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Role hub · Surveyors

Surveyor: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.

The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.

Maid DizdarevicCareer coach · 8x LinkedIn Top Voice
Updated Nov 2, 2026 · Data: BLS OEWS May 2025 · O*NET 31.0
Pay ladder · select a percentile
Median percentile pay

Half of surveyors earn more than this and half earn less.

Annual
$75,440
Hourly
$36.27
Source
BLS May 2025
Quick answer

Surveyors make exact measurements and determine property boundaries. The median pay is $75,440 a year ($36.27 an hour) (BLS, May 2025). The most commonly reported education requirement is a bachelor's degree (47% of workers surveyed by O*NET).

Median pay
$75,440
BLS May 2025
Employed in the U.S.
50,830
BLS May 2025
Preparation
Job Zone 4 of 5
considerable preparation
Most common education
Bachelor's Degree
47% of workers
Key facts

Surveyors at a glance

  • Surveyors in the United States earned a median annual wage of $75,440 in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

  • In its 2025–35 employment projections, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education for surveyors in the United States.

    Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35

  • BLS projects employment of surveyors in the United States to grow 5.8% from 2025 to 2035, with about 3,100 openings a year on average, including replacement openings.

    Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35

  • BLS estimated that 50,830 people were employed as surveyors in the United States in May 2025, not counting the self-employed.

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

Explore the role

Every page for Surveyors

SalarySurveyor salary

Pay by percentile, state and metro, with a negotiation script.

Open →How to becomeSurveyor how to become

Education, training and the skills to build first.

Open →Interview questionsSurveyor interview questions

Questions with what they test, plus practice mode.

Open →Free toolCheck your resume

Parsed text, evidence per bullet, fixes first.

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The work

What surveyors do day to day

Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).

  1. Direct or conduct surveys to establish legal boundaries for properties, based on legal deeds and titles.
  2. Prepare and maintain sketches, maps, reports, and legal descriptions of surveys to describe, certify, and assume liability for work performed.
  3. Write descriptions of property boundary surveys for use in deeds, leases, or other legal documents.
  4. Verify the accuracy of survey data, including measurements and calculations conducted at survey sites.
  5. Search legal records, survey records, and land titles to obtain information about property boundaries in areas to be surveyed.
  6. Record the results of surveys, including the shape, contour, location, elevation, and dimensions of land or land features.
  7. Prepare, or supervise preparation of, all data, charts, plots, maps, records, and documents related to surveys.
  8. Compute geodetic measurements and interpret survey data to determine positions, shapes, and elevations of geomorphic and topographic features.
Where this career works

Industries that employ it

Data Share of all surveyor jobs in each industry, 2025 (BLS Employment Matrix).

  1. Professional, scientific, and technical services73.3% of all jobs in this occupation · +6.4% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $78,430
  2. Government, excluding state and local education and hospitals9.2% of all jobs in this occupation · +2.4% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $97,760
  3. Heavy and civil engineering construction4.8% of all jobs in this occupation · +4.1% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $81,200
  4. Specialty trade contractors3.2% of all jobs in this occupation · +5.7% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $74,970
  5. Construction of buildings1.9% of all jobs in this occupation · +5.2% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $79,920
  6. Utilities1.3% of all jobs in this occupation · +24.3% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $96,190

Sources: BLS 2025–35 National Employment Matrix (share of the occupation's jobs, projected change) and BLS OEWS May 2025 industry estimates (mean wage). Different industry estimates are not a pay forecast for any person.

Skills that matter

Ranked by importance to the job

Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.

MathematicscoreReading ComprehensioncoreWritingcoreCritical ThinkingSpeakingCoordinationActive ListeningJudgment and Decision MakingActive Learning

Knowledge areas: Mathematics, Engineering and Technology, Geography, Computers and Electronics, Customer and Personal Service, Design.

Tools and technology

Software surveyors use

Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.

  • Autodesk AutoCADComputer aided design CAD softwareIn demand
  • Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3DComputer aided design CAD softwareIn demand
  • Bentley MicroStationComputer aided design CAD softwareIn demand
  • ESRI ArcGIS softwareGeographic information systemHot technology
  • Autodesk AutoCAD Land DesktopComputer aided design CAD software
  • Bentley GeoPak BridgeGraphics or photo imaging software
  • Bentley Systems InRoads SuiteMap creation software
  • CE SURVEYOR IIIAnalytical or scientific software
  • CMT Incorporated CogoCADComputer aided design CAD software
  • Cadcorp desktop GISGeographic information system
  • Carlson SurvCADDComputer aided design CAD software
  • Carlson SurvCEAnalytical or scientific software

Also called: City Surveyor, County Surveyor, Land Surveyor, Licensed Land Surveyor, Mine Surveyor, Professional Land Surveyor.

Method

How this page is built

Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the cosine similarity of the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level and subtract the average across all occupations, then compare the direction of the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 means unrelated or opposite (negative values are shown as 0). Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.

What this page can't tell you
  • How a specific employer defines the job.
  • Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
  • Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
Sources
  1. O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
  2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).

How TryHired builds this data: sources, methods and downloads. Spotted an error? Report a correction.