Urban Planning Degrees: 2025 School Directory and Bachelor's Degree Guide

We have urban planners to thank for some of our cities’ most complex systems: stormwater management, subway networks, traffic patterns, and commercial and residential development, to name a few.

Fortunately, many accredited universities across the United States are building detailed urban planning bachelor’s degree programs to prepare students for rewarding careers in this expanding field. In this guide, you’ll explore what it means to study urban planning, the types of programs available, and what your career prospects look like post-graduation. When you’re ready to apply, refer to our comprehensive directory of programs at the bottom of the guide.

What Is Urban Planning?

Urban planning is a niche and vital social science field that brings together elements of geography, political science, economics, and public relations. Planners often work directly for local government agencies, literally shaping the communities we live in. Although these professionals must work closely with engineers and politicians, their primary role is to bring context to a community’s design, incorporating factors such as environmental constraints, historical perspectives, and current social concerns.

On a daily basis, urban planning jobs can vary greatly. A single urban planner may be tasked with:

• consulting on regional transportation routes
• planning for natural disasters, emergency response, and relief efforts
• assembling budgets for housing projects and social programs
• attending town hall meetings to discuss changes with community members
• providing expertise on how to make existing city processes more efficient

Urban planners are active members of their community, with their finger on the pulse of the population. These social scientists understand that our cities and towns are dynamic and complex hubs—hubs that should reflect the people living there.

What Are Urban Planning Degrees

Historically, urban planning was considered a subset of geography. However, as communities have grown larger, more diverse, and increasingly technologically-driven, urban planning has emerged as its own academic field. The multifaceted nature of the urban planning profession has led to the development of academic programs that offer varying degrees of specialization to address its complex components.

Broader reaching programs with titles such as Urban Planning or City Planning may include coursework in history, public policy, communications, environmental science, GIS, and economics. Community Planning and Regional Planning programs take the same concepts and expand their inclusivity to apply to suburban and rural communities as well.

Conversely, more specific programs like Environmental Planning may delve deeper into the physical sciences, including hydrology, geography, and chemistry. You may pursue this subset of planning coursework if your interest lies in stormwater management, urban forestry, climate resilience, or hazard prevention.

Even though some overlap exists between urban studies and urban planning, they are different fields. The former may be specifically geared toward history, social issues, and policy, whereas the latter is more of an applied field, focused on solutions to community challenges. Some students who pursue urban studies in their undergraduate degree decide to explore urban planning in their graduate studies.

Can You Earn an Urban Planning Degree Online?

As of now, urban planning is largely an in-person field of study, not dissimilar to the practice itself; most urban planning jobs require staff to live in the same region where they work, encouraging local involvement and some level of personal investment in the community.

If you are set on pursuing an online bachelor’s degree in urban planning, there are a few options, including Arizona State University and University of Arizona.

Plus, there are many adjacent and related degree programs that cover similar curriculum. For example, many urban planners have degrees in geography or political science, both of which are often offered online. These academic programs may allow students to select coursework in city design, GIS, environmental science, history, and public policy—all of which would allow you to piece together a custom-tailored urban planning specialty.

What Can You Do with an Urban Planning Degree?

Holding an urban planning degree of any kind can open many doors for your career. Whether you pursue a job in local government (e.g., your city’s Budget Office or Department of Environment) or use your academic knowledge to start a nonprofit or run for office, urban planning is a multi-disciplinary field that can bolster your credentials and inform countless impactful decisions for your community.

Job descriptions in the industry are exciting to read because of their diverse range of responsibilities. Think of all the ways cities are changing:

• better infrastructure for cyclists
• package delivery and pickup zones (including food delivery and ride share)
• automated vehicles and machinery on roads and sidewalks
• accommodation for individuals with disabilities
• mixed-use buildings (e.g., collocated apartment buildings and grocery stores)

These are all accomplishments and goals of urban planners. Although the job title is often simply “Planner” or a variation thereof (Associate Planner, Junior/ Senior Planner, Director of Planning, etc.), the tasks you may be responsible for really depend on the employer.

How Much Do Urban Planners Typically Earn?

Salaries for urban planners largely depend on location. Larger cities with bigger budgets, higher costs of living, and more responsibilities will offer bigger salaries ($90,000+), but smaller cities with less ongoing development bring the average salary down (~$50,000). Another huge factor in salary is public vs. private industry: most urban planning jobs exist in the public sector, which tends to offer lower salaries but more job security, whereas private companies can offer larger compensation packages. Options for private sector jobs can usually be found through construction, architecture, and consulting firms.

A degree in urban planning offers a lot of room to grow. You may start with smaller planning tasks, mapmaking, and budget balancing, but your career could lead to directing large contracts with the government, managing climate resiliency projects, and making a real difference in your communities and the nation at large.

Are Urban Planning Degrees Valuable?

In many circles, urban planning education is still thought of as a specialty. Of course, having a specialized degree can be very valuable in the right settings, but many students explore urban planning as an extension to existing education.

For that reason, you may want to consider an urban planning graduate degree program as opposed to a bachelor’s. Because urban planning builds on the foundation of numerous other disciplines, the field can appeal to students who already hold a degree in related subject. Not only will this enhance your chances of being accepted into an urban planning graduate program, but it will better inform your urban planning decisions and job prospects.

Different combinations of undergraduate degrees and graduate urban planning degrees can result in entirely different career paths. Consider some of the possibilities:

• Urban Planning MS + Environmental Science BS = climate resilience planner
• Urban Planning MS + History BA = public policy advocate
• Urban Planning MS + Geography/GIS BS= city data manager
• Urban Planning MS + Math BA = county treasurer

Whether an urban planning degree is “valuable” depends on what career prospects you hope to derive from it. This degree could enhance your mobility within an existing organization, or it could be the bridge between your current job and an entirely new industry. However, as with any higher-level education, it must be accompanied by intention. Think carefully about what you’d like to add to your career and whether a degree in urban planning will help you achieve that.

How to Choose an Urban Planning Degree

It may be wise to consider attending school in the location where you’d like to be employed after graduation. Many city and county governments look to local universities when hiring, and that is particularly true with urban planning. In fact, many of your school projects may be applicable to the surrounding community, which could lead directly to a local job, or at least better inform your knowledge of the area and its needs.

In terms of specific universities, you’ll also want to check their accreditation status with relevant boards and organizations. For example, the Planning Accreditation Board (PAB) ensures certain quality standards when it comes to graduate-level urban planning education. It can also be important for schools and their faculty to be members of groups like the American Planners Association (APA) and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP). Although not mandatory, these memberships could spell good things for your network and job prospects.

Online platforms can provide valuable insights into the educational backgrounds relevant to your desired career paths. Municipal websites, for instance, often feature professional biographies of city employees and public officials, providing insights into the academic backgrounds that shaped their career paths.

Resources for Urban Planning Students

Organizations

• Planning Accreditation Board (PAB)
• American Planners Association (APA): The APA also has chapters and conferences that are local, which is often the best way to get involved with specific communities and learn about their urban planning needs.
• Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP)

Conferences

• National Planning Conference

Publications

• Planning Magazine
• PAS Reports
• Built Environment
• Landscape and Urban Planning
• Cities