Louisiana·Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations·SOC 19-3051

Best Urban programs in Louisiana, ranked by enrollment

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

3 schools in Louisiana run programs that feed this job, graduating 68 people a year. The job pays a median of $74,500 in Louisiana across about 240 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledPlannerPlanning ConsultantPlanning TechnicianCommunity Development PlannerCity PlannerTown PlannerCity DesignerUrban Planner
Graduates / yr
68
in Louisiana
Median pay · Louisiana
$74,500
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
240
people employed
Schools
3
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
56%
across those schools
Median net price
$33,106
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Louisiana that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

3 programs in Louisiana that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Louisiana (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Louisiana page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 04.1001In Louisiana
42
61.8%
1$49,353$17,000
2
CIP 45.1201In Louisiana
19
27.9%
2$40,294$21,775
3
CIP 04.0301In Louisiana
7
10.3%
1$42,824$25,237

Top 3 schools in Louisiana

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 0 of the 3 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Tulane University of Louisiana
New Orleans, LA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
42Real Estate Development86%$33,10614%
2University of New Orleans
New Orleans, LA Public · 2 feeder programs
21Urban Studies/Affairs38%74%
3Dillard University
New Orleans, LA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
5Urban Studies/Affairs43%$18,82642%

All 3 schools in Louisiana

Every school in Louisiana with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Louisiana that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Tulane University of LouisianaNew OrleansPrivate not-for-profit421
University of New OrleansNew OrleansPublic212
Dillard UniversityNew OrleansPrivate not-for-profit51

What urban and regional planners earn in Louisiana

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Louisiana
$74,500
Mean annual
$81,070
Jobs in state
240
What the range looks like
10th pct$52,510Median$74,50090th pct$115,980
Versus the national median
-16.6%

U.S. median $89,320. Louisiana pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
0.44×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Louisiana

New Orleans-Metairie, LA
$80,710median
120 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+3.4%
About as fast as average
Openings per year
3,400
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
1,500
44,700 → 46,200
Typical entry education
Master's degree

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Urban and Regional Planners page.

How to become a Urban

Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above
Typical entry education
Master's degree

Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).

Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.

Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.

Top skills

Active ListeningSpeakingReading ComprehensionCritical ThinkingWritingActive Learning

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Louisiana

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 7 majors mapped to Urban and Regional Planners7 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 04.0301City/Urban, Community, and Regional Planning
  • 04.0403Sustainable Design/Architecture
  • 04.1001Real Estate Development
  • 30.3301Sustainability Studies
  • 30.3701Design for Human Health
  • 44.0403Transportation and Infrastructure Planning/Studies
  • 45.1201Urban Studies/Affairs

Common questions

Answers for people weighing urban and regional planners programs in Louisiana.

What degree do you need to become an Urban?+

Master's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Real Estate Development, which awarded 42 degrees in Louisiana in 2024-25, 61.8% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming an Urban?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Real Estate Development, Urban Studies/Affairs, City/Urban. Together they graduate about 68 people a year in Louisiana.

How much do urban and regional planners earn in Louisiana?+

The median is $74,500 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 16.6% below the U.S. median of $89,320. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for urban and regional planners growing?+

BLS projects a +3.4% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 3,400 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Louisiana?+

3 institutions in Louisiana reported graduates from at least one of the 3 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do urban and regional planners work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Planner, Planning Consultant, Planning Technician, Community Development Planner among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 19-3051.

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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