💡 Why it matters: Cities and towns keep growing, and someone has to plan where homes, roads, markets, schools and green spaces go so that growth does not turn into chaos.
🌍 Around the world
- Nigeria: Nigeria's cities are growing fast, so planners are needed to guide where homes, roads, markets and schools go.
- United States: Jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, about as fast as average (US Bureau of Labor Statistics).
💰 What it can pay
🇳🇬 Nigeria
- Starting out
- ₦1.5M – ₦3.5M
- Mid-career
- ₦3.5M – ₦8M
- Senior
- ₦8M – ₦20M
≈ ₦292k – ₦667k a month mid-career. Indicative estimate by Incusim.
🇺🇸 United States
Median pay; low and high are the 10th and 90th percentiles. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025
🇨🇦 Canada
Planner, urban and regional. Hourly wage low/median/high x 2,080 hours. Job Bank (Government of Canada), 2023-2024
Yearly pay before tax. UK, US and Canada figures come from the official sources named on each card. Nigeria has no official salary survey, so those are our indicative estimates. Real pay depends on the employer, the place, your skills and experience.
🛠️ What you actually do
- Draw up plans for how land in a town or city is used
- Check building and layout proposals against planning rules
- Talk with communities about what they need
- Study traffic, population and housing data
- Advise governments and developers on new projects
⚡ Skills you'll need
- Spatial thinking
- Problem solving
- Communication
- Mapping software
- Negotiation
Get ready at school
🇳🇬 Nigeria
- Work under a registered planner after your degree and then get professionally registered
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- Town planning degree apprenticeship
- Start as a planning assistant in a council and study part-time
🇺🇸 United States
- Start as a planning technician or intern with a city or county
- Some states and cities require extra licences or certificates
🇨🇦 Canada
- Start as a planning assistant or technician with a municipality
- Co-op programmes in planning degrees
🗺️ Your path to this career
- 1Study Geography, Maths and Economics in school
- 2Take a degree in Urban and Regional Planning or a similar subject
- 3Complete any required training year at a planning office
- 4Work under a registered planner and get professionally registered
- 5Lead planning projects for a state, city or consultancy
⏰ A day in the life
You start by studying a map of a growing neighbourhood and noting where a new road and school could go. Later you meet residents to hear their worries, then check a developer's drawings against the planning rules.