Best degree programs for Urban and Regional Planners, ranked by enrollment
7 college programs and 340 schools train Urban and Regional Planners. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $89,320 median wage, 44,230 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
7 college programs at 340 schools train urban and regional planners, graduating 8,496 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Sustainability Studies. The job pays a median of $89,320 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About 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.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
7 degree programs that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 30.3301 | 4,424 | 52.1% | 226 | $37,223 | $20,968 |
| 2 | City/Urban, Community, and Regional Planningmain feeder CIP 04.0301 | 2,161 | 25.4% | 113 | $42,824 | $25,237 |
| 3 | Urban Studies/Affairsmain feeder CIP 45.1201 | 1,201 | 14.1% | 90 | $40,294 | $21,775 |
| 4 | CIP 04.1001 | 602 | 7.1% | 21 | $49,353 | $17,000 |
| 5 | CIP 04.0403 | 44 | 0.5% | 3 | $40,176 | $22,844 |
| 6 | CIP 44.0403 | 33 | 0.4% | 3 | $45,374 | $26,000 |
| 7 | CIP 30.3701 | 31 | 0.4% | 1 | — | — |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
What urban and regional planners earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | $89,630 | 2,420 | 0.88× | 34 | 1,320 |
| California | $109,610 | 7,460 | 1.44× | 21 | 941 |
| Massachusetts | $99,780 | 1,540 | 1.48× | 12 | 747 |
| Arizona | $102,400 | 1,330 | 1.44× | 14 | 468 |
| Texas | $82,830 | 2,190 | 0.55× | 12 | 433 |
| Florida | $80,720 | 2,620 | 0.93× | 14 | 395 |
| Wisconsin | $84,290 | 1,100 | 1.31× | 11 | 367 |
| Pennsylvania | $80,810 | 860 | 0.50× | 25 | 334 |
| Illinois | $91,360 | 1,140 | 0.66× | 10 | 291 |
| Virginia | $86,030 | 1,740 | 1.49× | 8 | 270 |
| Ohio | $79,950 | 760 | 0.48× | 11 | 234 |
| Washington | $100,990 | 3,180 | 3.15× | 5 | 220 |
| Georgia | $80,030 | 1,150 | 0.83× | 10 | 200 |
| Michigan | $78,510 | 1,380 | 1.10× | 10 | 195 |
| Oregon | $103,070 | 1,010 | 1.80× | 7 | 176 |
| Utahmoderate | $84,360 | 500 | 1.02× | 4 | 167 |
| New Jersey | $86,280 | 790 | 0.65× | 11 | 162 |
| Colorado | $101,340 | 1,300 | 1.59× | 8 | 150 |
| Tennessee | $78,970 | 310 | 0.33× | 7 | 101 |
| Iowamoderate | $79,100 | 300 | 0.67× | 3 | 100 |
| Oklahomamoderate | $81,520 | 350 | 0.73× | 3 | 98 |
| Minnesota | $97,060 | 860 | 1.02× | 7 | 96 |
| North Carolina | $81,230 | 1,630 | 1.16× | 8 | 93 |
| District of Columbiamoderate | $137,000 | 120 | 0.58× | 4 | 87 |
| Maryland | $88,570 | 900 | 1.14× | 7 | 83 |
| South Carolinamoderate | $75,810 | 530 | 0.82× | 4 | 78 |
| Louisianamoderate | $74,500 | 240 | 0.44× | 3 | 68 |
| Alabamamoderate | $70,710 | 520 | 0.86× | 4 | 66 |
| Kansasmoderate | $82,330 | 250 | 0.62× | 3 | 62 |
| Missourimoderate | $80,720 | 440 | 0.53× | 4 | 54 |
| Indiana | $70,760 | 620 | 0.68× | 11 | 50 |
| Connecticutmoderate | $99,880 | 350 | 0.73× | 4 | 43 |
| Mainemoderate | $79,120 | 190 | 1.03× | 4 | 41 |
| Nebraskamoderate | $74,830 | 360 | 1.24× | 4 | 35 |
| Rhode Islandmoderate | $90,210 | 160 | 1.09× | 4 | 35 |
| West Virginialimited | $61,390 | 160 | 0.81× | 2 | 30 |
| Kentuckylimited | $65,000 | 180 | 0.31× | 2 | 26 |
| South Dakotamoderate | $71,180 | 210 | 1.60× | 3 | 21 |
| Nevadalimited | $100,040 | 270 | 0.60× | 2 | 20 |
| Vermontmoderate | $84,750 | 100 | 1.18× | 3 | 19 |
| New Hampshiremoderate | $73,860 | 260 | 1.32× | 4 | 18 |
| Hawaiilimited | $85,590 | 450 | 2.55× | 2 | 17 |
| Montanalimited | $80,770 | 270 | 1.88× | 2 | 17 |
| New Mexicolimited | $77,710 | 270 | 1.11× | 1 | 10 |
| Delawarelimited | $67,110 | 290 | 2.08× | 1 | 9 |
| Idaholimited | $76,500 | 350 | 1.43× | 2 | 9 |
| Mississippilimited | $60,300 | 200 | 0.61× | 2 | 9 |
| Arkansaslimited | $63,530 | 80 | 0.22× | 1 | 5 |
| Alaskalimited | $93,860 | 230 | 2.51× | 1 | 1 |
Skills and tools
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Design, promote, or administer government plans or policies affecting land use, zoning, public utilities, community facilities, housing, or transportation.
- Advise planning officials on project feasibility, cost-effectiveness, regulatory conformance, or possible alternatives.
- Create, prepare, or requisition graphic or narrative reports on land use data, including land area maps overlaid with geographic variables, such as population density.
- Hold public meetings with government officials, social scientists, lawyers, developers, the public, or special interest groups to formulate, develop, or address issues regarding land use or community plans.
- Mediate community disputes or assist in developing alternative plans or recommendations for programs or projects.
- Recommend approval, denial, or conditional approval of proposals.
- Conduct field investigations, surveys, impact studies, or other research to compile and analyze data on economic, social, regulatory, or physical factors affecting land use.
- Evaluate proposals for infrastructure projects or other development for environmental impact or sustainability.
Skills
- Active Listening4.1
- Speaking4.1
- Reading Comprehension4.0
- Critical Thinking4.0
- Writing3.9
- Active Learning3.3
- Monitoring3.0
- Mathematics3.0
Knowledge areas
- Law and Government4.6
- English Language4.4
- Geography4.2
- Transportation4.0
- Communications and Media3.6
- Administration and Management3.4
Abilities
- Oral Expression4.1
- Oral Comprehension4.1
- Written Comprehension4.0
- Problem Sensitivity4.0
- Speech Clarity4.0
- Written Expression4.0
Core activities
- Getting Information4.6
- Making Decisions and Solving Problems4.6
- Communicating with People Outside the Organization4.6
- Developing Objectives and Strategies4.5
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates4.5
- Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards4.4
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
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.
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
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
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 Sustainability Studies, which awarded 4,424 degrees in 2024-25, 52.1% 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 7 programs to this occupation. The largest are Sustainability Studies, City/Urban, Urban Studies/Affairs, Real Estate Development, plus 3 more. Together they graduate about 8,496 people a year.
How much do urban and regional planners earn?+
The median is $89,320 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $60,010 at the 10th percentile to $134,490 at the 90th. 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?+
340 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 7 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 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected 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 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, 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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