Education:
82%
Bachelor's Degree
9%
Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree)
Cost Estimator
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Job Outlook:
Decline
Education:
Bachelor's degree
Salary
High:
$120,600.00
Average:
$76,740.00
Hourly
Average:
$36.89
What they do:
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.
On the job, you would:
- 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.
Important Qualities
Analytical skills. Cost estimators must review and evaluate different construction and manufacturing methods to find cost-effective options.
Detail oriented. Cost estimators must be precise, because minor changes may greatly affect the overall expense of a project or product.
Math skills. Cost estimators need excellent math skills to calculate labor, material, and equipment estimates for construction projects.
Time-management skills. Cost estimators must plan in advance and work efficiently to meet their deadlines.
Writing skills. Cost estimators must have excellent writing skills to prepare comprehensive reports, which often help managers make production decisions.
Personality
| A3 | Your Strengths | Importance |
Characteristics of this Career |
|---|---|---|---|
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85% | Attention to Detail - Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks. | |
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85% | Integrity - Job requires being honest and ethical. | |
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84% | Analytical Thinking - Job requires analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems. | |
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80% | Dependability - Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations. | |
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73% | Cooperation - Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude. | |
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71% | Persistence - Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles. | |
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69% | Achievement/Effort - Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks. | |
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69% | Initiative - Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges. | |
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69% | Stress Tolerance - Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations. | |
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66% | Adaptability/Flexibility - Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace. |
| A3 | Your Strengths | Importance |
Strengths |
|---|---|---|---|
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83% | Enterprising - Work involves managing, negotiating, marketing, or selling, typically in a business setting, or leading or advising people in political and legal situations. Enterprising occupations are often associated with business initiatives, sales, marketing/advertising, finance, management/administration, professional advising, public speaking, politics, or law. | |
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83% | Conventional - Work involves following procedures and regulations to organize information or data, typically in a business setting. Conventional occupations are often associated with office work, accounting, mathematics/statistics, information technology, finance, or human resources. |
| A3 | Your Strengths | Importance |
Values of the Work Environment |
|---|---|---|---|
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61% | Relationships - Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service. | |
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61% | Independence - Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy. |
Aptitude
| A3 | Your Strengths | Importance |
Abilities | Cognitive, Physical, Personality |
|---|---|---|---|
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78% | Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events). | |
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75% | Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand. | |
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75% | Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences. | |
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75% | Mathematical Reasoning - The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem. | |
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72% | Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing. | |
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72% | Number Facility - The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly. | |
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69% | Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense. | |
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69% | Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer). | |
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69% | Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand. | |
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66% | Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations). |
Job Details
Responsibilities
Analyze business or financial data.
Estimate costs of goods or services.
Monitor financial indicators.
Assess the cost effectiveness of products, projects, or services.
Confer with personnel to coordinate business operations.
Confer with others about financial matters.
Estimate costs of goods or services.
Estimate costs of goods or services.
Estimate costs of goods or services.
Prepare financial documents.
Maintain data in information systems or databases.
Develop business or financial information systems.
Establish business management methods.
Negotiate agreements to resolve disputes.
Analyze business or financial data.
Estimate costs of goods or services.
Collect data about project sites.
Inspect work sites to determine condition or necessary repairs.
| A3 | Your Strengths | Importance |
Attributes & Percentage of Time Spent |
|---|---|---|---|
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100% | Electronic Mail - How often do you use electronic mail in this job? | |
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95% | Telephone - How often do you have telephone conversations in this job? | |
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90% | Spend Time Sitting - How much does this job require sitting? | |
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86% | Face-to-Face Discussions - How often do you have to have face-to-face discussions with individuals or teams in this job? | |
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83% | Indoors, Environmentally Controlled - How often does this job require working indoors in environmentally controlled conditions? | |
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78% | Work With Work Group or Team - How important is it to work with others in a group or team in this job? | |
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74% | Importance of Being Exact or Accurate - How important is being very exact or highly accurate in performing this job? | |
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73% | Freedom to Make Decisions - How much decision making freedom, without supervision, does the job offer? | |
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72% | Structured versus Unstructured Work - To what extent is this job structured for the worker, rather than allowing the worker to determine tasks, priorities, and goals? | |
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71% | Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results - What results do your decisions usually have on other people or the image or reputation or financial resources of your employer? | |
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69% | Time Pressure - How often does this job require the worker to meet strict deadlines? | |
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67% | Contact With Others - How much does this job require the worker to be in contact with others (face-to-face, by telephone, or otherwise) in order to perform it? | |
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73% | Duration of Typical Work Week - Number of hours typically worked in one week. |
| A3 | Your Strengths | Importance |
Tasks & Values |
|---|---|---|---|
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91% | Getting Information - Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources. | |
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89% | Analyzing Data or Information - Identifying the underlying principles, reasons, or facts of information by breaking down information or data into separate parts. | |
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89% | Working with Computers - Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information. | |
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87% | Estimating the Quantifiable Characteristics of Products, Events, or Information - Estimating sizes, distances, and quantities; or determining time, costs, resources, or materials needed to perform a work activity. | |
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83% | Making Decisions and Solving Problems - Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems. | |
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82% | Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates - Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person. | |
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81% | Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge - Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job. | |
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77% | Processing Information - Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or verifying information or data. | |
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71% | Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships - Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time. | |
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71% | Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events - Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events. | |
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70% | Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work - Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work. | |
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70% | Documenting/Recording Information - Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form. | |
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70% | Scheduling Work and Activities - Scheduling events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others. | |
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69% | Communicating with People Outside the Organization - Communicating with people outside the organization, representing the organization to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail. | |
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69% | Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others - Translating or explaining what information means and how it can be used. | |
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66% | Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards - Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards. |
What Cost Estimators Do
Cost estimators often collaborate with engineers.
