Urban and Regional Planners
Develop comprehensive plans and programs for use of land and physical facilities of jurisdictions, such as towns, cities, counties, and metropolitan areas.
Most important skills
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Reading Comprehension
- Critical Thinking
- Systems Analysis
- Writing
- Complex Problem Solving
Key knowledge
- Law and Government
- English Language
- Geography
- Transportation
- Communications and Media
- Administration and Management
- Sociology and Anthropology
- Customer and Personal Service
What the work involves
- Conduct interviews, surveys and site inspections concerning factors that affect land usage, such as zoning, traffic flow and housing.
- Prepare reports, using statistics, charts, and graphs, to illustrate planning studies in areas such as population, land use, or zoning.
- Prepare, develop and maintain maps and databases.
- Prepare, maintain and update files and records, including land use data and statistics.
- Research, compile, analyze and organize information from maps, reports, investigations, and books for use in reports and special projects.
- Respond to public inquiries and complaints.
- Design, promote, or administer government plans or policies affecting land use, zoning, public utilities, community facilities, housing, or transportation.
- Recommend approval, denial, or conditional approval of proposals.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Investigative, Enterprising, Conventional.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Master's Degree (56% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (40%)
- On-the-job training
- None or short demonstration (24%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 5: Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Urban and Regional Planners is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Low | Lower on contact with others than 73% of occupations compared | 48% of surveyed respondents chose “Contact with others most of the time” |
| Dealing with the public | Very high | Higher on dealing with the public than 83% of occupations compared | 44% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | High | Higher on teamwork than 64% of occupations compared | 60% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 76% of occupations compared | 58% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | Low | Lower on time pressure than 74% of occupations compared | 48% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Conflict situations | High | Higher on conflict situations than 72% of occupations compared | 54% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | High | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 63% of occupations compared | 48% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Consequence of error | Very low | Lower on consequence of error than 94% of occupations compared | 50% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: low
- Conflict situations: high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: high
- Consequence of error: very low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 24%
- Contact with others most of the time: 48%
- Constant contact with others: 28%
n = 25, Occupational Expert 08/2021
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 16%
- Very important: 40%
- Extremely important: 44%
n = 25, Occupational Expert 08/2021
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 4%
- Important: 8%
- Very important: 28%
- Extremely important: 60%
n = 25, Occupational Expert 08/2021
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 4.17%
- Limited freedom: 25%
- Some freedom: 58.33%
- A lot of freedom: 12.5%
n = 24, Occupational Expert 08/2021
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 4%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 44%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 48%
- Every day: 4%
n = 25, Occupational Expert 08/2021
Conflict situations
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 16.67%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 54.17%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 25%
- Every day: 4.17%
n = 24, Occupational Expert 08/2021
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 26.09%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 47.83%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 26.09%
- Every day: 0%
n = 23, Occupational Expert 08/2021
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 33.33%
- Fairly serious: 50%
- Serious: 8.33%
- Very serious: 8.33%
- Extremely serious: 0%
n = 24, Occupational Expert 08/2021
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O*NET-SOC 19-3051.00 · SOC 19-3051 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8