OverviewSalaryAboutEducationWhere are the jobsEmploymentGenderRace/Origin
Overview
Perform surveying and mapping duties, usually under the direction of an engineer, surveyor, cartographer, or photogrammetrist, to obtain data used for construction, mapmaking, boundary location, mining, or other purposes. May calculate mapmaking information and create maps from source data, such as surveying notes, aerial photography, satellite data, or other maps to show topographical features, political boundaries, and other features. May verify accuracy and completeness of maps.
Explore Pathways
Titles for this career often contain these words
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Responsibilities and activities
Surveying technicians typically do the following:
- Visit sites to record survey measurements and other descriptive data
- Operate surveying instruments, such as electronic distance-measuring equipment (robotic total stations), to collect data on a location
- Set out stakes and marks to conduct a survey
- Search for previous survey points, such as old stone markers
- Enter the data from surveying instruments into computers, either in the field or in an office
Surveying technicians help surveyors in the field on teams known as survey parties. A typical survey party has a party chief and one or more surveying technicians. The party chief, either a surveyor or a senior surveying technician, leads day-to-day work activities. After data is collected by the survey party, surveying technicians help process the data by entering the data into computers.
Mapping technicians typically do the following:
- Select needed information from databases to create maps
- Edit and process images that have been collected in the field
- Produce maps showing boundaries, water locations, elevation, and other features of the terrain
- Update maps to ensure accuracy
- Assist photogrammetrists by laying out aerial photographs in sequence to identify areas not captured by aerial photography
Mapping technicians help cartographers and photogrammetrists produce and update maps. They do this work on computers, combining data from different sources. Mapping technicians may use drones to take photos and collect other information required to complete maps or surveys.
Geographic Information System (GIS) technicians use GIS technology to assemble, integrate, and display data about a particular location in a digital format. GIS technicians also maintain and update databases for GIS devices.
Salary
Median salary: $46,200 annually
Half of those employed in this career earn between $35,760 and $60,430.
Context: Median Salary
How do salaries for this career compare to other jobs' salaries?
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Salary growth for surveying and mapping technicians
Is this job likely to reward you for sticking with it through pay raises and promotions? The higher a job’s “experience quotient,” the more you are likely to get as you stay there.
Experience quotient percentile
Take a minute to look at how much you might expect your salary to increase with each five years' experience, as well as how the numbers working at each age change. Does this seem to be a job for the young or the old, or could it be a career offering steady salary growth for many years?
Salary distribution
Number employed
About Surveying and Mapping Technicians
How do benefits for this career compare to other jobs? The availability of health care, especially employer provided health care, and pension plans can add significantly to the value of compensation you receive in a career. These charts compare how this career compares to other careers with regard to health care and pension plans.
Employee has health insurance
Employer is providing health insurance
Employer-provided pension plan is available
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Personality and skills
Can you see yourself in the ranks of Surveying and Mapping Technicians? Here are the skills and traits that could lead to success.
Decisionmaking skills
Surveying technicians must be able to exercise some independent judgment in the field because they may not always be able to communicate with team members.
Detail oriented
Surveying and mapping technicians must be precise and accurate in their work. Their results are often entered into legal records.
Listening skills
Surveying technicians work outdoors and must communicate with party chiefs and other team members across distances. Following spoken instructions from the party chief is crucial for saving time and preventing errors.
Physical stamina
Surveying technicians usually work outdoors, often in rugged terrain. Physical fitness is necessary to carry equipment and to stand most of the day.
Problem-solving skills
Surveying and mapping technicians must be able to identify and fix problems with their equipment. They must also note potential problems with the day’s work plan.
Injury and Illness
About 112 surveying and mapping technicians become injured or ill for every 10,000 workers, making this job more dangerous than 84% of other careers. The most common specific illnesses or injuries are detailed following.
Soreness and pain
Sprains, strains, tears
Education pathways to this career
Education attained by surveying and mapping technicians
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), surveying and mapping technicians typically hold a high school diploma or equivalent.
Sometimes the typical education identified by the BLS differs a bit from the reality of the how much education current workers actually have. The donut shows the education level held by people currently working as surveying and mapping technicians as reported in responses to the American Community Survey.
