Civil Engineers salary in North Carolina

The median annual wage for Civil Engineers in North Carolina was $93,590 in 2024, about 2.7% below the US median of $96,198. That gap is smaller than it looks once you factor in cost of living. North Carolina's price index sits at 95, meaning typical expenses run about 5% below the national baseline. In real terms, the $93,590 median buys slightly more here than the same dollar figure would in an average-cost state.

The spread between low and high earners is wide. Civil Engineers at the 10th percentile earned $65,160, while those at the 90th earned $145,010. Top earners made more than twice what the lowest-paid did. That kind of range usually reflects differences in experience, project scale, and whether an engineer works in the public sector or for a private design firm. Entry-level roles in state or municipal agencies tend to anchor the lower end; senior project engineers on large infrastructure contracts push toward the top.

The mean wage of $100,500 runs about $6,900 above the median. A smaller group of higher-paid engineers pulls the average up, which is typical for a field where seniority and specialization matter a lot.

BLS projects employment for Civil Engineers to grow 5% between 2024 and 2034, which puts the outlook in the faster-than-average category. North Carolina's infrastructure spending, driven in part by ongoing population growth in the Charlotte and Research Triangle metro areas, likely supports that trajectory, though the projection is a national figure and regional results can differ.

With 12,670 Civil Engineers employed in the state, North Carolina has one of the larger concentrations in the Southeast. The combination of below-average living costs and a reasonable national-comparable wage makes the overall compensation picture more competitive than the headline median suggests.