Career Trends: Urban and Regional Planners

Urban and regional planners develop land use plans and programs that help create communities, accommodate population growth, and revitalize physical facilities in towns, cities, counties, and metropolitan areas.

About 2 out of 3 urban and regional planners worked in local government in 2014. They often attend meetings with neighborhood groups that take place during evenings and weekends. Most work full time.

Urban and regional planners need a master’s degree from an accredited planning program to qualify for most positions.

Employment of urban and regional planners is projected to grow 6 percent from 2014 to 2024, about as fast as the average for all occupations. Population growth, economic conditions, and environmental concerns will drive employment growth for planners.

This occupation supported 38,700 jobs in 2012 and 38,000 jobs in 2014, reflecting a decline of 1.8%. In 2012, this occupation was projected to increase by 10.3% in 2022 to 42,700 jobs. As of 2014, to keep pace with prediction, the expected number of jobs was 39,500, compared with an observed value of 38,000, 3.8% lower than expected. This indicates current employment trends are worse than the 2012 trend within this occupation. In 2014, this occupation was projected to increase by 6.2% in 2024 to 40,400 jobs. Linear extrapolation of the 2012 projection for 2022 results in an expected number of 43,500 jobs for 2024, 7.7% higher than the 2014 projection for 2024. This indicates expectations for future employment trends are much worse than the 2012 trend within this occupation.