by our College Data Analytics Team
[Civil Engineering](/majors/engineering/civil-engineering/) graduates earn very different salaries depending on where they study. The highest-paying schools turn a civil engineering degree into the strongest early-career earnings.
To produce this 2026 ranking, College Factual evaluated 5 schools on the early-career earnings of their civil engineering graduates.
What’s on this page:
If you want to know which schools send civil engineering graduates into the highest-paying careers, see the list below.
Leading the list is Vanderbilt University, our #1 for civil engineering graduate salaries in Tennessee. Vanderbilt University is a private not-for-profit school located in the city of Nashville. Civil Engineering graduates of Vanderbilt University earn a median of about $107,563 a year early in their careers.
A rank of #2 makes The University Of Tennessee At Chattanooga one of the highest-paying schools for civil engineering. The University Of Tennessee At Chattanooga is a public school located in the city of Chattanooga. Civil Engineering graduates of The University Of Tennessee At Chattanooga earn a median of about $90,909 a year early in their careers.
A rank of #3 makes The University Of Tennessee one of the highest-paying schools for civil engineering. The University Of Tennessee is a public school located in the city of Knoxville. After graduating, civil engineering degree recipients from The University Of Tennessee typically earn about $81,419 annually.
University Of Memphis came in at #4 on our 2026 list of the highest-paying civil engineering schools. Set in the city of Memphis, University Of Memphis is a public institution. Students who complete the civil engineering program here go on to a median salary of roughly $78,233.
A rank of #5 makes Tennessee Technological University one of the highest-paying schools for civil engineering. Tennessee Technological University is a public school located in the town of Cookeville. Civil Engineering graduates of Tennessee Technological University earn a median of about $75,845 a year early in their careers.
The ranking above is published by College Factual, 2026 edition. The methodology measures the salaries civil engineering graduates go on to earn early in their careers, drawn primarily from the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard field-of-study earnings and IPEDS).
Ranking method: College Major Earnings · 5 schools evaluated.
*Salary figures reflect median early-career earnings (about 5 years after graduation) and may vary by how long a person takes to complete their degree.
More about our data sources and methodologies.