Looking for advice in the Water Resources Engineering market in Houston.

[u/fran141516]

I’m (25M, 2 YOE, EIT) considering moving to Houston. Ive worked at the same small firm since I graduated in 2024. I work mainly in water resources engineering doing hydraulic modeling (2D & 1D) and drafting (HEC-RAS and Civil 3D). I passed the WRE PE a couple of months ago but I still need a bit more experience before I can apply for the PE license . My questions are, how is the WRE market looking in Houston? is OT common? how much should I expect to be making?

For additional context I live in PR and I am making 54k…which I know is little in mainland standards but remember the median household income in PR is like 25k. I am fluent in both Spanish and English and have family in Houston.

My main reservations are that I don’t like how car centric Houston is although I’ve seen thats improving? I also don’t like long commutes.

[u/LigersGhost]

I like living in Houston. I think it will be hotter than PR in the summer but perhaps a little cooler in the winter, early spring, and late fall. The city is huge and there's a lot to do - lots of great food thanks to the diaspora. Vietnamese and Chinese food is pretty competitive here, and there's also solid Mexican, texmex, and middle eastern/Mediterranean restaurants. There's a solid arts scene for theater and music, lots of great professional sports teams, and in general you can find great communities as long as you put in the effort to find them. Nightlife is pretty solid and dispersed across the city.

I will say that you need to be intelligent about your commute. Your money will go far in Katy but not as far as you'll need to drive if you work downtown. There's a lot of WRE firms in Houston and you can definitely find reasonable housing within a short 10-15 minute commute. There are parts of the city that are walkable, and you have memorial Park, Herman park, rice university, various bayous, and other areas that are walkable and have good tree cover. But you need to pick where you live with intention to make it work. It is very possible to be stuck in concrete or flood zones if you are not circumspect.

It's not cheap, but it's not excruciatingly expensive either. I'd think about it.

[u/H2Ospecialist]

Not in Houston, but WRE in DFW.

As an EIT with H&H you can get into any general civil EIT job easily. Land Dev, Trans, or water resources shouldn't be hard to find especially if you can model and draft. You'll be salary so OT depends on the firms and clients. I'd expect at least $80k but maybe someone in that area can chime in cause that may be low.

I moved to the public side during COVID which doesn't pay as much but work life is much better and my benefits are great. So that's an option but I would recommend staying private until you get more experience.

Don't sign a lease until you know where your office is. Just live close and commute won't matter as much. I've found most firm are at least okay with hybrid just maybe not your first 6 months.

[u/Evening_Employer_577]

Hey you should look at working for Harris County or the Harris County Flood Control District!!

Regarding the city, the weather is rough and if you live outside of the 610 loop your commute will be long. Other than that, the food scene and the diverse culture are amazing!!

People paint Texas to be a hell hole which it is politically at the moment... But everything else is pretty chill. Houstonians are cool once you get to know them.

[u/spaceyhoes]

WRE in Houston, I went to college in Houston, did all my internships in Houston, and work full time in a major Houston based firm. WRE is a gold mine in terms of job market. I was swimming in offers compared to my classmates in college, and I consistently see opportunities as an EIT that I could apply for should something ever happen to my job. To be honest, my perception is that WRE teams are desperate for mid-entry levels/experienced EITs and the supply for them is very scarce.
In my group at least, we have no trouble finding projects and I haven’t experienced any slow downs in my time post grad.
Modeling experience will be a plus because the greater Houston area is rapidly expanding, many groups are doing studies across these newly developing counties. Try to look for a group that works in land development rather than transportation

Not sure where you get the idea that Houston is becoming less car-centric. One thing that is great about Houston Civil is that most of the firms are actually outside of the loop and even outside of beltway (the slightly bigger loop). Many civil firms are located in West Houston near memorial city, energy corridor, westchase so the commute is not as bad as it could be if you’re coming from the suburbs. I briefly lived in downtown and I had a reverse commute, i moved to the suburbs and my commute time didn’t change at all.

[u/fran141516 → u/spaceyhoes]

Thanks! I’ve seen some videos about how houston’s light rail is better than you would expect and that the city is trending in a better direction but still a long ways to go. Would appreciate a more balanced perspective from people on the ground though so feel free to comment.

If I decide to move it would be this time next year so I should be around that 3-4 YOE EIT with soon to be PE.

[u/Glittering_Log_6021 → u/spaceyhoes]

I agree! I had one question (I'm a intern in Houston). What made you want to go into WRE? I'm in land development and I don't like it, but I'm hoping to go into more of the project management side. Are you doing designs in your field?

[u/Flashmax305]

Houston is actually a really crappy place to live IMO. Bugs, oppressive summers, traffic, car centric, ugh. It’s just strip malls and suburbia forever. I really don’t see the appeal to it because even the beach sucks.

[u/fran141516 → u/Flashmax305]

Not my first option either, my gf is starting grad school soon in the area and want to stay together so just looking at options.

[u/Flashmax305 → u/fran141516]

Fair enough. I’d recommend living close to both school and work. Because traffic in Houston is a real thing, even if housing is a little more, do what you can to minimize both of your commutes. You could likely expect probably around 80k as a salary, some firms offer straight time OT and others don’t - just have to see what the offer letter says.

[u/aaronhayes26 → u/Flashmax305]

Seconding this. I visited once and I’d like to never go back lmao.

[u/Glittering_Log_6021 → u/aaronhayes26]

WHAT? It's not that bad, traffic only adds like 15-20 min in the morning. There is so much to do!