Cost estimators collect and analyze data in order to assess the time, money, materials, and labor required to manufacture a product, construct a building, or provide a service. They generally specialize in a particular product or industry.
Duties
Cost estimators typically do the following:
- Identify factors affecting costs, such as production time, materials, and labor
- Read blueprints and technical documents in order to prepare estimates
- Collaborate with engineers, architects, clients, and contractors
- Calculate, analyze, and adjust estimates
- Recommend ways to cut costs
- Work with sales teams to prepare estimates and bids for clients
- Maintain records of estimated and actual costs
Accurately estimating the costs of construction and manufacturing projects is vital to the survival of businesses. Cost estimators provide managers with the information they need in order to submit competitive contract bids or to price products appropriately.
Estimators analyze production processes to determine how much time, money, and labor a project needs. Their estimates account for many things, including allowances for wasted material, bad weather, shipping delays, and other variables that can increase costs and lower profits.
In building construction, cost estimators use software to simulate the construction process and evaluate the price of design choices. They often check databases and their own records to compare the costs of similar projects.
The following are examples of types of cost estimators:
Construction cost estimators prepare estimates for building, road, and other construction projects. They may calculate the total cost of constructing a bridge or commercial shopping center, or they may calculate the cost of just one part, such as the foundation. They identify costs of elements such as raw materials and labor, and they may set a timeline for how long they expect the project to take. Although many work directly for construction firms, some work for contractors and engineering firms.
Manufacturing cost estimators calculate the expense of developing, producing, or redesigning a company’s goods or services. For example, an estimator working for a home appliance manufacturer may determine a new dishwasher’s production costs, aiding managers in making decisions about its assembly.
Other workers, such as operations research analysts and construction managers, also may estimate costs in the course of their usual duties.
Work Environment
Cost estimators held about 231,400 jobs in 2022. The largest employers of cost estimators were as follows:
| Specialty trade contractors | 35% |
| Construction of buildings | 16 |
| Manufacturing | 12 |
| Automotive repair and maintenance | 8 |
| Heavy and civil engineering construction | 5 |
Cost estimators work mostly in office settings, and some estimators visit construction sites and factory assembly lines during the course of their work.
Work Schedules
Most cost estimators work full time, and some work more than 40 hours per week.
Getting Started
How to Become a Cost Estimator
Cost estimators learn to use specialized cost estimating software.
Cost estimators typically need a bachelor’s degree to enter the occupation, although workers with several years of experience in construction sometimes qualify in that industry without a degree.
Education
Employers generally prefer to hire candidates who have a bachelor’s degree.
Construction cost estimators typically need a bachelor's degree in a related field, such as construction or engineering. Manufacturing cost estimators typically need a degree in business or finance.
Training
Most cost estimators receive on-the-job training, which may include instruction in cost estimation techniques and software and in building information modeling (BIM), computer-aided design (CAD), or other industry-specific software.
Work Experience in a Related Occupation
Some employers prefer that construction cost estimators, particularly those without a bachelor’s degree, have work experience in the construction industry. Some construction cost estimators become qualified solely through extensive work experience.
Job Outlook
Employment of cost estimators is projected to decline 3 percent from 2022 to 2032.
Despite declining employment, about 18,000 openings for cost estimators are projected each year, on average, over the decade. All of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to other occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.
Employment
Cost estimation software is improving the productivity of these workers, requiring fewer estimators to do the same amount of work. This will limit employment growth of cost estimators.
However, there will continue to be some demand for these workers because companies need accurate cost projections to ensure that their products and services are profitable.
Contacts for More Information
For more information about cost estimators, visit
American Society of Professional Estimators (ASPE)
Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering International (AACE International)
International Cost Estimating and Analysis Association (ICEAA)
Similar Occupations
This table shows a list of occupations with job duties that are similar to those of cost estimators.
| Occupation | Job Duties | Entry-Level Education | Median Annual Pay, May 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Accountants and Auditors |
Accountants and auditors prepare and examine financial records. |
Bachelor's degree | $78,000 |
|
Budget Analysts |
Budget analysts help public and private organizations plan their finances. |
Bachelor's degree | $82,260 |
|
Claims Adjusters, Appraisers, Examiners, and Investigators |
Claims adjusters, appraisers, examiners, and investigators evaluate insurance claims. |
See How to Become One | $72,040 |
|
Construction Managers |
Construction managers plan, coordinate, budget, and supervise construction projects from start to finish. |
Bachelor's degree | $101,480 |
|
Financial Analysts |
Financial analysts guide businesses and individuals in decisions about expending money to attain profit. |
Bachelor's degree | $96,220 |
|
Financial Managers |
Financial managers create financial reports, direct investment activities, and develop plans for the long-term financial goals of their organization. |
Bachelor's degree | $139,790 |
|
Industrial Production Managers |
Industrial production managers oversee the operations of manufacturing and related plants. |
Bachelor's degree | $107,560 |
|
Logisticians |
Logisticians analyze and coordinate an organization’s supply chain. |
Bachelor's degree | $77,520 |
|
Operations Research Analysts |
Operations research analysts use mathematics and logic to help solve complex issues. |
Bachelor's degree | $85,720 |
|
Project Management Specialists |
Project management specialists coordinate the budget, schedule, staffing, and other details of a project. |
Bachelor's degree | $95,370 |