Civil Engineer Salary in New Mexico (2026)

Worth knowing: WIPP Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Carlsbad is the country's most distinctive concentrated US single-state deep geologic nuclear waste repository CE operation and a feature most national CE surveys understate for NM. WIPP Carlsbad (the country's only operational deep geologic transuranic TRU nuclear waste repository + the substantial post-1999 WIPP operational commercial transuranic waste emplacement + the substantial DOE Office of Environmental Management EM operation + the substantial WIPP Salado Formation salt repository 2,150 feet below surface + the substantial WIPP receiving + emplacing transuranic waste from substantial DOE National Laboratory operations including Sandia + LANL + Hanford + Idaho National Laboratory + Savannah River Site + the substantial WIPP cleared workforce ~1.5K including engineering + mining + the substantial WIPP Nuclear Waste Partnership LLC M&O contractor (Amentum + BWXT + Orano) + the substantial post-2014 WIPP radiation release incident recovery + reopening + the substantial WIPP 10-year License Renewal + the substantial WIPP post-2024 capacity expansion considerations supporting substantial DOE nuclear cleanup) operates substantial NM-specific cleared deep geologic engineering work. Senior WIPP cleared engineers clear $118-185K+ TC with DOE Q clearance premium. Bohannan Huston Albuquerque (founded 1959 + the substantial NM-HQ engineering firm + ~300+ employees + the substantial Bohannan Huston transportation + water + facility + the substantial Bohannan Huston NM cleared contractor work supporting Sandia + LANL + Kirtland + WIPP) operates substantial NM-HQ engineering services work. The substantial NMDOT mega-project portfolio (I-25 Albuquerque + Santa Fe + Las Cruces + I-40 Albuquerque + Gallup + I-10 Las Cruces + I-10 Lordsburg + US-285 Roswell + Carlsbad + the substantial post-2024 NM fed infrastructure investment + the substantial NM-Mexico border cross-jurisdictional CE) supports substantial NMDOT + consulting CE work. The US Army Corps of Engineers Albuquerque District (the substantial USACE Rio Grande Basin + Pecos River Basin navigation + flood + dam + the substantial USACE Cochiti Dam + Abiquiu Dam + Galisteo Dam + Jemez Canyon Dam operations) supports substantial cleared federal civilian + contractor civil engineering work. Sandia + LANL + Kirtland substantial cleared facility CE supporting DOE Lab + AFRL infrastructure. The substantial NM Permian Basin oil & gas CE (NM #2 US oil producer + the substantial NM Permian drilling pad CE + the substantial NM Permian pipeline + processing CE) supports substantial NM oil & gas CE. Spaceport America Truth or Consequences substantial commercial space facility CE. NM progressive 1.7-5.9% top by 2026 + NM is NOT a RTW state + lower NM cost of living anchor the NM CE proposition.