Surveyor Salary, Skills & Requirements (2026)
Advertised pay, starting pay, skills and experience from 2,111 US job postings by 562 employers. Data as of October 2026.
What US employers post for surveyors: advertised pay, the skills and experience they ask for, and the job titles they use, from 2,111 open job postings (October 2026).
- The median advertised pay for surveyors in US job postings is $83,000 a year (398 postings from 140 employers, October 2026).
- The middle half of those postings offer $68,000 to $110,000.
- The skills that most set surveyor postings apart are gps, autocad civil 3d, land surveying.
- Postings that state a minimum ask for a median of 4 years of experience.
Surveyor job postings in the US, October 2026
- $83,000
- Median advertised pay (398 postings)
- $68,000–$110,000
- Middle 50% of postings
- 2,111
- US job postings from 562 employers
- 4 years
- Median experience asked
How much does a surveyor make?
The median advertised pay is $83,000 a year, from 398 US job postings by 140 employers that state pay. One in ten postings offers $135,000 or more.
Advertised pay in 398 US surveyor job postings: median $83,000 a year, middle half $68,000 to $110,000.
- Median: $83,000
- 25th percentile: $68,000
- 75th percentile: $110,000
The figures as a table
| Annual pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| $30K–$40K | 2.8% |
| $40K–$50K | 5.9% |
| $50K–$60K | 8.0% |
| $60K–$70K | 11.3% |
| $70K–$80K | 15.7% |
| $80K–$90K | 10.0% |
| $90K–$100K | 9.8% |
| $100K–$110K | 9.5% |
| $110K–$120K | 9.5% |
| $120K–$130K | 4.9% |
| $130K–$140K | 5.9% |
| $140K–$150K | 2.3% |
| $150K–$160K | 1.3% |
| $160K–$170K | 1.5% |
| $170K–$180K | 1.3% |
Midpoint of each posting's pay range, hourly pay × 2,080 hours; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
| Median | Middle 50% | Postings | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All pay postings, annualised | $83,000 | $68K–$110K | 398 |
For comparison, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the national median annual wage of Surveyors (17-1022) at $75,000 (May 2025). Postings advertise pay; the BLS measures what people earn, across all employers and levels.
What is the starting salary for a surveyor?
Figure withheld: fewer than 250 US postings list pay. How we decide.
Highest-paying surveyor jobs
Specializations with at least 250 postings that state pay.
| Specialization | Median pay | Postings with pay | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Survey Technician | $82,000 | 310 | 111 |
Skills employers ask for in surveyor job postings
| Skill | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| Communication | 43% |
| Attention to detail | 19% |
| Autocad | 18% |
| Gps | 18% |
| Organizational skills | 16% |
| Autocad civil 3d | 14% |
| Problem-solving | 13% |
| Excel | 12% |
| Work independently | 11% |
| Leadership | 11% |
Skills named in the posting text; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026. Methodology.
Skills that set surveyors apart
- Gps178.6× as often as in all postings · 18%
- Autocad civil 3d145.2× as often as in all postings · 14%
- Land surveying568.6× as often as in all postings · 10%
- Robotic total stations624.5× as often as in all postings · 8%
- Autocad18.2× as often as in all postings · 18%
- Construction staking589.5× as often as in all postings · 8%
- Data collectors636.6× as often as in all postings · 6%
- Trimble business center520.2× as often as in all postings · 6%
- Trimble337.2× as often as in all postings · 6%
- Civil 3d71.1× as often as in all postings · 8%
- Topographic surveys550.2× as often as in all postings · 5%
- Total stations643.7× as often as in all postings · 5%
Skills named in at least 5% of these postings and at least 3 times as often as in job postings overall.
Have a surveyor job posting in front of you? See which of its skills your resume is missing.
What does a surveyor do?
Employers post these jobs as Survey Crew Chief, Professional Land Surveyor, Survey Party Chief, Survey Technician, Land Surveyor and other titles. The largest specializations are Survey Technician (78%), Utility Locator (under 1%), Reality Capture Specialist (under 1%), Quantity Surveyor (under 1%).
