# Civil Engineering Technologists and Technicians

US SOC code 17-3022. Markdown version of https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/17-3022

## In brief

In May 2025, [BLS](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip) counted **68,520** US civil engineering technologists and technicians, with median pay of **$64,950** a year. The earliest figure here is [an estimate](https://www.nationalacademies.org/read/23402/chapter/6) of **447,000** from 1971, not measured the same way as today's count. The last full technology era for civil engineering technologists and technicians: BIM + Autodesk Civil 3D + drone photogrammetry, 2008 to 2020.

Figures: Official statistic (latest count and pay); Researched context (earliest figure).

## What the sources say

### Official outlook

BLS projects employment to grow 3.2% from 2025 to 2035. Source: [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=17-3022&ioType=o) (Official statistic).

### AI exposure studies

- **47.7%** of this job's tasks are exposed to large language models. Not a forecast of job losses. [Eloundou and others, 2023](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv) (Official statistic)

Data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35.

## Civil Engineering Technologists and Technicians employment and pay by year

- On record since: 1870
- Latest US employment: 68,520 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [2]
- Latest US median pay: $64,950 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [4]
- Outlook: +3.2% by 2035. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 [12]

### All 26 years of cited US data

| Year | US employment | Annual pay (median unless marked) | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1971 | 447,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., National Academies Press [1] |
| 1974 | n/a | $10,200 (average) (estimate) | Est., National Academies Press [3] |
| 2000 | 821,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., National Academies Press [1] |
| 2003 | 90,060 | $38,050 | BLS OEWS May 2003 [2] |
| 2004 | 90,000 | $38,480 | BLS OEWS May 2004 [2] |
| 2005 | 90,390 | $39,210 | BLS OEWS May 2005 [2] |
| 2006 | 86,730 | $40,560 | BLS OEWS May 2006 [2] |
| 2007 | 88,030 | $42,580 | BLS OEWS May 2007 [2] |
| 2008 | 88,140 | $44,290 | BLS OEWS May 2008 [2] |
| 2009 | 82,690 | $45,970 | BLS OEWS May 2009 [2] |
| 2010 | 77,050 | $46,290 | BLS OEWS May 2010 [2] |
| 2011 | 71,890 | $46,900 | BLS OEWS May 2011 [2] |
| 2012 | 70,790 | $47,560 | BLS OEWS May 2012 [2] |
| 2013 | 69,830 | $47,780 | BLS OEWS May 2013 [2] |
| 2014 | 71,300 | $48,340 | BLS OEWS May 2014 [2] |
| 2015 | 71,440 | $49,260 | BLS OEWS May 2015 [2] |
| 2016 | 72,150 | $49,980 | BLS OEWS May 2016 [2] |
| 2017 | 71,430 | $51,620 | BLS OEWS May 2017 [2] |
| 2018 | 71,150 | $52,580 | BLS OEWS May 2018 [2] |
| 2019 | 68,870 | $53,410 | BLS OEWS May 2019 [2] |
| 2020 | 67,270 | $54,080 | BLS OEWS May 2020 [2] |
| 2021 | 64,170 | $58,320 | BLS OEWS May 2021 [2] |
| 2022 | 62,350 | $59,630 | BLS OEWS May 2022 [2] |
| 2023 | 63,560 | $60,700 | BLS OEWS May 2023 [2] |
| 2024 | 62,130 | $64,200 | BLS OEWS May 2024 [2] |
| 2025 | 68,520 | $64,950 | BLS OEWS May 2025 [2] |

## Sources (65)

### Employment series

1. [National Academies Press — "Engineering Technology Education in the United States," Chapter 4: Employment of Engineering Technology Talent (historical workforce data from 1971)](https://www.nationalacademies.org/read/23402/chapter/6), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
2. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)

### Wage series

3. [National Academies Press — "Engineering Technology Education in the United States," Chapter 4 (real earnings stability analysis, approximately $50,000 in 2015 dollars, 1974-2015 period)](https://www.nationalacademies.org/read/23402/chapter/6), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
4. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)

