Hiring a civil engineer in Worcester, MA

Employers in the Worcester, MA area pay civil engineers a median of $101,770, with the middle half of the market between $80,800 and $126,380. Worcester residents working in architecture and engineering occupations report a median of $92,670, which is 9% below what the metro pays for this role.

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What does a civil engineer earn here?

Place of work

What employers pay

Annual wages paid by employers in the Worcester, MA area. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
25th percentile	$80,800
Median	$101,770
75th percentile	$126,380

Half of civil engineers in this area earn between $80,800 and $126,380. A band set below $80,800 competes for the bottom quarter of the market.

Place of residence

What Worcester residents earn

$92,670

Median earnings of Worcester residents working in architecture and engineering occupations, 2,435 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 9% 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

Direct engineering activities, ensuring compliance with environmental, safety, or other governmental regulations.
Manage and direct the construction, operations, or maintenance activities at project site.
Inspect project sites to monitor progress and ensure conformance to design specifications and safety or sanitation standards.
Compute load and grade requirements, water flow rates, or material stress factors to determine design specifications.
Plan and design transportation or hydraulic systems or structures, using computer-assisted design or drawing tools.

O*NET 29.1, task statements for SOC 17-2051.

Tools and technologies in demand

Autodesk AutoCAD, Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D, Autodesk Revit, Bentley MicroStation, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft PowerPoint.

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 Worcester?

This is a job zone four: considerable preparation needed occupation. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

That matters here, because 34.1% of Worcester adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher. That is a workable pool, but the search will reach beyond the city line. Census ACS 5-year 2023, table S1501.

The average Worcester commute runs 25.1 minutes, which is roughly how far your catchment reaches before candidates start saying no. 10.7% already work from home, so a fully onsite requirement here is competing against that.

How often do these jobs turn over?

In Worcester County, architectural, engineering and related services employs 2,500 and turns over 6.4% a quarter, with 128 hires against 160 separations. Average earnings in that industry run $8,078 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 engineers. 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 $20,354 to $30,531 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.