SOC 19-3051.00

    Urban and Regional Planners

    Develop comprehensive plans and programs for use of land and physical facilities of jurisdictions, such as towns, cities, counties, and metropolitan areas.

    Median pay
    $89,320
    Growth
    +3.9%
    As fast as average
    Openings a year
    3,200
    Typical education
    Master's degree

    Data verified Nov 2026 · CollegesRef 2026–27 edition

    Source: BLS 2025 wages · 2025–35 projections

    See the pathway

    Annual pay range

    Lowest 10% earn less than
    $60,010
    Median
    $89,320
    Highest 10% earn more than
    $134,490
    National wages for all workers in this occupation. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.

    44,230 people work in this occupation.

    What urban and regional planners do

    Job Zone 5: Extensive preparation

    Develop comprehensive plans and programs for use of land and physical facilities of jurisdictions, such as towns, cities, counties, and metropolitan areas.

    Most need a graduate degree, such as a master's, PhD, MD or JD.

    Interest profile

    Realistic (R)
    37 / 100
    Investigative (I) · strongest
    72 / 100
    Artistic (A)
    34 / 100
    Social (S)
    34 / 100
    Enterprising (E)
    58 / 100
    Conventional (C)
    49 / 100
    How strongly each interest area describes the work, from O*NET (scores rescaled to 0–100). The interest code lists the strongest areas in order.

    Interest code IEC. Compare it with yours

    What you'd do

    Getting Information
    91
    Communicating with People Outside the Organization
    90
    Making Decisions and Solving Problems
    90
    Developing Objectives and Strategies
    88
    Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
    87
    Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards
    86
    Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge
    84
    Analyzing Data or Information
    83
    Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships
    82
    Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others
    82
    Work activities rated by importance for this occupation, O*NET (0–100).

    Skills and strengths

    Skills

    • Active Listening
    • Judgment and Decision Making
    • Speaking
    • Critical Thinking
    • Reading Comprehension
    • Systems Analysis
    • Writing
    • Complex Problem Solving
    • Systems Evaluation
    • Social Perceptiveness

    Knowledge

    • Law and Government
    • English Language
    • Geography
    • Transportation
    • Communications and Media
    • Administration and Management
    • Sociology and Anthropology
    • Customer and Personal Service
    • Computers and Electronics
    • Design

    Abilities

    • Oral Comprehension
    • Oral Expression
    • Problem Sensitivity
    • Speech Clarity
    • Written Comprehension
    • Written Expression
    • Deductive Reasoning
    • Inductive Reasoning
    • Near Vision
    • Speech Recognition

    Work styles

    • Dependability
    • Cooperation
    • Integrity
    • Attention to Detail
    • Intellectual Curiosity
    • Adaptability
    • Achievement Orientation
    • Innovation
    • Social Orientation
    • Cautiousness

    Also called

    Campus Planner · City Designer · City Planner · City Planning Engineer · Community Development Planner · Community Development Technician · Community Planner · Community Planning Technician · Developer Advocate · Development Technician

    Career pathway

    From your interests to urban and regional planners

    Interests that fit the work, the career, majors that lead there and colleges whose graduates in those majors earn the most. Hover or focus a step to follow one path.

    1. Interests

    2. This career

      • Urban and Regional Planners$89,320 median pay

    3. Majors

    4. Colleges

    College Scorecard program outcomes

    Colleges with strong outcomes

    Programs that lead to this career, ranked by what their graduates earn four years after finishing. Earnings are for graduates who received federal aid.

    1. 1University of Southern California USC logo
      University of Southern California USC

      Los Angeles, CA · Real Estate Development · Bachelor's

      1 yr after
      $80,927
      4 yrs after
      $107,292
      Median debt
      $12,000
    2. 2Barry University logo
      Barry University

      Miami, FL · Public Administration · Bachelor's

      1 yr after
      $76,893
      4 yrs after
      $97,702
      Median debt
      $37,255
    3. 3Syracuse University logo
      Syracuse University

      Syracuse, NY · Public Administration · Bachelor's

      1 yr after
      $61,347
      4 yrs after
      $89,732
      Median debt
      $21,500
    4. 4
      California State University-Northridge CSUN

      Northridge, CA · Public Administration · Bachelor's

      1 yr after
      $84,412
      4 yrs after
      $85,789
      Median debt
      $34,173
    5. 5Columbia University in the City of New York logo
      Columbia University in the City of New York

      New York, NY · Sustainability Studies · Bachelor's

      1 yr after
      $80,080
      4 yrs after
      $85,545
      Median debt
      $27,000
    6. 6
      New York University NYU

      New York, NY · Urban Studies/Affairs · Bachelor's

      1 yr after
      Not reported
      4 yrs after
      $81,123
      Median debt
      Not reported
    7. 7California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo SLO logo
      California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo SLO

      San Luis Obispo, CA · City/Urban, Community, and Regional Planning · Bachelor's

      1 yr after
      $59,601
      4 yrs after
      $80,820
      Median debt
      $18,500
    8. 8Barnard College logo
      Barnard College

      New York, NY · Urban Studies/Affairs · Bachelor's

      1 yr after
      $76,413
      4 yrs after
      $79,807
      Median debt
      $13,192

    Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard field-of-study data, 2025. Programs with few graduates are not listed.

    NCES CIP–SOC crosswalk

    Majors that lead here

    Related programs by four-digit CIP code. They are common routes in, not the only ones.

    CareerOneStop

    Certifications, licenses and pay by state

    What urban and regional planners may need beyond a degree, where a license is required, and what the work pays in each state.

    Certifications

    Core certifications employers recognise for this work.

    Search all certifications on CareerOneStop

    Training

    Programs of study that prepare people for this work.

    • City/Urban, Community, and Regional Planning
    • Design for Human Health
    • Real Estate Development
    • Sustainability Studies
    • Sustainable Design/Architecture
    • Transportation and Infrastructure Planning/Studies
    • Urban Studies/Affairs

    Find training near you on CareerOneStop

    Licenses by state

    2 states list a license for this work. Open your state for the license and the agency that issues it.

    Check license requirements on CareerOneStop

    Data from CareerOneStop, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor (Employment and Training Administration, with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development). Retrieved November 9, 2026.

    Your plan

    Build my pathway plan

    Courses, majors, colleges, scholarships and a timeline for this career, built from your profile.

    Related careers

    Careers with similar work, interests or skills.

    All careers

    Sources and attribution

    Every figure on this page comes from these public datasets. Missing values are shown as not reported, never estimated.

    O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. CollegesRef has modified all or some of this information.

    Data from CareerOneStop, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor (Employment and Training Administration, with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development). Retrieved November 9, 2026.

    Page data updated November 5, 2026.