Urban and Regional Planners
SOC 19-3051 · 2024-2034
Develop comprehensive plans and programs for use of land and physical facilities of jurisdictions, such as towns, cities, counties, and metropolitan areas.
How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.
What California expects of this job
- Typical pay in California
- $112,678per year
- Projected openings
- 5,970
- Projected change
- +6.8%
- Usually needs
- Master's degree
Skills this work uses most
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, rates how important each of these is to this work, and they are listed in that order, most important first. The ratings themselves are not shown, because the data carries the number without the scale it was measured on. The names are as published, in English.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Speaking
- Active Listening
- Reading Comprehension
- Critical Thinking
- Systems Analysis
Pay by region
| Region | Typical pay in California | Projected openings |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) | $143,721 | 460 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA (San Benito and Santa Clara Counties) | $137,005 | 240 |
| Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties) | $132,253 | 570 |
| San Rafael MD (Marin County) | $131,449 | 50 |
| Vallejo MSA (Solano County) | $125,881 | 70 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA (Sonoma County) | $125,254 | 100 |
| Napa MSA (Napa County) | $125,059 | 30 |
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA (Santa Cruz County) | $111,962 | 70 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County) | $108,878 | 1,170 |
| Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine MD (Orange County) | $108,296 | 370 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura MSA (Ventura County) | $108,090 | 100 |
| El Centro MSA (Imperial County) | $107,525 | 30 |
| Salinas MSA (Monterey County) | $107,124 | 80 |
| Stockton-Lodi MSA (San Joaquin County) | $106,621 | 70 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles MSA (San Luis Obispo County) | $106,077 | 70 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County) | $105,892 | 590 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara MSA (Santa Barbara County) | $105,080 | 120 |
| Redding MSA (Shasta County) | $105,029 | 50 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) | $104,443 | 450 |
| Fresno MSA (Fresno and Madera Counties) | $102,184 | 170 |
| Visalia MSA (Tulare County) | $99,071 | 50 |
| Modesto MSA (Stanislaus County) | $97,438 | 60 |
| Yuba City MSA (Sutter and Yuba Counties) | $96,154 | 40 |
| North Coast Region (Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino Counties) | $95,682 | 90 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties) | $93,504 | 930 |
| Eastern Sierra-Mother Lode Region (Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Inyo, Mariposa, Mono, and Tuolumne Counties) | $93,001 | 60 |
| Bakersfield-Delano MSA (Kern County) | $80,870 | 70 |
| North Valley-Northern Mountains Region (Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity Counties) | $75,765 | 60 |
What the pay actually ranges across
- The lowest-paid tenth earn under
- $79,597
- A quarter earn under
- $92,859
- Half earn under
- $112,678
- Three quarters earn under
- $139,879
- The highest-paid tenth earn over
- $171,623
A median is one point. These are the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2026 figures for California, and they say how far apart the people doing this job actually are. Read them as the spread across everyone already in the work — not as a starting wage and not as a promise about where anyone lands.
Similar work
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, names these as occupations involving work similar to this one — its own reading of the job, not a grouping by code. They keep O*NET's order, and only those California publishes a projection for are shown.
| Occupation | Typical pay in California | Projected openings | Projected change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Social Scientists and Related Workers, All Other | $100,641 | 2,990 | +6.1% |
| Chief Executives | $222,267 | 36,890 | +7.4% |
| Project Management Specialists | $122,938 | 89,550 | +6.8% |
| Business Operations Specialists, All Other | $89,039 | 152,190 | +6.8% |
| Managers, All Other | $177,489 | 175,120 | +9.7% |
| Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health | $109,492 | 12,710 | +6.9% |