Also called: Foundation Engineer, Soils Engineer
Studies soil and rock to design safe foundations, retaining walls and slopes.
You stand next to a drill rig pulling up soil samples from 80 feet down and log what you see: clay, sand, gravel, water. Back at the lab you test how much weight the soil can hold and write a report telling the building team how deep the piles must go.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in civil or geological engineering; master's common.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Civil Engineering, Geological Engineering.
Growing faster than average (about 5% over 10 years).
Low risk for 10 years. AI helps read borehole data and predict settlement; drilling oversight, field judgment of soil and foundation design stay human.
Classes: Earth science, Physics, Chemistry, Algebra II.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-2051.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.