Architecture & Engineering
Surveying and Mapping Technicians
Also called: Field Surveyor, Land Survey Technician (Land Survey Tech), Land Surveyor, Mapping Editor
US median pay
$54,240
per year, 2025
Job growth 2025–35
+5.8%
faster than average
Openings a year (US)
6,900
58,800 employed
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
Preparation 3/5 · Medium preparation
What this job is
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.
What they do day to day
- 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.
- Check all layers of maps to ensure accuracy, identifying and marking errors and making corrections.
- Collect information needed to carry out new surveys, using source maps, previous survey data, photographs, computer records, or other relevant information.
- Record survey measurements or descriptive data, using notes, drawings, sketches, or inked tracings.
- Conduct surveys to ascertain the locations of natural features and man-made structures on the Earth's surface, underground, and underwater, using electronic distance-measuring equipment, such as GPS, and other surveying instruments.
- Prepare topographic or contour maps of land surveyed, including site features and other relevant information, such as charts, drawings, and survey notes.
Skills and knowledge that matter most
Skills
- Complex Problem Solving3.2/5
- Time Management3.1/5
- Judgment and Decision Making3.0/5
- Systems Analysis2.9/5
- Coordination2.9/5
- Social Perceptiveness2.8/5
- Management of Personnel Resources2.8/5
- Systems Evaluation2.6/5
Knowledge
- Geography4.1/5
- Mathematics4.0/5
- English Language3.5/5
- Computers and Electronics3.4/5
- Customer and Personal Service3.4/5
- Design3.3/5
Importance rated by people working in the job (1 = not important, 5 = extremely important).
Education and preparation
Preparation level 3 of 5 — Medium preparation. Usually vocational training, an associate's degree or an apprenticeship.
Typical entry education (BLS): High school diploma or equivalent.
Who this job suits
Mostly Realistic
Hands-on work with tools, machines, plants or animals
Conventional
Organising data, details and procedures
Investigative
Ideas, research and solving problems
Based on the Holland (RIASEC) interest profile for this occupation.