Urban and Regional Planners build judgment and decision making, systems analysis and complex problem solving 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 Chief Sustainability Officers (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 | Chief Sustainability Officers | 88% | $213,990Pay for the broader BLS group “Chief Executives” | Not compared | None |
| 2 | Climate Change Policy Analysts | 84% | $82,220Pay for the broader BLS group “Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health” | Not compared | None |
| 3 | Sustainability Specialists | 83% | $83,050Pay for the broader BLS group “Business Operations Specialists, All Other” | Not compared | None |
| 4 | Environmental Restoration Planners | 78% | $82,220Pay for the broader BLS group “Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health” | Not compared | None |
| 5 | Brownfield Redevelopment Specialists and Site Managers | 78% | $141,900Pay for the broader BLS group “Managers, All Other” | Not compared | None |
| 6 | Management Analysts | 77% | $101,860 | +14% | None |
| 7 | Emergency Management Directors | 74% | $93,330 | +4% | None |
| 8 | Intelligence Analysts | 73% | $93,790Pay for the broader BLS group “Detectives and Criminal Investigators” | Not compared | None |
| 9 | Project Management Specialists | 72% | $102,320 | +15% | None |
| 10 | Industrial Ecologists | 72% | $82,220Pay for the broader BLS group “Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health” | Not compared | None |
Compared with Urban and Regional Planners, median $89,320. 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 urban and regional planners (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 · $213,990 (broader BLS group)
Persuasion · Operation and Control · Coordination
No work-context factor stands out as unusually hard in O*NET data.
84% skill match · $82,220 (broader BLS group)
Technology Design · Operations Monitoring
No work-context factor stands out as unusually hard in O*NET data.
83% skill match · $83,050 (broader BLS group)
Troubleshooting · Quality Control Analysis · Operations Monitoring
If you want to stay close to what you do now, these roles are the nearest.
The closest matches are Chief Sustainability Officers (88% skill match, median $213,990), Climate Change Policy Analysts (84% skill match, median $82,220) and Sustainability Specialists (83% skill match, median $83,050), based on O*NET 31.0 data and BLS May 2025 pay.
Among the 25 matches, 5 pay more than urban and regional planners at the median. The biggest increases: Chief Executives (+140%, $213,990), Project Management Specialists (+15%, $102,320) and Management Analysts (+14%, $101,860).
25 of the 25 matches usually need no more education than you have now, based on O*NET Job Zones.
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.