<p>Which states or cities have the most jobs, specifically for civil engineers? I am planning to relocate in the future and I am looking into NYC/northern New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado, Florida, Texas, and Arizona. If you have more suggestions, that would be nice too.</p>
<p>I know that, logically, places with higher populations have more jobs, but I want to know where there are the most jobs for a given population. I hear that the job market for engineers isn't that great in AZ and FL, but it is in Texas.</p>
<p>NYC has tons of jobs for civil engineers, on both the construction side and the design side.</p>
<p>I feel I should say more, but I'm not sure what... so I guess if you have questions about the NYC job market for civil engineering majors, ask away.</p>
<p>Atlanta... the metro added 1 million people in just 6 years! And, believe me... there is A LOT to be done in expanding the infrastructure, especially with how sprawled out it is. There have been water shortages due to lack of storage facilities; the commute is ranked worst in the nation by Forbes; freeway expansions and rapid rail are heavily needed for the ever-growing population; schools reach capacity in their first year. Not to mention while the rest of the nation is on a building slump, the area continues to build new housing stock. So, yeah, that's definitely an area that you will see a high demand for civil engineers for a while.</p>
<p>The Texas market is really strong for construction right now. No problems here for the moment, economy-wise. That, and with a civ's income, you'll be doing really well with Texas' low cost-of-living. Your money goes a lot further.</p>
<p>Top 5:
1. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA
2. New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA
3. Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX
4. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA Metropolitan Division
5. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA</p>
<p>Data is from BLS. These are current employment figures, and not projections.</p>
<p>So would you say that the job market in NYC is good, with low unemployment rates and plentiful job openings? I'm considering living in northern New Jersey and working in NYC, if I decide on that area. How would the cost of living work out in that case?</p>
<p>It won't be too bad, but it still won't be anywhere near cheap. The further you get from Manhattan, the less expensive it gets. Depending where in NJ, you can just take the PATH to get into Manhattan, which is $2 each way. If you live a bit further, then there's NJ Transit commuter trains. I don't recommend driving because you won't be able to afford it. On top of gas, you'd need to pay bridge tolls, and parking garage spaces. You're not going to find a spot to park for free, unless you're really lucky. Monthly rates vary greatly, but don't count on finding anything for less than $200/month. </p>
<p>That being said, a lot of my colleagues do live in Manhattan straight out of undergrad, and they're living pretty comfortably it seems. You're not going to be eating Ramen Noodles with Spam every night. </p>
<p>Everybody's always looking to hire civil engineers; there's never enough people it seems like. We have a lot of big projects in the pipeline:
- Second Avenue Subway is a long way away from completion
- Hudson Yards, which is a 26 acre site will get started soon
- Columbia University's Manhattanville campus
... just to name a few of the bigger ones. The real estate market isn't as strong as it's been in the past few years, but it's still doing pretty well. One of the penthouses on my last project is selling for $80M. It comes out to over $12,300 per SF. Yea...</p>
<p>By 2030, we'll have 9 million people, up from the 8.2 million that we currently have. That's 800k more people we have to find homes for, which means plenty more buildings need to be built. And then there's the infrastructure... NYC is a pretty old city, and there's always rehabilitation work being done. My first construction project was the rehabilitation of I-278 in Brooklyn, which has been going on for decades. By the time they're done with the current repairs, new problems spring up, so they have to fix those. It's a never-ending cycle.</p>
<p>By the way, where did you hear that Arizona and Florida are bad? I'm not sure what the market is like over there, but I always thought it was good? Florida with all the hurricanes they get lead to a lot of work for civil engineers (and roofing contractors). And isn't Phoenix one of the fastest growing cities in America?</p>
<p>
[quote]
By the way, where did you hear that Arizona and Florida are bad? I'm not sure what the market is like over there, but I always thought it was good? Florida with all the hurricanes they get lead to a lot of work for civil engineers (and roofing contractors). And isn't Phoenix one of the fastest growing cities in America?
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Someone on Yahoo Answers told me, so I guess I'd take that with a grain of salt. I am aware that Phoenix is growing at a fast rate and of the hurricanes in Florida, so I myself do believe that the market is good for civil engineers over there.</p>
<p>I know we have several projects in Florida that are going up at the moment.</p>
<p>I also know that neither of the two companies I've worked for have offices in Phoenix, though my design manager was on the team that did University of Phoenix Stadium, where the Superbowl was held. I'm not sure why that is.</p>
<p>I really don't know much else about those two markets.</p>
<p>I <em>do</em> know that if NYC is anything like LA, housing is painfully expensive if you've ever lived somewhere with a much lower cost of living. I had to shop for apartments in phases out in LA because the sticker shock kept freaking me out too badly. And yeah, ultimately, I could afford to live out there, but I can afford to live a lot better down here in Houston. I'm a city girl, but I'm not a mega-metropolis girl. (Also, no Tex-Mex outside of Tex.) Just make sure you're really interested in mega-metropolis-living before you move there.</p>
<p>My home, Huntsville, Alabama is a great place for engineers, especially aerospace/mechanical. We have NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Redstone Arsenal, which includes AMCOM (Aviation and Missile Command), UAH, Adtran, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and I believe Northrop Grumman. So if you are interested in a aerospace/defense career you can't beat us. I am a chemical so I am not sure this is the lead city for me but I am sure that I could find a great job here if I desire. Furthermore, Hsv is a great place to live. Our social scene for young people is not as great as other cities by far, but we are a growing community. We have a new mall, Bridgestreet Town Centre (see, they spell center as centre which tells you we mean business, lol), which includes a Westin Hotel and a Monoco Pictures. The cost of living is rivaled by few cities. Your dollar will go as far the rockets that we build. A million in NYC is nothing. A million down here will get you whatever you want.</p>