Career
Surveying and mapping technicians
Collect the measurements behind maps and land surveys.
$54,240
Median pay
+5.8%
Job growth, 2025–35
6,900
Openings a year
High school diploma or equivalent
Typical education
None required
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Set out and recover stakes, marks, or other monumentation.
- Search for section corners, property irons, or survey points.
- Calculate latitudes, longitudes, angles, areas, or other information for mapmaking, using survey field notes or reference tables.
- Enter Global Positioning System (GPS) data, legal deeds, field notes, or land survey reports into geographic information system (GIS) workstations so that information can be transformed into graphic land descriptions, such as maps and drawings.
- Adjust and operate surveying instruments such as prisms, theodolites, electronic distance measuring equipment, or electronic data collectors.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on objects & tools, then information & systems?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Set out and recover stakes, marks, or other monumentation.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking, Mathematics, Complex Problem Solving.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
No degree beyond high school, though moderate-term on-the-job training is typical, for a median of $54,240 a year and 6,900 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- Surveying Technology/SurveyingCIP 15.1102
- GeographyCIP 45.0701
- Geographic Information Science and CartographyCIP 45.0702
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Cartographers and Photogrammetrists$81,390 · +7.4%
- Geodetic Surveyors
- Geographic Information Systems Technologists and Technicians
- Surveyors$75,440 · +5.8%
- Geological Technicians, Except Hydrologic Technicians$53,350 · +3.6%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.