Washington·Architecture and Engineering Occupations·SOC 17-3022

Best Civil Engineering Technologist programs in Washington, ranked by enrollment

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.

16 schools in Washington run programs that feed this job, graduating 551 people a year. The job pays a median of $79,580 in Washington across about 2,090 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledEngineer TechnicianEngineering AssistantEngineering TechnicianCivil Engineering TechnicianCivil DesignerParking AnalystField TechnicianDesign Technician
Graduates / yr
551
in Washington
Median pay · Washington
$79,580
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
2,090
people employed
Schools
16
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
38%
across those schools
Median net price
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Washington that lead to this job

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

5 programs in Washington that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Washington (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 Washington page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1266
48.3%
6$31,641$9,500
2121
22.0%
3$72,178$22,750
3120
21.8%
8$59,718$25,375
439
7.1%
1$50,625$21,717
55
0.9%
2$58,970$27,000

Top 16 schools in Washington

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 2 of the 16 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Seattle Central College
Seattle, WA Public · 1 feeder programs
125Building Construction Technology/Technician32%
2Centralia College
Centralia, WA Public · 1 feeder programs
98Building Construction Technology/Technician42%
3Clover Park Technical College
Lakewood, WA Public · 3 feeder programs
61Architectural Engineering Technologies/Technicians43%
4Bellingham Technical College
Bellingham, WA Public · 1 feeder programs
56Engineering Technologies/Technicians, General42%
5Washington State University
Pullman, WA Public · 1 feeder programs
54Construction Engineering Technology/Technician$80,40460%87%
6Grays Harbor College
Aberdeen, WA Public · 1 feeder programs
35Construction Engineering Technology/Technician39%
7Spokane Community College
Spokane, WA Public · 1 feeder programs
32Construction Engineering Technology/Technician33%
8Eastern Washington University
Cheney, WA Public · 1 feeder programs
29Engineering Technologies/Technicians, General$70,78943%91%
9Edmonds College
Lynnwood, WA Public · 3 feeder programs
19Building Construction Technology/Technician29%
10Walla Walla Community College
Walla Walla, WA Public · 1 feeder programs
19Building Construction Technology/Technician38%
11Big Bend Community College
Moses Lake, WA Public · 1 feeder programs
9Engineering Technologies/Technicians, General42%
12Columbia Basin College
Pasco, WA Public · 1 feeder programs
8Engineering Technologies/Technicians, General33%
13Olympic College
Bremerton, WA Public · 1 feeder programs
2Engineering Technologies/Technicians, General31%
14Peninsula College
Port Angeles, WA Public · 1 feeder programs
2Building Construction Technology/Technician37%
15Wenatchee Valley College
Wenatchee, WA Public · 1 feeder programs
1Engineering Technologies/Technicians, General43%
16Yakima Valley College
Yakima, WA Public · 1 feeder programs
1Civil Engineering Technologies/Technicians29%

All 16 schools in Washington

Every school in Washington 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 Washington that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Seattle Central CollegeSeattlePublic1251
Centralia CollegeCentraliaPublic981
Clover Park Technical CollegeLakewoodPublic613
Bellingham Technical CollegeBellinghamPublic561
Washington State UniversityPullmanPublic541
Grays Harbor CollegeAberdeenPublic351
Spokane Community CollegeSpokanePublic321
Eastern Washington UniversityCheneyPublic291
Edmonds CollegeLynnwoodPublic193
Walla Walla Community CollegeWalla WallaPublic191
Big Bend Community CollegeMoses LakePublic91
Columbia Basin CollegePascoPublic81
Olympic CollegeBremertonPublic21
Peninsula CollegePort AngelesPublic21
Wenatchee Valley CollegeWenatcheePublic11

What civil engineering technologists and technicians earn in Washington

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

Median annual in Washington
$79,580
Mean annual
$80,190
Jobs in state
2,090
What the range looks like
10th pct$54,000Median$79,58090th pct$102,970
Versus the national median
+22.5%

U.S. median $64,950. Washington pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
1.33×

Concentrated here: Washington employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.

Metro areas in Washington

Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
$84,660median
860 jobs
Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA
$80,450median
50 jobs
Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA
$82,760median
70 jobs
Kennewick-Richland, WA
$79,050median
120 jobs
Bellingham, WA
$81,790median
60 jobs
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA
$76,600median
200 jobs
Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA
$64,430median
210 jobs
Yakima, WA
$69,380median
80 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+2.1%
About as fast as average
Openings per year
5,500
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
1,400
64,900 → 66,200
Typical entry education
Associate'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 Civil Engineering Technologists and Technicians page.

How to become a Civil Engineering Technologist

Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0
Typical entry education
Associate's degree

Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Top skills

Critical ThinkingActive ListeningReading ComprehensionMathematicsSpeakingWriting

The same job in other states

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

Related careers in Washington

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 5 majors mapped to Civil Engineering Technologists and Technicians5 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 15.0000Engineering Technologies/Technicians, General
  • 15.0101Architectural Engineering Technologies/Technicians
  • 15.0201Civil Engineering Technologies/Technicians
  • 15.1001Construction Engineering Technology/Technician
  • 46.0415Building Construction Technology/Technician

Common questions

Answers for people weighing civil engineering technologists and technicians programs in Washington.

What degree do you need to become a Civil Engineering Technologist?+

Associate's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Building Construction Technology/Technician, which awarded 266 degrees in Washington in 2024-25, 48.3% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Civil Engineering Technologist?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 5 programs to this occupation. The largest are Building/Construction Finishing, Construction Engineering Technology/Technician, Engineering Technologies/Technicians, Architectural Engineering Technologies/Technicians, plus 1 more. Together they graduate about 551 people a year in Washington.

How much do civil engineering technologists and technicians earn in Washington?+

The median is $79,580 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 22.5% above the U.S. median of $64,950. 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 civil engineering technologists and technicians growing?+

BLS projects a +2.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 5,500 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

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

16 institutions in Washington reported graduates from at least one of the 5 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 civil engineering technologists and technicians work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Engineer Technician, Engineering Assistant, Engineering Technician, Civil Engineering Technician among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 17-3022.

Civil Engineering Technologists and Technicians in other statesTexasCaliforniaFloridaTennesseeNorth CarolinaNew YorkAlabamaOhio

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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