Occupation deep dive / O*NET-SOC 17-2051.00 / Last verified June 2026
Will AI replace civil engineers?
ILO 2025 places civil engineers in the moderate exposure gradient. Routine analysis, drafting, and standard reports are exposed; on-site supervision, complex project coordination, and engineering judgement are augmentation-prone but not displaceable at task level.
AI impact on civil engineering jobs in 2025-2026
The direct answer: AI is changing civil engineering work at task level, not eliminating the occupation outright. ILO 2025 places civil engineers in the moderate generative-AI exposure gradient, 0 of the top 5 O*NET tasks are classified displaceable, and BLS projects employment to grow 6% through 2035.
ILO 2025 exposure
ModerateFour-band gradient, refined index
Displaceable top tasks
0 of 5Brookings 2024 task rubric
BLS 2025-2035
+6%Faster than average, projected employment change
Will civil engineers jobs grow or shrink by 2035?
The BLS Employment Projections 2025-2035 put civil engineers at +6% projected employment change, classified faster than average. BLS also projects about 22,700 openings each year on average over the decade, mostly from workers retiring or moving to other occupations, even where employment is flat or declining. This is the official US decade projection from the National Employment Matrix, distinct from the ILO 2025 AI-exposure gradient above. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-2035.
In its Occupational Outlook Handbook summary, BLS rounds this to +6% (faster than average) and reports a median annual wage of $100,840 (May 2025). BLS attributes the projected growth to continued US investment in infrastructure to upgrade bridges, roads, water systems, buildings, and other structures. Source: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook.
Is this the 2024-2034 or the 2025-2035 projection?
The current BLS projection round is 2025-2035, released on 27 August 2026 (USDL-26-1422). It supersedes the 2024-2034 round. This page shows the 2025-2035 figures for civil engineers. If you have seen a different percentage quoted for this occupation elsewhere, it is most likely the retired 2024-2034 number rather than a contradiction. Across the whole economy the new round projects total employment rising from 170.3 million to 176.2 million jobs, a gain of 5.9 million or 3.5 percent, which is well below the 10.9 percent recorded over 2015-2025. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-2035 news release.
The new round also matters for this site specifically. Alongside the 2025-2035 projections, BLS published its own AI exposure categories for the first time, sorting the 831 detailed occupations it projects into Low, Moderate, High and Very High relative exposure. BLS builds the categories from three theoretical sources, which ask whether AI capabilities could match an occupation's tasks, and two observed sources drawn from 2023-2025 Claude and Copilot usage mapped to those tasks. BLS is explicit that the categories are relative rankings against other occupations, not absolute risk levels and not employment forecasts, which is the same caveat this site applies to the ILO gradient above. The two are independent measures and will not always agree. Source: BLS AI exposure categories. Checked 7 September 2026.
personalise this exposure
The ILO national-average exposure for Civil Engineers is 45%. Adjust the four inputs below to see how your specific role characteristics shift the number up or down.
Years in this kind of role
5 years
Your current AI-tool usage
% of work that is routine / repeatable
50%
% of work requiring judgement / relationships
30%
MODERATE EXPOSURE
41%
personalised AI exposure score ยท -4% vs ILO baseline (45%)
adjustment breakdown
Years experience adjustment0%
AI tooling (moderate)-4%
Routine work share0%
Judgement / relational work share0%
Heavy AI tooling adoption reduces personalised exposure (you're already augmenting). Routine fractions above 50% raise exposure. Years of experience modestly insulate (institutional knowledge, judgement). Judgement / relational fractions reduce exposure most. The model adjusts the ILO baseline by these factors; treat as a personalised reading, not a precise forecast.
Panel 1 / Exposure
Moderate exposure
ILO 2025 places civil engineers in the moderate exposure gradient. Routine analysis, drafting, and standard reports are exposed; on-site supervision, complex project coordination, and engineering judgement are augmentation-prone but not displaceable at task level.
WEF 2025 / Top growing skills relevant to this role
Analytical thinking(Cognitive)
AI and big data(Technology)
Environmental stewardship(Ethics)
Brookings 2024 places civil engineering across the spectrum: routine analysis is exposed; on-site judgement, design accountability, and physical-system testing are augmentation-prone.
Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-2035; WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025. View methodology.
What this occupation does
Civil engineers perform engineering duties in planning, designing, and overseeing construction and maintenance of building structures and facilities. The role spans structural analysis, project planning, regulatory permitting, on-site supervision, and stakeholder coordination across infrastructure and building projects.
