How To Become A Civil Drafter: What It Is and Career Path

What is a civil drafter and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a civil drafter. For example, did you know that they make an average of $24.48 an hour? That's $50,923 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -3% and produce -6,700 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreCivil DrafterUS Average

Salary

4.0

Avg. Salary $50,923

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

4.1

Growth Rate -3%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.70%

Asian 7.02%

Black or African American 3.09%

Hispanic or Latino 11.66%

Unknown 5.20%

White 72.33%

Gender

female 24.59%

male 75.41%

Age - 45

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 45

Stress Level

4.1

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

7.1

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

6.2

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a civil drafter

Explore civil drafter education requirements

Most common civil drafter degrees

Associate

65.4 %

Bachelor's

18.7 %

High School Diploma

6.9 %

Start to develop specific civil drafter skills

Skills	Percentages
Civil 3D	34.00%
Construction Drawings	11.30%
Survey Data	6.52%
Sketch	5.20%
Aided Design	4.95%

Complete relevant civil drafter training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New civil drafters learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a civil drafter based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real civil drafter resumes.

Research civil drafter duties and responsibilities

Assist surveyors in the field Revit.
Submit finished plans to TXDOT QC for approval.
Develop attribute links for GIS systems database using AutoCAD.
Prepare complete plan sets for as-built surveys, topo.

Prepare your civil drafter resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your civil drafter resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a civil drafter resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Civil Drafter Resume templates

Build a professional Civil Drafter resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Civil Drafter resume.

Apply for civil drafter jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a civil drafter job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do civil drafters rate their job?

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Civil Drafter reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2020

Pros

fast degree plan