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Civil Engineering Technologists and Technicians

Architecture and Engineering · SOC 17-3022

7.8% AI Exposure — Medium
$64,950
Median Annual Salary
Average
O*NET Outlook
7,700
Proj. Annual Openings
68,520
Employment (OEWS 2025)
-0.1%/yr
Empl. growth (2019–2025)
92/100
AI Resiliency Score

AI exposure from the Anthropic Economic Index (2025); salary from BLS; skills from O*NET. See /sources.

Decision card

Career Evidence Passport

SOC 17-3022 evidence across exposure, wages, projections, postings, certified LCAs, skills, and transitions.

Proxy / seed data labeledDescriptive-only
SOC exposure
7.8%
Medium · Anthropic AEI
Automation friction
49/100
Moderate friction; broad SOC seed ORS job-requirements coverage.
Wages
$64,950
H-1B offered wage $68,786; LCAs are filings.
Projected openings
7,700
BLS EP 2024–2034; employment change +2.1%.
Observed/proxy demand
19
FY2025 certified LCAs; 10,236 postings in 2025.

Skill evidence

Critical ThinkingReading ComprehensionActive ListeningMathematicsSpeaking
  • H-1B values are certified Labor Condition Applications, not visa approvals.
  • Job postings are seed-static / seed-derived; treat as provider-ready proxy coverage until observed provider data is wired in.
  • Transition matches are directional skill-overlap context, not placement guarantees.
  • This release is a FutureGrid broad-SOC seed derived from public BLS ORS requirement concepts and categories, not direct occupation-level ORS survey estimates. It describes job requirements, not worker ability, AI capability, or displacement probability. Automation friction is a FutureGrid derived score and should be read alongside exposure, demand, wage, and projection signals.

Best transitions from here

Explore all pathways

Lower AI-exposure roles that reuse your skills, ranked by a transition score (skills that transfer, safety gain, pay and retraining effort).

AI Exposure Analysis

AI Exposure7.8%
AI Resiliency92/100
Exposure BandMedium
Sector Avg. Exposure4.5%

Across AI measures

Multiple exposure lenses for this occupation.

50.9%
Consensus
Actual adoption · Anthropic7.8%
AI capability · OpenAI59.1%
AI ability · AIOE85.8%
Automation baseline (2013) · Frey & Osborne75%

AI could do ~59.1% of this role but only ~7.8% is currently done with AI — a large capability-vs-adoption gap.

Top Skills

1.Critical Thinking
2.Reading Comprehension
3.Active Listening
4.Mathematics
5.Speaking

H-1B Visa Sponsorship Demand

View full H-1B trends →

Certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications naming this occupation, FY2016–FY2025. A descriptive high-skill labor-demand signal — employer filings, not visa approvals or individual outcomes. Note: one LCA can cover multiple worker positions.

322
Decade Total (Certified LCAs)
19
FY2025 Volume
0% of all H-1B filings in FY2025
$68,786
Median Offered Wage (Latest Year)
#250 of 776
Rank by Total Volume
H-1B filing volume, FY2016–FY2025

O*NET occupation profile

What this work involves

Apply theory and principles of civil engineering in planning, designing, and overseeing construction and maintenance of structures and facilities under the direction of engineering staff or physical scientists.

Common titles: Civil Designer, Civil Engineering Assistant, Civil Engineering Technician, Design Technician, Engineer Technician, Engineering Assistant

Representative Tasks

  • Calculate dimensions, square footage, profile and component specifications, and material quantities, using calculator or computer.
  • Read and review project blueprints and structural specifications to determine dimensions of structure or system and material requirements.
  • Draft detailed dimensional drawings and design layouts for projects to ensure conformance to specifications.
  • Confer with supervisor to determine project details such as plan preparation, acceptance testing, and evaluation of field conditions.
  • Analyze proposed site factors and design maps, graphs, tracings, and diagrams to illustrate findings.

Detailed Work Activities

  • Estimate technical or resource requirements for development or production projects.
  • Review technical documents to plan work.
  • Inspect facilities or sites to determine if they meet specifications or standards.
  • Create graphical representations of civil structures.
  • Test characteristics of materials or structures.

Tools & Technologies

Autodesk AutoCAD · hotAutodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D · hotBentley MicroStation · hotESRI ArcGIS software · hotMicrosoft Outlook · hotAutodesk Revit · hotMicrosoft PowerPoint · hotMicrosoft Visual Basic · hotGeographic information system GIS systemsEmail software

Employment Projections & AI Exposure

15
Occupations Shown
4.5%
Avg AI Exposure
2
Bright Outlook
Horizontal bar chart showing occupations with the highest projected annual openings. Each bar length represents annual projected openings. Color uses a gradient from violet (lower) to cyan (higher). Summary statistics are shown above the chart.

Employment & Wage Trend

BLS OEWS, 2019–2025


Occupation Employment & Wage TrendMulti-year BLS OEWS history for SOC 17-3022: 2019 — employment: 68,870, median wage: $53,410; 2020 — employment: 67,270, median wage: $54,080; 2021 — employment: 64,170, median wage: $58,320; 2022 — employment: 62,350, median wage: $59,630; 2023 — employment: 63,560, median wage: $60,700; 2025 — employment: 68,520, median wage: $64,950.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). See /sources.

Sector Comparison

MetricThis CareerSector Average
AI Exposure7.8%4.5%
OutlookAverage15% Bright
Median Salary$64,950N/A
AI Resiliency92/100N/A