Occupation salary profile

Urban and Regional Planners

SOC 19-3051 BLS OEWS May 2025 H-1B LCAs, last 12 months

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

National median · BLS
$89,320
▲ +6.69% YoY
H-1B sponsor median
$81,914
▲ +1.5% YoY · 220 LCAs
Average salary · BLS
$94,750
Mean annual wage
U.S. employment
44,230
Jobs (BLS)
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Enter your pay and a location to see where you stand against BLS and H-1B pay, your estimated take-home pay, and your purchasing power.

Pay range for Urban and Regional Planners

Annual base pay at each percentile. BLS covers all U.S. workers in this occupation; H-1B covers 220 certified Labor Condition Applications filed by sponsoring employers in the last 12 months.

Percentile All U.S. workers (BLS) H-1B sponsored
10th — entry pay$60,010$62,587
25th$72,020$70,000
Median (50th)$89,320$81,914
75th$110,030$100,645
90th — top pay$134,490$120,000
H-1B sponsors pay a median of $81,914 for Urban and Regional Planners — 8.3% below the BLS national median of $89,320.

Hourly ⇄ annual pay

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Based on hrs/week × weeks/year = 2,080 hrs
Projections 2025–2035

Job outlook for Urban and Regional Planners

BLS projects employment of urban and regional planners to grow 3.9% from 2025 to 2035, about the same as the 3.5% average for all occupations. About 3,200 openings are projected each year, on average, from new jobs and from replacing workers who retire or move to other occupations.

Jobs 2025 → 2035
45,800 → 47,600
+1,800 jobs
Projected change
+3.9%
All occupations: +3.5%
Openings per year
3,200
Average, 2025–2035
Typical entry education
Master's degree
No related experience required
Self-employed
0.9% of workers (2025)
Preparation needed (O*NET Job Zone 5)
Extensive Preparation Needed. Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Fastest-growing jobs → Best-paying jobs that need a master's degree →

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–2035 · BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook →

H-1B sponsored pay

Pay by H-1B wage level

Employers assign every H-1B filing a Department of Labor prevailing-wage level, from Level I (entry) to Level IV (fully competent). Pay rises steeply with level.

H-1B median $81,914
Change vs prior year +1.5%
After inflation (CPI-U) -1.58%
Wage level LCAs Share P25 Median P75
Level I 114 51.8% $64,548 $72,388 $81,957
Level II 51 23.2% $77,647 $86,731 $99,281
Level III 30 13.6% $90,974 $103,178 $112,060
Level IV 20 9.1% $107,725 $129,126 $159,750
H-1B job titles

Salaries by job title in Urban and Regional Planners

The 3 most-filed job titles inside SOC 19-3051, from 220 H-1B filings. Seniority words and level numbers are grouped (“Senior Data Engineer II” counts as Data Engineer). Tap a title for its full range, wage levels and the exact titles employers used.

Job title LCAs Share P25 Median P75 YoY
Planner 29 13.18% $65,465 $74,800 $96,000 +7.67%
Urban Designer 19 8.64% $71,625 $75,086 $84,120 +3.01%
Urban Planner 10 4.55% $71,361 $75,221 $82,155 +0.19%

Titles are cleaned from the employer's own LCA text (codes and typos removed, nothing invented). Rows need 10+ filings in this SOC.

Skills & tools

Skills needed for Urban and Regional Planners

How important each skill and knowledge area is for this job, rated by O*NET on a 1–5 scale from surveys of workers and occupational analysts.

Top skills
  • Active Listening4.1
  • Judgment and Decision Making4.1
  • Speaking4.1
  • Critical Thinking4.0
  • Reading Comprehension4.0
  • Systems Analysis4.0
  • Writing3.9
  • Complex Problem Solving3.8
  • Systems Evaluation3.8
  • Social Perceptiveness3.6
Top knowledge areas
  • Law and Government4.6
  • English Language4.4
  • Geography4.2
  • Transportation4.0
  • Communications and Media3.6
  • Administration and Management3.4
  • Sociology and Anthropology3.4
  • Customer and Personal Service3.3
Software and technology used
Autodesk AutoCADESRI ArcGIS softwareMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft Office softwareMicrosoft OutlookMicrosoft PowerPointGeographic information system GIS systemsAdobe AcrobatAdobe Creative Cloud softwareAdobe IllustratorAdobe InDesignAdobe PhotoshopBentley MicroStationDassault Systemes SolidWorksExtensible markup language XMLHypertext markup language HTMLMicrosoft AccessMicrosoft Project

Highlighted = in demand: frequently listed in employer job postings for this occupation (O*NET).

Source: 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. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.

About the job

What urban and regional planners do

  • Design, promote, or administer government plans or policies affecting land use, zoning, public utilities, community facilities, housing, or transportation.
  • Advise planning officials on project feasibility, cost-effectiveness, regulatory conformance, or possible alternatives.
  • Create, prepare, or requisition graphic or narrative reports on land use data, including land area maps overlaid with geographic variables, such as population density.
  • Hold public meetings with government officials, social scientists, lawyers, developers, the public, or special interest groups to formulate, develop, or address issues regarding land use or community plans.
  • Mediate community disputes or assist in developing alternative plans or recommendations for programs or projects.
  • Recommend approval, denial, or conditional approval of proposals.
  • Conduct field investigations, surveys, impact studies, or other research to compile and analyze data on economic, social, regulatory, or physical factors affecting land use.
  • Evaluate proposals for infrastructure projects or other development for environmental impact or sustainability.
Also called
Community Development PlannerPlannerPlanning ConsultantPlanning TechnicianCity PlannerCommunity PlannerDevelopment TechnicianHousing Development SpecialistNeighborhood PlannerRegional Planner
More job titles for this occupation (25)
Campus PlannerCity DesignerCity Planning EngineerCommunity Development TechnicianCommunity Planning TechnicianDeveloper AdvocateEconomic DeveloperEconomic Development CoordinatorHousing Grant AnalystHousing LiaisonLand Use PlannerOccupancy PlannerPlanning OfficialPlanning SpecialistProgram Services PlannerRegional Economic LiaisonRegional Facilities SpecialistRegional LiaisonRegional Transfer LiaisonSustainable Communities DesignerSustainable Development Policy AnalystTown PlannerTraffic ExpertUrban DesignerUrban Planner

Source: O*NET 31.0 (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0). These are general job titles, not H-1B filings; for titles employers actually filed, see “Job titles” above.