Urban and Regional Planners
What Urban and Regional Planners Do
Develop comprehensive plans and programs for use of land and physical facilities of jurisdictions, such as towns, cities, counties, and metropolitan areas.
See full salary breakdown & percentiles →
Career Outlook
National employment outlook, 2024–2034.
- Related work experience
- None
- On-the-job training
- None
- Self-employed
- Not available
Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.
How Much Preparation Does This Take?
Job Zone 5 of 5Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed
- Experience
- Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience.
- Education
- 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).
- Job training
- 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.
Source: O*NET Job Zones.
Key Knowledge Areas
Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.
- Law and Governmentimportance 4.6/5
- English Languageimportance 4.4/5
- Geographyimportance 4.2/5
- Transportationimportance 4.0/5
- Communications and Mediaimportance 3.6/5
- Administration and Managementimportance 3.4/5
- Sociology and Anthropologyimportance 3.4/5
- Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 3.3/5
Work Environment
What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.
- E-Mail5.0/5
- Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams4.9/5
- Telephone Conversations4.8/5
- Indoors, Environmentally Controlled4.5/5
- Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team4.4/5
- Deal With External Customers or the Public in General4.3/5
Careers With Similar Skills
Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.
- Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists98% skill match
- Management Analysts98% skill match
- Marketing Managers98% skill match
- Logisticians98% skill match
- Financial Managers98% skill match
- Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists97% skill match
- Epidemiologists97% skill match
- Art Directors97% skill match
Transferable Skills
Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.
- Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 4.1/5
- Systems Analysisimportance 4.0/5
- Complex Problem Solvingimportance 3.8/5
- Systems Evaluationimportance 3.8/5
- Social Perceptivenessimportance 3.6/5
- Negotiationimportance 3.4/5
- Coordinationimportance 3.3/5
- Service Orientationimportance 3.3/5
Software & Technologies
Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.
Hot Technologies
In-Demand Technologies
Other Software Used
- 3D urban simulation modeling software
- Accela KIVA DMS
- Accela PERMITS Plus
- Accela Tidemark Advantage
- Adobe Dreamweaver
- Adobe FreeHand MX
- Adobe PageMaker
- Autodesk 3ds Max Design
Work Style
Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.
- Dependability
- Cooperation
- Integrity
- Intellectual Curiosity
- Attention to Detail
- Adaptability
- Achievement Orientation
Career Interests
This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.
- InvestigativeHigh
- EnterprisingMedium
- ConventionalMedium
- RealisticMedium
- ArtisticMedium
- SocialMedium
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Where This Career Is Most Concentrated
Metro areas where urban and regional planners make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).
- 1Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA20.17× national avg
- 2Dover, DE6.00× national avg
- 3Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA4.71× national avg
- 4Bellingham, WA4.12× national avg
- 5Pittsfield, MA4.11× national avg
Possible Career Moves
A computed starting point, not observed job-change data — see the full list for why each one might fit.
- Management AnalystsCareer Change
- Industrial-Organizational PsychologistsLateral Move
- GeographersLateral Move
- ActuariesCareer Change
Related Education Programs
Schools that offer related fields of study, based on the NCES CIP-SOC crosswalk — not a guarantee that graduates enter this specific career.
Public Administration
- Indiana University-Bloomington (Bloomington, IN)grads earn ~$77,422
- Columbia University in the City of New York (New York, NY)grads earn ~$115,874
- Harvard University (Cambridge, MA)grads earn ~$177,149
- New York University (New York, NY)grads earn ~$109,946
- Grand Canyon University (Phoenix, AZ)grads earn ~$76,752
City/Urban, Community, and Regional Planning
- Arizona State University Digital Immersion (Scottsdale, AZ)grads earn ~$68,163
- University of California-Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA)grads earn ~$90,541
- University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA)grads earn ~$88,656
- University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ)grads earn ~$76,360
- University of Washington-Seattle Campus (Seattle, WA)grads earn ~$85,467