US News and World Report: urban planner in top 31 careers
From Cyburbian s1m0n66: I think this is the second year in a row that urban planner has been listed as one of the top jobs/up and coming jobs. Any thoughts on the description/average pay/day in the life? I hear a lot of people making comments of how the salary is sub-par, or can't afford dues, but a median of $68,000 isn't terrible (granted, not going to make you rich either), and it seems to be towards the upper middle of the other jobs listed. It also seems that with the growing "popularity" of the field, pay has been increasing steadily as well. Correct me if this is just me being naive.
I think this is the second year in a row that Urban Planner has been listed as one of the top jobs/up and coming jobs. Any thoughts on the description/average pay/day in the life? I hear a lot of people making comments of how the salary is sub-par, or can't afford dues etc, but a median of 68,000 isn't terrible (granted, not going to make you rich either), and it seems to be towards the upper middle of the other jobs listed... It also seems that with the growing "popularity" of the field, pay has been increasing steadily as well. Correct me if this is just me being naive...
I don't understand how the median can be 68k, which seems really high and is at a level that I don't think most local government planners, outside of Planning Directors, ever reach. My only thought is that they're under-counting local government planners and over-counting private sector planners, maybe to include landscape architects.
That was my thought as well. Not many local government planners are going to get to 68k, save for Planning Directors and mid-level positions in places like CA and NYC. I think they might be over counting consultants, etc. That is where the real money is in planning.
The other thing I was surprised about was that planners got an A in the prestige department. I think many people would think what we are doing is noble, but I also know many people who think that planners are "no good stinkin' Commies and Socialists" (an actual call I had to deal with when I was an intern) :)
It comes right from the APA Salary survey:
I donno 68k is not out of the question at all for a mid level DC area planner but throw in the cost of living and thats making dirt. I think land use issues as a whole are coming more on the forefront but 99.9% of the folks I say "urban planner" to I get the "what is THAT" reaction.
Very true, I get a puzzled look many times when I mention I am a planner. I remember a couple years back when the APA, with an issue of Planning sent out little pocket cards that had talking points for when someone asked you what planners do. I always thought the talking points were interesting, but not sure how useful they were.
Planning is one of those fields where I am not sure how many of us grew up knowing we wanted to be planners. I sorta fell into it after I took urban politics and and urban sociology classes in my undergrad. It seemed to be a good fit with my degree in political science and sociology. This seems to be a familiar story from some of the planners I have talked to.
68 is pretty low in the bay area. 85-100k is a good range around here.
I would say about 60K is about right for a mid-level public sector planner in Chicagoland.
The Day in the Life of a Planner link was interesting, but I doubt every planner has all of those opportunities in one day.
US$68,000 in the Northeast Ohio area is a director-level salary. Even though my position would probably be considered "senior" by the APA, and I've got plenty of years of experience under my belt, my salary is far below the $68K average.
I believe that, adjusting for the cost of living, the salaries earned by planners reflect the value those communities place in planning.
While I would say the salary may seem sub-par esp. for having a Master's, the benefits, esp. if you work in a local government, aren't bad; 10 or so hoildays a year, a decent smattering of vacation time, fairly decent insurance, usually most states have decent retirement systems.
If you go to the private sector, the salary is a good deal higher, but the benefits may not be as great. So I think it is all a balance. Granted this is from my limited experience in the filed and applying for entry-level jobs.
I think the field is gain some popularity, b/c "planner" issues, i.e. walkable communities, sprawl, environmental issues, eminent domain, etc. have made it to the forefront of many people's minds.