Business & Finance
Cost Estimators
Prepare cost estimates for product manufacturing, construction projects, or services to aid management in bidding on or determining price of product or service. May specialize according to particular service performed or type of product manufactured.
Median salary
$77,070
Typical range
$46k – $129k
Job outlook
See national outlook
AI exposure
Plan a path to Cost Estimators
Education
Typical entry: Bachelor's degree
Plan my path to this →Typical progression
Cost Estimators Intern
Internship
$36,000
~4 mos to advance
Junior Cost Estimators
Entry / Junior
$46,330
~2 yrs to advance
Cost Estimators
Established
$77,070
~3 yrs to advance
Senior Cost Estimators
Senior
$102,855
Internships are a common on-ramp here — they speed up landing that first role and improve your odds, which is why the Safe and High-ceiling plans build one in.
Key skills
A typical day
- •Analyze blueprints and other documentation to prepare time, cost, materials, and labor estimates.
- •Confer with engineers, architects, owners, contractors, and subcontractors on changes and adjustments to cost estimates.
- •Collect historical cost data to estimate costs for current or future products.
- •Assess cost effectiveness of products, projects or services, tracking actual costs relative to bids as the project develops.
- •Consult with clients, vendors, personnel in other departments, or construction foremen to discuss and formulate estimates and resolve issues.
Fields of study
Any field
Top colleges for Business & Finance
Explore all- University of Pennsylvania6% admit · $112,000 grad pay
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology4% admit · $124,000 grad pay
- Harvard University4% admit · $119,000 grad pay
- University of California, Berkeley11% admit · $97,000 grad pay
- New York University12% admit · $84,000 grad pay
Reputation-based selection; stats shown are outcome data per school.