Transportation Engineers build complex problem solving, judgment and decision making and time management skills that carry over to other work. Below are 25 careers ranked by how closely their skills match, with pay from BLS May 2025. The closest match is Civil Engineering Technologists and Technicians (88%).
Updated October 2026 · Data: O*NET 31.0 and BLS OEWS May 2025 · How we match careers
Sorted by skill match.
| # | Career | Skill match | Median pay | Pay change | Extra education |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Civil Engineering Technologists and Technicians | 88% | $64,950 | — | None |
| 2 | Transportation Planners | 87% | $101,110Pay for the broader BLS group “Social Scientists and Related Workers, All Other” | Not compared | None |
| 3 | Logistics Engineers | 82% | $82,320Pay for the broader BLS group “Logisticians” | Not compared | None |
| 4 | Water Resource Specialists | 81% | $167,220Pay for the broader BLS group “Natural Sciences Managers” | Not compared | None |
| 5 | Traffic Technicians | 80% | $59,090 | — | None |
| 6 | Brownfield Redevelopment Specialists and Site Managers | 78% | $141,900Pay for the broader BLS group “Managers, All Other” | Not compared | None |
| 7 | Construction and Building Inspectors | 78% | $74,690 | — | None |
| 8 | Architectural and Civil Drafters | 78% | $66,150 | — | None |
| 9 | Construction Managers | 75% | $114,990 | — | None |
| 10 | Landscape Architects | 75% | $79,870 | — | None |
Compared with Transportation Engineers, median —. Skill match is our estimate (0–99) from O*NET 31.0 skills, knowledge, work activities and interests, adjusted for preparation and big pay drops. Pay: BLS OEWS May 2025, national median.
How important each skill is in work as transportation engineers (O*NET importance, scale 1–5).
The gaps that show up most often across your top 10 matches.
Free and low-cost training: use the CareerOneStop training finder below.
A concrete first step, the skills to add, and the hard parts of each job, from O*NET 31.0 education, training and work context data.
88% skill match · $64,950
Operations Monitoring
87% skill match · $101,110 (broader BLS group)
Programming
No work-context factor stands out as unusually hard in O*NET data.
82% skill match · $82,320 (broader BLS group)
Equipment Selection · Systems Analysis · Programming
If you want to stay close to what you do now, these roles are the nearest.
The closest matches are Civil Engineering Technologists and Technicians (88% skill match, median $64,950), Transportation Planners (87% skill match, median $101,110) and Logistics Engineers (82% skill match, median $82,320), based on O*NET 31.0 data and BLS May 2025 pay.
None of the 25 closest matches pays more than transportation engineers at the national median (BLS May 2025). Higher-paying moves usually need more training.
22 of the 25 matches usually need no more education than you have now, based on O*NET Job Zones. 3 usually need a graduate degree: Architects, Except Landscape and Naval, Environmental Restoration Planners and Industrial Ecologists.
We compare the importance of skills, knowledge, work activities and interests in O*NET 31.0 for your job and every other career, then adjust for extra preparation and big pay drops. The full method is on our Methodology page.