Civil Engineers in Florida
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$78,174
after federal, FICA and Florida tax
Tax takes
$20,396
20.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$75,565
Florida costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Florida — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$98,570
Kept after tax
$78,174
Worth in national money
$75,565
State rank
28
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Florida pays civil engineers around $98,570 at the midpoint, 28 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Within Florida this is well-paid work. Of 493 occupations with published figures in the state, civil engineers ranks 63 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $98,570 the take-home is $78,174. But Florida costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $75,565 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $103,810, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For civil engineers the Florida median is $98,570, ranking 28 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Ranked against every occupation Florida publishes a median for, civil engineers sits 63 of 493 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Florida income tax is $78,174 for civil engineers, from $98,570. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $75,565. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $103,810 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Civil Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $58,640 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $98,570 |
| Top tenth earn over | $166,680 |
| This salary | $98,570 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Florida | $78,174 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $78,174 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,881 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $98,570 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,742 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 103 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of civil engineers in Florida earn under $98,570 and half over. The published range runs $58,640 at the tenth percentile to $166,680 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Florida's $78,174, worked from $98,570. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 63 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Florida, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $75,565, the adjusted value of that $98,570 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 63 of 493 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for civil engineers in Florida, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $58,640 to $166,680; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The Florida take-home of $78,174, on $98,570 for work ranking 63 of 493 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 63 of 493 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Florida, so $75,565 — the adjusted value of that $98,570 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 63 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $103,810, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $58,640 at the bottom tenth to $166,680 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Florida costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $75,565 rather than its face figure.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $78,174 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Florida is $103,810. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($58,640) and the ninetieth ($166,680) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Florida's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $75,565 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Florida levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $78,174 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.