Civil Engineers Salary in San Diego, CA (2024)
Civil Engineers in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro area earn a median of $106,350 per year ($51.13 per hour) based on 6,390 jobs counted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2024. That is +6.8% against the national median of $99,590 for this occupation.
Pay distribution
The median is a single point on a wide curve. The table below shows where civil engineers actually sit across the pay range in San Diego, CA, from the bottom decile to the top.
| Percentile | Hourly | Annual | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $37.50 | $78,000 | |
| 25th percentile | $42.86 | $89,140 | |
| Median | $51.13 | $106,350 | half earn more, half earn less |
| 75th percentile | $63.13 | $131,320 | |
| 90th percentile | $78.88 | $164,060 | |
| Average (mean) | $56.10 | $116,680 |
How San Diego, CA compares
The local median of $106,350 runs +6.8% above the US median of $99,590 for this occupation; it pays 88.0% more than the metro-wide median across all jobs ($56,580); within the metro it ranks 115th of 653 detailed occupations by median pay.
| Benchmark | Median annual | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| San Diego, CA — this occupation | $106,350 | — |
| US median, same occupation (all areas) | $99,590 | +6.8% |
| San Diego, CA — all occupations | $56,580 | +88.0% |
| Highest metro in the US for this job | $126,560 | -16.0% |
At a location quotient of 1.81, this occupation is over-represented locally: the metro has about 181% of the national share of these workers.
High confidence The relative standard error on this estimate is 2.6%, which is a tight margin — the figure is stable enough to plan around.
Ranked 115th of 653 detailed occupations in the metro by median annual wage.
Highest-paying jobs in San Diego, CA
To put $106,350 in context, these are the best-paid detailed occupations in the same metro area. This occupation sits 115th.
| Occupation | Median annual | Employment |
|---|---|---|
| Dentists, All Other Specialists | $220,840 | 50 |
| Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric | $215,010 | 170 |
| Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers | $205,650 | 180 |
| Natural Sciences Managers | $199,590 | 2,630 |
| Computer and Information Systems Managers | $193,370 | 7,620 |
| Podiatrists | $187,010 | 60 |
| Architectural and Engineering Managers | $185,550 | 3,690 |
| Dentists, General | $176,970 | 1,950 |
| Marketing Managers | $171,590 | 4,390 |
| Computer Hardware Engineers | $169,230 | 3,200 |
Where civil engineers earn the most
Across the 24 metro areas with released data for this occupation, medians run from $82,110 to $126,560. These are the top markets.
| Metro area | Median annual | Employment |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $126,560 | 9,920 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | $109,250 | 3,620 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $107,930 | 7,250 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | $106,350 | 6,390 |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | $106,130 | 14,570 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $105,290 | 16,390 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | $104,750 | 8,300 |
| Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | $104,360 | 3,520 |
| Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | $103,830 | 2,680 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | $102,190 | 3,140 |
See the full national picture on the Civil Engineers salary by metro page.
Frequently asked questions
What is the median salary for civil engineers in San Diego, CA?
The median annual wage is $106,350, or $51 per hour. That means half of the civil engineers working in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro area earn more than this figure and half earn less. The average is $116,680.
What do the highest and lowest paid civil engineers in San Diego, CA earn?
The bottom 10% earn $78,000 or less, while the top 10% earn $164,060 or more — a spread of $86,060 between the two ends of the distribution. The middle half of workers sit between $89,140 and $131,320.
Is civil engineers pay in San Diego, CA above the local average?
Yes, it is 88.0% above the all-occupation median for the metro, which is $56,580. That comparison is the fairer one for judging local purchasing power, because it holds the metro's overall cost and wage level constant.
How does San Diego, CA pay compare with the rest of the US for this job?
At $106,350 the metro median is 6.8% higher than the US median of $99,590 for civil engineers. Across the 24 metro areas covered here, this occupation ranges from $82,110 to $126,560.
How many civil engineers work in San Diego, CA?
BLS counts about 6,390 people in this occupation in the metro area, or 4.17 jobs per 1,000 total jobs. At a location quotient of 1.81, this occupation is over-represented locally: the metro has about 181% of the national share of these workers.
About these figures
Figures come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey for 2024 (employment relative standard error 6.6%). OEWS measures what employers pay, not what any individual earns; it excludes self-employed workers, and it does not adjust for local cost of living.
Read the full methodology, or the original data at bls.gov/oes.