The average salary was $78,560 in May 2008, and the starting bachelor's degree's salary is around $52,048 according to a survey in 2009.
There were around 278,400 civil engineers in 2008 out of 1.6 million engineering jobs. It is the biggest discipline of engineering, but it seems to pay the lowest.
Civil engineering is expected to grow 24% over the next decade since population is increasing and civil engineers will be needed to build new structures as well as repair old buildings, roads, and other public structures.
The top three colleges ranked 2010 are 1)University of California- Berkeley, 2)University of Illinois- Urbana-Champaign, and 3)Georgia Institute of Technology. Here's the list- http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-engineering-schools/civil-engineering
The ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineering) is one of the official societies of civil engineering in America. Here's their site- http://www.asce.org/