Also called: Underground Engineer, Tunneling Engineer
Designs and oversees tunnels for subways, highways, water and sewers.
You ride a mine cart deep underground to the face where a giant tunnel boring machine chews through rock. You check the ground sensors, decide how much support the tunnel walls need today, and talk with the crew about a wet zone ahead.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Master's degree, about 5 years after high school. Bachelor's in civil or geological engineering; master's in geotechnical engineering common.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $60k – $150k.
Majors to look at: Civil Engineering, Geological Engineering.
Growing faster than average (about 5% over 10 years). Big transit and water projects drive demand.
Low risk for 10 years. AI helps predict ground behavior and monitors tunnel boring machines; underground site work, risk calls and design stay human.
Classes: Physics, Earth science, AP Calculus, Drafting.
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.