, ESRI ArcGIS software.

O*NET 29.1, flagged in demand or hot for this occupation. Useful as a screen, not as a checklist.

Is the talent actually in St. Paul?

This is a job zone three: medium preparation needed occupation. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

It does not require a degree, which widens the pool considerably. For context, 43.5% of St. Paul adults hold one. Census ACS 5-year 2023, table S1501.

The average St. Paul commute runs 22.3 minutes, which is roughly how far your catchment reaches before candidates start saying no. 18.3% already work from home, so a fully onsite requirement here is competing against that.

How often do these jobs turn over?

In Ramsey County, architectural, engineering and related services employs 4,901 and turns over 4.5% a quarter, with 282 hires against 219 separations. Average earnings in that industry run $8,643 a month. Census LEHD Quarterly Workforce Indicators, 2024 Q1, NAICS 5413.

That figure covers every occupation in the industry, not this role alone, so read it as the local churn rate rather than as a number about civil engineering technologists and technicians. It still tells you what you are hiring into: a low-churn market, where people do not move often and passive candidates are the whole game.

What does the search cost?

The fee is set by the seniority of the role, never by salary and never by location. Across all six tiers it runs $6,240 to $54,340 per search. A contingency firm hiring at this role's median would bill roughly $15,978 to $23,967 on the first year salary alone.

One owner runs the search from market map to signed offer. Searches typically fill in 23 to 35 days, which is a typical window rather than a promise, and the replacement guarantee runs 45 days at 50% off.

Price this search

Eight questions about the role. Your tier range appears on screen.

Hiring a civil engineering technologist somewhere else?

Same role, different market. The wage band moves with the metro.

Other architecture and engineering roles in St. Paul

St. Paul is the 2th largest of 2 Minnesota cities in this dataset.