How much do geotechnical engineers make in 2026?
There is no separate BLS occupation for geotechnical engineering, so the wage row here is the civil engineer series: OEWS May 2025 gives the SOC 17-2051 national median as $100,840 a year ($48.48 an hour), with the bottom 10% near $68,240 and the top 10% at $163,220. That figure covers all 367,840 civil engineers, including land development, municipal and transportation practice — say plainly that geotechnical engineers are pooled inside it rather than measured separately. Within that pool, geotechnical practice sits above the middle for two reasons. First, it is a specialism most civil graduates do not enter, usually requiring a master's degree in soil mechanics and foundation engineering, so the supply is narrower. Second, the liability is severe and asymmetric: ground conditions are inferred from a limited number of borings, and a wrong inference about settlement, slope stability or liquefaction produces failures that are expensive and sometimes catastrophic. Firms pay for judgement that reduces that risk. Pay is highest in seismic regions, on deep-foundation and marine work, on tunnelling and on large infrastructure programmes, and lowest in routine residential subdivision investigation. The PE licence is the entry gate and a specialist master's is close to a second one. Employment is projected to grow 5.0% through 2034 with roughly 23,600 openings a year. → Full geotechnical engineer career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $100,840 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Geotechnical Engineers earn a national median $100,840/yr ($48.48/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 17-2051); the P10 to P90 range is $68,240 to $163,220.
- Geotechnical engineers have no separate BLS code — they are pooled into the civil engineer series alongside land development, municipal and transportation practice, so treat $100,840 as the pool's midpoint, not the specialism's.
- The specialism sits above that midpoint because entry usually requires a master's degree in soil mechanics and because the liability from a wrong ground inference is severe and hard to insure away.
- Seismic design, deep foundations, marine work and tunnelling pay at the top of the band; routine residential subdivision investigation sits at the bottom.
US Geotechnical Engineer Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do geotechnical engineers earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute the published percentile range across the credential tiers this role actually hires at.
Level medians are aligned to the BLS OEWS May 2025 percentile distribution for SOC 17-2051; GlobalCybers does not yet publish a verified placement sample for this role, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
How the numbers on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 17-2051, United States national estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them.
Level and certification medians: distributed across the published BLS percentile range for this SOC code (P10 through P90) according to the credential tiers this occupation actually hires at. They are modeled reference points, not separately surveyed wages.
State and metro figures: modeled — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers state wage index, and for metros by the published metro index for that state. They are estimates of local pay, not BLS state or metropolitan-area observations, and are labelled as modeled in the tables below.
No verified placement sample:GlobalCybers does not yet publish a placement median for this role, so no "verified" figure appears anywhere on this page.
Pay by Career Level
How much does a geotechnical engineer earn at each career stage?
Geotechnical progression is a move from collecting ground data to interpreting it and finally to taking responsibility for the interpretation. Each median is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 17-2051.
By State
Which states pay geotechnical engineers the most in 2026?
These are modeled state estimates — the BLS national civil engineer median scaled by the GlobalCybers state wage index — not BLS state observations, and they describe the whole civil pool rather than geotechnical practice specifically. Geotechnical pay is strongly influenced by ground conditions and seismic design requirements, which vary by state in ways a wage index cannot capture.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($115,970), the highest-paying state shown. See all role salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay geotechnical engineers the most?
Modeled metro estimates: the national civil median scaled by the state wage index and then by that state's published metro index. They estimate local wage levels and are not BLS metropolitan-area observations. Metros with soft ground, seismic hazard or major tunnelling programmes concentrate the highest-paying geotechnical work.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise a geotechnical engineer’s pay the most?
Median annual pay before and after each credential, based on GlobalCybers placement data cross-referenced with BLS. License upgrades move the needle most; stackable certs add on top.
Impacts are not additive, the licensing rows share the same career ladder. Browse all 167 certifications →
Trade Comparison
How does geotechnical engineer pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Geotechnical Engineers sit mid-pack on median but carry one of the widest P10–P90 spreads, licensing and specialization drive the upside.
BLS OEWS May 2025. Verify geotechnical engineer wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a geotechnical engineer actually take home after taxes?
The medians above are gross base wage.
Estimates use 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction, and 7.65% FICA. Actual take-home varies with filing status, deductions, and local tax.
FAQ
Geotechnical Engineer Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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