### Tool eras

5. [ASCE History and Heritage — "Book recreates 18th-century roots of US surveying" (survey instrument history)](https://www.asce.org/publications-and-news/civil-engineering-source/civil-engineering-magazine/article/2021/05/book-recreates-18th-century-roots-of-us-surveying), American Society of Civil Engineers
6. [History.com — "Congress approves Federal-Aid Highway Act, June 26, 1956" (Interstate System authorization and workforce context)](https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/june-26/congress-approves-federal-highway-act), HISTORY
7. [National Academies Press — "Engineering Technology Education in the United States," Chapter 4 (workforce growth from 447,000 in 1971)](https://www.nationalacademies.org/read/23402/chapter/6), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
8. [Scan2CAD — "How CAD Has Evolved Since 1982: Past, Present and Future" (AutoCAD release history and industry adoption)](https://www.scan2cad.com/blog/cad/cad-evolved-since-1982/), Scan2CAD
9. [The American Surveyor — "History of RTK, Part 4: Birth of a Utility" (Trimble commercial RTK products, 1993-2000)](https://amerisurv.com/2021/10/12/history-of-rtk-part-4-birth-of-a-utility/), The American Surveyor
10. [ASEE/ASCELIBRARY — "Building Information Modeling in Construction: Current Practices and Their Implications for Construction Engineering Education" (BIM adoption circa 2008-2010)](https://peer.asee.org/building-information-modeling-in-construction-current-practices-and-their-implications-for-construction-engineering-education.pdf), American Society for Engineering Education
11. [O\*NET 17-3022.00 — Technology skills and tools listed for Civil Engineering Technologists and Technicians (2024-2025 current tool set)](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/17-3022.00), O\*NET / BLS

### Forecasts and exposure studies

12. [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35, National Employment Matrix: 17-3022 Civil engineering technologists and technicians (2025: 70.9 thousand; 2035: 73.2 thousand; +3.2%)](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=17-3022&ioType=o), Bureau of Labor Statistics
13. [Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), "GPTs are GPTs", occupation-level exposure data occ\_level.csv (O\*NET-SOC 17-3022.00, human-rated β 0.477)](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv), OpenAI

### Historical notes

14. [HISTORY — "Congress approves Federal-Aid Highway Act, June 26, 1956" (Interstate System authorization)](https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/june-26/congress-approves-federal-highway-act), HISTORY
15. [Scan2CAD — "How CAD Has Evolved Since 1982" (AutoCAD 1.0 launch, December 1982, $1,000 per seat)](https://www.scan2cad.com/blog/cad/cad-evolved-since-1982/), Scan2CAD
16. [The American Surveyor — "History of RTK, Part 4: Birth of a Utility" (Trimble commercial RTK, 1993-1994 milestones)](https://amerisurv.com/2021/10/12/history-of-rtk-part-4-birth-of-a-utility/), The American Surveyor
17. [National Academies Press — "Engineering Technology Education in the United States," Chapter 4 (BLS OEWS 2013 employment: 69,830)](https://www.nationalacademies.org/read/23402/chapter/6), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
18. [Biden White House Archives — "Fact Sheet: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal" (November 6, 2021, infrastructure investment breakdown: $110B roads/bridges, $55B water)](https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/11/06/fact-sheet-the-bipartisan-infrastructure-deal/), Biden White House Archives (National Archives)

### Predecessors & successors

19. [ASCE — "Book recreates 18th-century roots of US surveying" (survey party roles and career paths)](https://www.asce.org/publications-and-news/civil-engineering-source/civil-engineering-magazine/article/2021/05/book-recreates-18th-century-roots-of-us-surveying), American Society of Civil Engineers

### Present-day analysis

- [Eloundou et al. 2024 — GPTs are GPTs (Science)](https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130), accessed 2026-05-21
- [O\*NET 30.3 — US Department of Labor](https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html), accessed 2026-05-21

How to read these figures: https://futurehistory.earth/methodology. Every figure links to its own source; gaps stay gaps.