The closest official occupation is Surveyors (17-1022.00). Its most important tasks:
- Direct or conduct surveys to establish legal boundaries for properties, based on legal deeds and titles.
- Prepare and maintain sketches, maps, reports, and legal descriptions of surveys to describe, certify, and assume liability for work performed.
- Write descriptions of property boundary surveys for use in deeds, leases, or other legal documents.
- Verify the accuracy of survey data, including measurements and calculations conducted at survey sites.
- Search legal records, survey records, and land titles to obtain information about property boundaries in areas to be surveyed.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (CC BY 4.0).
How much experience do you need to be a surveyor?
Among 1,060 postings that state a minimum, the median is 4 years. 4% say 0 years and 11% ask for 1 year or less.
Minimum experience asked in 1,060 US surveyor job postings: median 4 years, and 11% ask for 1 year or less.
The figures as a table
| Minimum experience asked | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| 0 yr | 4% |
| 1 yr | 7% |
| 2 yrs | 19% |
| 3-4 yrs | 21% |
| 5-7 yrs | 34% |
| 8-9 yrs | 5% |
| 10+ yrs | 10% |
Postings that state a minimum (required or preferred); at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
We do not show a degree figure: in our checks, degree requirements in posting text were found too rarely to publish one. Why.
Other names for a surveyor: job titles employers use
| Job title | Employers using it |
|---|---|
| Survey Crew Chief | 84 (14.9%) |
| Professional Land Surveyor | 78 (13.9%) |
| Survey Party Chief | 65 (11.6%) |
| Survey Technician | 62 (11.0%) |
| Land Surveyor | 52 (9.2%) |
| Survey Project Manager | 50 (8.9%) |
| Surveyor | 49 (8.7%) |
| Project Surveyor | 40 (7.1%) |
| Survey CAD Technician | 34 (6.0%) |
| Survey Manager | 34 (6.0%) |
| Party Chief | 28 (5.0%) |
| Licensed Land Surveyor | 22 (3.9%) |
| Survey Field Technician | 22 (3.9%) |
| Survey Instrument Operator | 18 (3.2%) |
| Survey Intern | 17 (3.0%) |
| Instrument Operator | 16 (2.9%) |
| Licensed Surveyor | 16 (2.9%) |
| Land Survey Technician | 15 (2.7%) |
| Professional Surveyor | 14 (2.5%) |
| Senior Land Surveyor | 13 (2.3%) |
Titles read in our audit and used by at least 3 employers.
Surveyor compared with similar careers
| Career | Median pay | Median experience | Postings | Shares N of top 25 skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surveyor | $83K | 4 years | 2,111 | – |
| Civil Engineer | $105K | 5 years | 11,987 | 18 |
| CAD Designer | $84K | 3 years | 3,380 | 17 |
| Archaeologist | – | 2 years | 483 | 15 |
| Structural Engineer | $115K | 5 years | 3,900 | 16 |
Similar careers
| Career | Shares N of the top 25 skills | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Civil Engineer | 18 | $105K |
| CAD Designer | 17 | $84K |
| Archaeologist | 15 | – |
| Structural Engineer | 16 | $115K |
| Landscape Architect | 12 | – |
| Mining Engineer | 13 | – |
Applying for surveyor jobs?
- Surveyor resume examples: one-page examples for these roles
- Match your resume to a job: paste a posting and see the skills your resume is missing
- Check your resume: see how an applicant tracking system reads it
- Find surveyor jobs: search open postings
Frequently asked questions
How much does a surveyor make?
Source and method
Open US job postings collected from employers' applicant tracking systems, de-duplicated, counted only when their job title was read in our audit. Shares count at most 20 postings per employer, and franchise locations of one brand count as one employer. Pay uses hourly and annual figures only; a figure is shown when leaving out the largest employer moves it by 10% or less. Every figure states its number of postings. Methodology and measured accuracy.
Accuracy check: we read 20 randomly chosen postings counted on this page in full; 18 of them were this career or a closely related one (October 2026).
Download the figures on this page (CSV): every number above with its count of postings. Aggregate figures are licensed CC BY 4.0; cite the page when you reuse them.