The exposure score in context
The ILO 2025 refined Generative AI Occupational Exposure Index places civil engineers in the moderate exposure gradient. ILO 2025 places civil engineers in the moderate exposure gradient. Routine analysis, drafting, and standard reports are exposed; on-site supervision, complex project coordination, and engineering judgement are augmentation-prone but not displaceable at task level.
The mapping uses ISCO-08 code 2142 (BLS-published SOC-to-ISCO crosswalk). The full methodology, including the dominant-match rule for one-to-many crosswalks, is at /methodology/#algorithm.
Growing: Manage and direct the construction, operations, or maintenance activities at project site. On-site management is physical and contextually constrained; not displaceable at task level.
Growing: Direct construction, operations, or maintenance activities at project site. Direction of construction work requires real-time physical judgement; augmentation-prone.
Growing: Provide technical advice to industrial or managerial personnel regarding design, construction, or program modifications or structural repairs. Technical-advisory work is high-judgement and grows in importance as AI handles more analysis.
Growing: Test soils or materials to determine the adequacy and strength of foundations, concrete, asphalt, or steel. Materials testing is physical and not in scope for generative AI displacement.
Changing: Compute load and grade requirements, water flow rates, or material stress factors to determine design specifications. AI-assisted computation is widely used; engineering accountability remains human.
What is growing in this role
The BLS Employment Projections 2025-2035 outlook for civil engineers is faster than average (+6% projected change). Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-2035.
Per the WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025, the top three growing skills relevant to this role are: Analytical thinking, AI and big data, Environmental stewardship. The skills are mapped to the occupation's O*NET skills profile.
Brookings 2024 places civil engineering across the spectrum: routine analysis is exposed; on-site judgement, design accountability, and physical-system testing are augmentation-prone.
Similar occupations
O*NET 30.2 lists the following related roles. Each links to its own deep dive where one is published.
This role sits primarily in the Manufacturing industry. The industry-level rollup includes the cross-occupation exposure profile and the BLS-published industry-level outlook.
How this assessment was made
The full methodology is at /methodology/: ILO 2025 refined index for the gradient, Brookings 2024 rubric for the task tags, BLS 2025-2035 for the growth outlook, WEF 2025 for the skills demand. The pre-empted critiques are at /how-to-argue-with-this/.
AI impact on civil engineering jobs: frequently asked questions
Will AI replace civil engineers in 2025-2026?
Not outright. The ILO 2025 refined Generative AI Occupational Exposure Index places civil engineers in the moderate exposure gradient, and none of the top 5 O*NET 30.2 tasks are classified fully displaceable: the exposed tasks are changing rather than disappearing. AI is changing civil engineering work at task level in 2025-2026 rather than eliminating the occupation.
Are civil engineering jobs growing or declining?
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment for civil engineers to grow 6% (faster than average) between 2025 and 2035. Even so, BLS projects about 22,700 openings for civil engineers each year on average over the decade, mostly to replace workers who retire or move to other occupations. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-2035, National Employment Matrix.
What does BLS project for civil engineers, 2025-2035?
The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook projects employment of civil engineers to grow 6% (faster than average) from 2025 to 2035, and reports a median annual wage of $100,840 (May 2025). About 22,700 openings are projected each year on average over the decade. BLS attributes the projected growth to continued US investment in infrastructure to upgrade bridges, roads, water systems, buildings, and other structures. Source: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook.
What skills are growing for civil engineers?
Per the WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025, the top growing skills relevant to this role are Analytical thinking, AI and big data, Environmental stewardship.
Is this the BLS 2024-2034 or 2025-2035 employment outlook for civil engineers?
The current round is 2025-2035, released by BLS on 27 August 2026 (USDL-26-1422), and it supersedes the 2024-2034 round. This page reports the 2025-2035 figures for civil engineers, so a different percentage quoted elsewhere is most likely the retired 2024-2034 number. Economy-wide, the 2025-2035 round projects total employment rising from 170.3 million to 176.2 million jobs, a gain of 5.9 million or 3.5 percent, against 10.9 percent over 2015-2025. Alongside it BLS published its own AI exposure categories for the first time, sorting the 831 detailed occupations it projects into Low, Moderate, High and Very High relative exposure, built from three theoretical sources and two observed sources drawn from 2023-2025 Claude and Copilot usage. BLS states these are relative rankings, not absolute risk levels or employment forecasts. Sources: BLS Employment Projections 2025-2035 news release; BLS AI exposure categories.
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