UK Civil Engineering Pay Index — advertised pay for 17 civil engineering roles and 8 sectors, 4 October 2026
Of 17 civil engineering roles with enough permanent adverts stating pay, Project Controls has the highest median advertised pay, £79,000 a year (n=10). Of 11 civil engineering roles with enough contract adverts stating pay, Commercial Manager has the highest median advertised pay, £507/day (n=8). By sector, Energy & Utilities has the highest median advertised permanent salary of the 8 sectors that rank, £60,000 a year (n=112).
Permanent advertised salaries
3,238 live permanent adverts across the 21 roles, 2,679 of which state pay.
| Role | Median salary | Basis | Middle half | n | State pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Project Controls | £79,000 | £55,000 – £117,125 | 10 | 53% | |
| Commercial Manager | £75,000 | £62,500 – £88,500 | 111 | 78% | |
| Quantity Surveyor | £60,000 | £50,000 – £70,000 | 851 | 85% | |
| Planner | £60,000 | £37,500 – £75,000 | 162 | 73% | |
| Estimator | £55,000 | £45,000 – £70,000 | 361 | 84% | |
| Bid Manager | £52,500 | £44,000 – £62,500 | 82 | 80% | |
| Health & Safety Advisor | £52,100 | £44,000 – £58,250 | 295 | 84% | |
| Civil Engineer | £50,000 | £40,000 – £56,750 | 142 | 88% | |
| Structural Engineer | £48,500 | £40,000 – £56,500 | 175 | 88% | |
| Design Engineer | £47,500 | £40,000 – £57,625 | 168 | 78% | |
| Highways Engineer | £47,500 | £44,250 – £51,250 | 7 | 70% | |
| Site Engineer | £46,500 | £37,500 – £55,750 | 98 | 71% | |
| Water Engineer | £45,000 | £31,438 – £49,500 | 16 | 100% | |
| Drainage Engineer | £43,500 | £38,158 – £49,625 | 47 | 92% | |
| Civil Engineering Technician | £42,500 | £40,000 – £45,000 | 25 | 83% | |
| Geotechnical Engineer | £40,000 | £32,500 – £55,000 | 45 | 92% | |
| Transport Planner | £37,000 | £33,250 – £42,750 | 79 | 83% |
Below the 5-advert floor, so no figure
Pay by sector
Every role in each sector together. A sector’s permanent salary and its contract day rate are separate figures from separate snapshots, never one number.
| Sector | Permanent median salary | Contract median day rate |
|---|---|---|
| Energy & Utilities | £60,000 | £425/day |
| Buildings & Development | £60,000 | £372/day |
| Rail | £56,250 | £450/day |
| Aviation | £55,000 | |
| Public Sector | £55,000 | £378/day |
| Water & Environment | £52,500 | £400/day |
| Highways & Roads | £52,500 | £325/day |
| Flood & Coastal | £47,000 | |
| Ports & Maritime |
Contract advertised day rates
553 live contract adverts across the 21 roles, 449 of which state pay.
| Role | Median day rate | Basis | Middle half | n | State pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial Manager | £507/day | £500/day – £605/day | 8 | 89% | |
| Estimator | £450/day | £356/day – £475/day | 18 | 86% | |
| Quantity Surveyor | £425/day | £375/day – £500/day | 109 | 91% | |
| Planner | £425/day | £214/day – £500/day | 42 | 79% | |
| Structural Engineer | £366/day | £318/day – £389/day | 14 | 67% | |
| Health & Safety Advisor | £363/day | £269/day – £431/day | 22 | 81% | |
| Site Engineer | £350/day | £338/day – £388/day | 163 | 79% | |
| Civil Engineer | £338/day | £324/day – £390/day | 11 | 46% | |
| Highways Engineer | £322/day | £316/day – £330/day | 8 | 100% | |
| Design Engineer | £307/day | £293/day – £393/day | 36 | 82% | |
| Transport Planner | £300/day | £208/day – £319/day | 7 | 100% |
Below the 5-advert floor, so no figure
How the index is worked out
- Advertised means the pay an employer stated in a live job advert on this board. It is not what anyone is paid, and it is not a survey.
- A role is ranked only when at least 5 of its adverts state pay. Below that it is listed with its live count and no figure — nothing is estimated, borrowed from a neighbouring role or carried forward from an earlier month.
- Pay stated per hour is converted at 7.5 hours a day and 230 working days a year, and pay stated per day at 230 days a year. The contract table divides back by 230, so a £500/day advert appears as £500/day. Where an advert gives a range, its midpoint is used.
- Permanent salaries and contract day rates are separate tables from separate snapshots and are never combined into one figure. Temporary adverts, and adverts that do not say whether they are permanent or contract, are in neither table.
- Each advert is placed in one sector from its title, its employer and its category, or in none when nothing names one — an advert in no sector is in the role tables but in no sector's figure. A sector's figure covers every role in it, and is published on the same 5-advert floor as a role's.
- The middle half is the 25th to the 75th percentile of the adverts stating pay. “On last month” compares this snapshot’s median with the last snapshot of the previous calendar month for the same role and job type. A change between two months is a change in what is being advertised, a different mix of employers and levels, not a pay rise.
- Every row is from the snapshot of 4 October 2026. Snapshots are dated and never overwritten. The full method.
Cite this
civilengineeringjobs.co.uk, “UK Civil Engineering Pay Index: advertised pay across 21 civil engineering roles”, snapshot of 4 October 2026. https://civilengineeringjobs.co.uk/civil-engineering-pay-index
The same tables as a dataset, with the snapshot date and n on every row: civil-engineering-pay-index.csv (CSV).
More on civil engineering pay
New civil engineering adverts by email, weekly
Get new UK civil engineering jobs by email
Weekly and free. Unsubscribe in one click from any email.