Civil Engineer salary in the United Kingdom
£74,384
average advertised per year · most adverts fall between £59,500 and £81,500
From 165 live civil engineer listings with advertised pay · newest 16 Oct 2026
What civil engineers are offered
Every advertised salary in the sample, from lowest to highest.
- Lower quartile
- £59,500
- a quarter pay less
- Median
- £70,000
- the typical advert
- Upper quartile
- £81,500
- a quarter pay more
Civil Engineer salary by seniority
Median advertised pay at each level, with the middle half of adverts beside it. The step between levels is usually the number worth negotiating over.
How to read a civil engineer salary range
The middle half of civil engineer adverts sits between £59,500 and £81,500 — the top of that band is 1.4× the bottom. Where you land inside it is decided less by the job title than by three things: the level the role is pitched at, the employer's size and the city. On this board Cambridge pays most for the role at £170,000 on average.
An advert quoting a wide range is usually a level range in disguise: the bottom is what they would pay someone they have to train, the top is what they would pay someone who can run the work unsupervised. Ask which end the role is really budgeted at before you anchor on the top figure.
The figures on this page are advertised pay, which runs a little ahead of what people in post earn. If an offer sits below the median here for the level, that is a fair thing to raise; if it sits above the 75th percentile, it is a good offer for this market.
Highest paying cities for civil engineers
Cities with a single listing are shown but move easily — read them with the count beside them.
Highest paying employers for civil engineers
Live civil engineer roles
Platform Manager (HPC & Digital Infrastructure)
SandersonCivil EngineerviaReedBristolPermanentHybrid£58,000 - £65,000 per annumNewCivil Engineer Degree Apprenticeship
DEVONPORT ROYAL DOCKYARD LIMITEDCivil EngineerviaFind an apprenticeshipPlymouthPermanent£27,381 a yearNewSenior Civil Engineer (Funded Chartership)
Ernest Gordon Recruitment LimitedCivil EngineerviaReedManchesterPermanentHybrid£55,000 - £65,000 per annumNewSenior Civil Engineer (Funded Chartership)
Ernest Gordon Recruitment LimitedCivil EngineerviaReedBirminghamPermanentHybrid£55,000 - £65,000 per annumNewDevSecOps Engineer
WeDo Technology Solutions LimitedCivil EngineerviaReedLondonPermanent£70,000 - £75,000 per annumNewSetting Out Engineer
Wallace Hind SelectionCivil EngineerviaReedNorthamptonPermanent£55,000 - £60,000 per annumNewCivil Engineer salary: common questions
- How much does a civil engineer earn in the United Kingdom?
- The median advertised civil engineer salary is £70,000 a year, from 165 live listings on BOQQS. Most adverts fall between £59,500 and £81,500. These are salaries employers are offering, which runs a little ahead of what people are actually paid.
- What is the salary range for a civil engineer?
- Advertised pay in the current sample runs from £27,381 to £457,500. The middle half sits between £59,500 and £81,500 — the ends are real adverts, but they are not typical ones.
- Which cities pay civil engineers the most?
- Cambridge leads at £170,000 on average, against £74,384 across the whole sample. Brighton follows at £100,000.
- What is a civil engineer salary per hour?
- About £38.15 an hour, or £286.09 a day, converting the annual figure at 37.5 hours a week and 260 working days.
- Which employers pay civil engineers the most?
- From current listings, Pure Resourcing Solutions advertises the highest at £208,333 on average. This reflects what is advertised now, not a long-run ranking.
Similar roles
Figures are medians and averages of salaries advertised on BOQQS, not a survey of what people are paid — advertised pay leads actual pay. Day and hourly rates are annualised at 260 working days and 37.5 hours a week. Nothing below £28,000 a year is carried on this board, so these figures describe the specialist market rather than all jobs in the UK. How the figures are worked out