JobAfterNext

Urban and Regional Planners

Develop comprehensive plans and programs for use of land and physical facilities of jurisdictions, such as towns, cities, counties, and metropolitan areas.

Wages

Median annual wage, U.S.$89,320
Employment, U.S.44,230
Median hourly wage$42.94
Annual wage percentiles, U.S., May 2025
10th25thMedian75th90th
$60,010$72,020$89,320$110,030$134,490
By state (51)
StateEmploymentMedian annualLocation quotient
Alabama520$70,7100.86
Alaska230$93,8602.51
Arizona1,330$102,4001.44
Arkansas80$63,5300.22
California7,460$109,6101.44
Colorado1,300$101,3401.59
Connecticut350$99,8800.73
Delaware290$67,1102.08
District of Columbia120$137,0000.58
Florida2,620$80,7200.93
Georgia1,150$80,0300.83
Hawaii450$85,5902.55
Idaho350$76,5001.43
Illinois1,140$91,3600.66
Indiana620$70,7600.68
Iowa300$79,1000.67
Kansas250$82,3300.62
Kentucky180$65,0000.31
Louisiana240$74,5000.44
Maine190$79,1201.03
Maryland900$88,5701.14
Massachusetts1,540$99,7801.48
Michigan1,380$78,5101.10
Minnesota860$97,0601.02
Mississippi200$60,3000.61
Missouri440$80,7200.53
Montana270$80,7701.88
Nebraska360$74,8301.24
Nevada270$100,0400.60
New Hampshire260$73,8601.32
New Jersey790$86,2800.65
New Mexico270$77,7101.11
New York2,420$89,6300.88
North Carolina1,630$81,2301.16
North Dakota210$78,5001.72
Ohio760$79,9500.48
Oklahoma350$81,5200.73
Oregon1,010$103,0701.80
Pennsylvania860$80,8100.50
Rhode Island160$90,2101.09
South Carolina530$75,8100.82
South Dakota210$71,1801.60
Tennessee310$78,9700.33
Texas2,190$82,8300.55
Utah500$84,3601.02
Vermont100$84,7501.18
Virginia1,740$86,0301.49
Washington3,180$100,9903.15
West Virginia160$61,3900.81
Wisconsin1,100$84,2901.31
Wyoming110$70,1901.34

Similar occupations

Similarity is our measure: the cosine of importance x level over all 120 O*NET skills, knowledge areas and abilities. It is not an O*NET finding. More.

#OccupationJob ZoneSimilarity
1Transportation Planners40.975
2Chief Sustainability Officers50.962
3Geographers40.951
4Climate Change Policy Analysts50.950
5Sustainability Specialists40.949
6Logistics Analysts40.947
7Brownfield Redevelopment Specialists and Site Managers40.944
8Intelligence Analysts40.944
9Management Analysts40.944
10Logisticians40.943

One skill away

Among the 50 occupations most similar to Urban and Regional Planners, those at the same Job Zone or lower, where exactly one skill rated at least 3 in importance needs a level more than 0.75 points higher (on O*NET's 0-7 level scale). Our definition. Change the thresholds.

OccupationSkill to buildLevel gapSimilarity
Brownfield Redevelopment Specialists and Site ManagersManagement of Financial Resources1.000.944
Management AnalystsLearning Strategies0.870.944
LogisticiansMonitoring1.000.943
Range ManagersMonitoring0.760.938
Meeting, Convention, and Event PlannersService Orientation0.880.938
Environmental Restoration PlannersScience1.130.936
Zoologists and Wildlife BiologistsScience1.250.932
Wind Energy Development ManagersManagement of Material Resources1.250.929
Political ScientistsLearning Strategies0.870.928
Survey ResearchersMathematics1.120.927

All 14

Software to learn next

Software used by at least 3 of the 20 occupations most similar to Urban and Regional Planners, excluding software Urban and Regional Planners already lists and any you named. Ranked by how many of them use it, weighted by how much more common it is among them than across all occupations (lift). Our ranking.

