Role across City of Baltimore

City Planner

Carry out the duties of this position in support of the agency's public mission.

170 people hold the City Planner role across 19 departments in City of Baltimore, with a median total compensation of $69,359. Among 6 jurisdictions where this role is reported, City of Baltimore ranks #5 by median pay.

Employees: 170
Median pay: $69,359
Departments: 19
Cross-jurisdiction: #5 of 6

Compared with the local labor market

City Planner pay vs. the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD area

Across all employers in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD area, the median wage for Urban and Regional Planners — about 420 people — is $84,000. City of Baltimore pays a median base salary of $70,096 for this role, 17% below that figure — about the 31st percentile of local pay for the occupation.

Where City of Baltimore sits in the local pay range

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$61,660

$65,220

$84,000

$104,780

$131,810

City of Baltimore median · $70,096

The bar is the range of annual wages for Urban and Regional Planners across every employer in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows City of Baltimore’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.

And across the country

Nationwide, the median wage for Urban and Regional Planners — about 44,230 people — is $89,320. City of Baltimore’s median base salary is 22% below that national figure, about the 23rd percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$60,010

$72,020

$89,320

$110,030

$134,490

City of Baltimore median · $70,096

Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD range relative to the national one.

Computed over the 162 of 170 people in this role paid at least $25,000 in base salary. The rest are part-year or part-time records, whose actual pay isn’t comparable to a full-time annual wage.

Median total compensation for this role at City of Baltimore is $69,359, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.

Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.

Compare jurisdictions

City Planner pay in other jurisdictions

Where City Planners are paid most

City of Los Angeles

$158,430 · 103

New York Public Authorities

$118,438 · 9

New York City

$96,046 · 314

City of Chicago

$93,156 · 31

City of Philadelphia

$20,959 · 67

Median total compensation for comparable City Planner roles in other jurisdictions (highest first). Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not by identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for this role.

Within City of Baltimore