Details: Education and training recommended for surveying and mapping technicians
Surveying technicians generally need a high school diploma, but some have postsecondary training in survey technology. Postsecondary training is more common among mapping technicians where an associate’s degree or bachelor’s degree in a relevant field, such as geomatics, is beneficial.
High school students interested in working as a surveying or mapping technician should take courses in algebra, geometry, trigonometry, drafting, mechanical drawing, and computer science. Knowledge of these subjects may help in finding a job and in advancing.
Details: Licensing and certification recommended for surveying and mapping technicians
The growing need to make sure that data are useful to other professionals has caused certification to become more common. The American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) offers certification for photogrammetry, remote-sensing, and Geographic Information/Land Information Systems (GIS/LIS). The National Society of Professional Surveyors offers the Certified Survey Technician credential, and the GIS Certification Institute offers a GIS Professional certification.
Education level of Surveying and Mapping Technicians
Only 8% of surveying and mapping technicians have a bachelor's degree or higher.
Education attained by surveying and mapping technicians
None
High School
Some College
Associate's Degree
Bachelor's Degree
Master's Degree
Professional Degree
Doctorate
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Programs recommended by the Department of Education
The Department of Education recommends the following college degree programs as preparation for this career. You can click a program row to learn more about the program and explore a list of schools that offer the program.
Where are the jobs
State-by-state employment numbers
Some careers tend to be centered in specific parts of the country. For example, most jobs in fashion are in New York or California. Let's see if your dream job is easy to find in your dream location! We have a few choices for viewing the data that can help you get a full employment picture.
Select a state to see local area details
Number of Surveying and Mapping Technicians per 1,000 workers (ACS)
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Job density versus job count
Which states hire the most surveying and mapping technicians? We wonder if that's a fair question since states come in all sizes, so instead let's start with the question of which states have the highest density of people working as surveying and mapping technicians. You can choose to view the number of jobs per state if you prefer.
Salaries by state
Let's get a feel for where surveying and mapping technicians earn the highest salaries. There are several choices for which data we consider and how we view that data, and each can lead to different conclusions, so please read on...
Median salary versus state ratio
We use two methods to compare salaries across states:
- In-state comparisons: the ratio of median (middle) salaries for surveying and mapping technicians compared to the median salary for all people working in each state, or
- Median salary: the unaltered median salaries for surveying and mapping technicians.
The darkest shading corresponds to states in which surveying and mapping technicians earn the highest salary when compared to other jobs in the state. We think this figure might be a better indicator than the actual salary for your buying power as a state resident.
Select a state to see local area details
Location-adjusted median salary for Surveying and Mapping Technicians (ACS)
Employment
9% of Surveying and mapping technicians are working part time.
We’ve found that some jobs have a huge number of part-time workers, and typically that is because they are unable to find full-time work or the job itself can’t provide full-time hours. With 9% part-time workers, this occupation has a lower percentage of part-time workers than 58% of careers.
Employer types
This donut shares the break-down of workers by employer type, giving us a picture of what employers most typically hire for this career.
Employers of undefined (ACS)
Private for-profit
Private not-for-profit
Local government
State government
Federal government
Self-employed incorporated
Self-employed not incorporated
Working without pay
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Distribution: Salaries of surveying and mapping technicians by type of employer
Here are the salary distributions based on employer type.
Gender
Surveying and mapping technicians and gender
With 7% women, this occupation has a lower percentage of women than 84% of careers.
Gender of Surveying and mapping technicians
Men (93%)
Women (7%)
Distribution: salaries by gender
Does gender greatly influence your salary in this career? The closer the bars are, the less discrepancy there is.
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
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Context: Women in the workforce
How does this career compare to other careers with regard to the percentage of women in the career.
Context: Salary inequity
The median (middle) salary for all full-time male workers
in the US exceeds the full-time median salary for women
by 19%, and the difference
for surveying and mapping technicians tops that, with the median salary for
men 22% higher than the median
salary for women.
Race/Origin
Race and origin of Surveying and mapping technicians
This donut shows the distribution of race and origin among those employed as Surveying and mapping technicians.
Race/origin of surveying and mapping technicians
White (88% )
Black (4% )
Multiracial (3% )
Other (2% )
Asian (2% )
American Indian (1% )
Hispanic (1% )
Pacific Islander (0% )
Distribution: salaries by race/origin
Some careers might have a pay disparity based on race or origin, the closer the below bars are the less of a discrepancy is present.
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