SoftwareSimilar jobs using itLift
Oracle Primavera Enterprise Project Portfolio Management7 of 205.7x
Tableau7 of 204.4x
Python8 of 202.8x
Microsoft Power BI4 of 207.4x
Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D4 of 206.2x
Microsoft Visio8 of 202.5x
Mentimeter3 of 2010.7x
SAS7 of 202.7x
Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOne5 of 203.3x
R6 of 202.7x

Skills

From O*NET data. Importance is rated 1 to 5 and level 0 to 7.

SkillTypeImportanceLevel
Active ListeningEssential skill 4.12 4.38
Judgment and Decision MakingTransferable skill 4.12 4.25
SpeakingEssential skill 4.12 4.25
Reading ComprehensionEssential skill 4.00 4.38
Critical ThinkingEssential skill 4.00 4.25
Systems AnalysisTransferable skill 4.00 4.12
WritingEssential skill 3.88 4.12
Complex Problem SolvingTransferable skill 3.75 4.12
Systems EvaluationTransferable skill 3.75 4.00
Social PerceptivenessTransferable skill 3.62 3.75
NegotiationTransferable skill 3.38 3.38
Active LearningEssential skill 3.25 4.12
CoordinationTransferable skill 3.25 3.75
Time ManagementTransferable skill 3.25 3.75
Service OrientationTransferable skill 3.25 3.00
Operations AnalysisTransferable skill 3.12 3.75
PersuasionTransferable skill 3.12 3.75
MonitoringEssential skill 3.00 3.62
MathematicsEssential skill 3.00 3.50
Management of Personnel ResourcesTransferable skill 3.00 3.12
InstructingTransferable skill 3.00 2.88
Learning StrategiesEssential skill 3.00 2.88
ScienceEssential skill 2.62 2.75
Management of Financial ResourcesTransferable skill 2.50 2.75
Management of Material ResourcesTransferable skill 2.25 2.25
ProgrammingTransferable skill 1.75 1.38
Operations MonitoringTransferable skill 1.75 1.12
Quality Control AnalysisTransferable skill 1.62 1.25
Technology DesignTransferable skill 1.62 1.12
Operation and ControlTransferable skill 1.38 0.50
Equipment MaintenanceTransferable skill 1.00not rated
Equipment SelectionTransferable skill 1.00not rated
InstallationTransferable skill 1.00not rated
RepairingTransferable skill 1.00not rated
TroubleshootingTransferable skill 1.00not rated
Knowledge (33) and abilities (52)
Knowledge
NameImportanceLevel
Law and Government 4.60 4.68
English Language 4.40 4.88
Geography 4.16 5.48
Transportation 4.04 3.76
Communications and Media 3.60 3.72
Administration and Management 3.44 4.24
Sociology and Anthropology 3.40 4.40
Customer and Personal Service 3.28 4.88
Computers and Electronics 3.04 4.24
Design 2.96 3.83
Mathematics 2.92 4.25
Public Safety and Security 2.84 3.20
History and Archeology 2.68 3.40
Administrative 2.56 3.84
Economics and Accounting 2.56 3.20
Personnel and Human Resources 2.46 3.52
Education and Training 2.44 3.48
Building and Construction 2.40 2.68
Psychology 2.12 2.20
Philosophy and Theology 2.00 2.32
Biology 1.92 2.32
Engineering and Technology 1.92 1.62
Telecommunications 1.88 1.33
Sales and Marketing 1.80 2.16
Foreign Language 1.67 1.58
Fine Arts 1.33 0.57
Chemistry 1.32 0.83
Production and Processing 1.28not rated
Physics 1.24not rated
Therapy and Counseling 1.20not rated
Mechanical 1.16not rated
Medicine and Dentistry 1.13not rated
Food Production 1.08not rated
Abilities
NameImportanceLevel
Oral Expression 4.12 4.62
Oral Comprehension 4.12 4.50
Written Expression 4.00 4.38
Written Comprehension 4.00 4.25
Problem Sensitivity 4.00 4.12
Speech Clarity 4.00 4.00
Deductive Reasoning 3.88 4.12
Near Vision 3.88 4.12
Inductive Reasoning 3.88 4.00
Speech Recognition 3.88 3.88
Fluency of Ideas 3.62 4.12
Information Ordering 3.62 3.88
Category Flexibility 3.50 3.88
Originality 3.25 4.00
Visualization 3.12 3.75
Far Vision 3.00 3.50
Mathematical Reasoning 3.00 3.38
Number Facility 3.00 3.25
Flexibility of Closure 3.00 3.12
Selective Attention 2.88 2.88
Time Sharing 2.75 2.75
Visual Color Discrimination 2.75 2.75
Perceptual Speed 2.62 2.75
Speed of Closure 2.25 2.75
Memorization 2.25 2.50
Auditory Attention 2.00 1.62
Finger Dexterity 1.88 1.75
Depth Perception 1.88 1.50
Hearing Sensitivity 1.75 1.38
Spatial Orientation 1.75 1.00
Control Precision 1.62 1.00
Wrist-Finger Speed 1.62 0.88
Multilimb Coordination 1.62 0.62
Trunk Strength 1.50 0.88
Arm-Hand Steadiness 1.00not rated
Dynamic Flexibility 1.00not rated
Dynamic Strength 1.00not rated
Explosive Strength 1.00not rated
Extent Flexibility 1.00not rated
Glare Sensitivity 1.00not rated
Gross Body Coordination 1.00not rated
Gross Body Equilibrium 1.00not rated
Manual Dexterity 1.00not rated
Night Vision 1.00not rated
Peripheral Vision 1.00not rated
Rate Control 1.00not rated
Reaction Time 1.00not rated
Response Orientation 1.00not rated
Sound Localization 1.00not rated
Speed of Limb Movement 1.00not rated
Stamina 1.00not rated
Static Strength 1.00not rated

