Hiring an environmental engineer in Milwaukee, WI

Employers in the Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI area pay environmental engineers a median of $86,360, with the middle half of the market between $78,020 and $107,320. Milwaukee residents working in architecture and engineering occupations report a median of $77,029, which is 11% below what the metro pays for this role.

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What does an environmental engineer earn here?

Place of work

What employers pay

Annual wages paid by employers in the Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI area. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
25th percentile	$78,020
Median	$86,360
75th percentile	$107,320

Half of environmental engineers in this area earn between $78,020 and $107,320. A band set below $78,020 competes for the bottom quarter of the market.

Place of residence

What Milwaukee residents earn

$77,029

Median earnings of Milwaukee residents working in architecture and engineering occupations, 4,968 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 11% 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 role pays well above the local residential norm, which usually means you can hire from inside Milwaukee rather than competing for commuters.

What does the role actually involve?

Core tasks

Design, or supervise the design of, systems, processes, or equipment for control, management, or remediation of water, air, or soil quality.
Assess the existing or potential environmental impact of land use projects on air, water, or land.
Collaborate with environmental scientists, planners, hazardous waste technicians, engineers, experts in law or business, or other specialists to address environmental problems.
Advise corporations or government agencies of procedures to follow in cleaning up contaminated sites to protect people and the environment.
Develop proposed project objectives and targets and report to management on progress in attaining them.

O*NET 29.1, task statements for SOC 17-2081.

Tools and technologies in demand

Autodesk AutoCAD, Business software applications, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft PowerPoint, Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D, Bentley MicroStation, C++.

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 Milwaukee?

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 26.6% of Milwaukee 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 Milwaukee commute runs 22.4 minutes, which is roughly how far your catchment reaches before candidates start saying no. 11.2% already work from home, so a fully onsite requirement here is competing against that.

How often do these jobs turn over?

In Milwaukee County, architectural, engineering and related services employs 4,953 and turns over 3.7% a quarter, with 267 hires against 216 separations. Average earnings in that industry run $9,596 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 environmental 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 $17,272 to $25,908 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.