Compared with the local labor market
City Planner pay vs. the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ area
Across all employers in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ area, the median wage for Urban and Regional Planners — about 1,570 people — is $99,150. Department of Buildings pays a median base salary of $106,770 for this role, 8% above that figure — about the 62nd percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Department of Buildings sits in the local pay range
$65,040
$81,100
$99,150
$115,300
$140,610
Department of Buildings median · $106,770
The bar is the range of annual wages for Urban and Regional Planners across every employer in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Department of Buildings’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. Department of Buildings’s median base salary is 20% above that national figure, about the 71st percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
$60,010
$72,020
$89,320
$110,030
$134,490
Department of Buildings median · $106,770
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 New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at Department of Buildings is $116,405, 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 beyond New York City
This role is reported in 6 jurisdictions. In New York City, the median of $96,046 ranks #3 of 6. See City Planner across all of New York City →
Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role
Median total compensation for comparable City Plannerroles in other jurisdictions. Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for the role.