Software used

Examples from O*NET data. "Hot" and "in demand" are O*NET flags for technologies often listed in job postings.

All 77
  • Adobe FreeHand MX
  • Adobe PageMaker
  • Autodesk 3ds Max Design
  • Autodesk AutoCAD Map 3D
  • Caliper TransCAD
  • Citilabs TRANPLAN
  • CommunityViz
  • Corel CorelDraw Graphics Suite
  • Corel WordPerfect Office Suite
  • Criterion Planners INDEX
  • Database software
  • ESRI ArcInfo
  • ESRI ArcView
  • ESRI What if?
  • ESRI software
  • Email software
  • Esri ArcGIS
  • Geographic information system GIS software
  • Geomechanical design analysis GDA software
  • Graphics software
  • IBM Lotus 1-2-3
  • IBM Lotus Notes
  • ITC Integrated Land and Water Information System ILWIS
  • ITSpatial InterSCOPE
  • Intergraph MGE
  • Interwoven software
  • Land management databases
  • Leica Geosystems ERDAS IMAGINE
  • Location allocation decision support system LADSS
  • MultiGen Paradigm 3D GIS
  • Oracle Primavera Systems
  • PlanGraphics Citywide GIS Utility
  • RhinoSoft FTP Voyager
  • RockWare ArcMap
  • Sage Timeslips
  • Scientific Software Group ModTech
  • Software development tools
  • Spatial decision support systems SDSS software
  • Street address databases
  • Tangible Media Group Luminous Table
  • Telogis GeoBase
  • Transportation planning software
  • UrbanSim
  • Web browser software
  • WorkTech MAXIMO
  • dBASE
  • e-on VUE

Where it concentrates

Metro areas ranked by BLS location quotient: the occupation's share of the area's jobs divided by its share of all US jobs. Above 1 means more concentrated than the nation. Metros employing fewer than 100 are left out.

Metro areaEmploymentLocation quotientMedian annual
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA75020.17$95,640
Dover, DE1206.00$66,550
Bellingham, WA1104.12$100,050
Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA1003.80$105,440
Charleston, WV1103.60$61,380
Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA1003.41$112,270
Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA1,0203.31$96,580
Montgomery, AL1503.09$61,050
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA1002.78$109,920
Urban Honolulu, HI3502.76$87,990

More metros, other thresholds