Surveyors

Salary Overview

Job Outlook (2024–2034)

Key Skills

Knowledge Areas

What They Do

• Direct or conduct surveys to establish legal boundaries for properties, based on legal deeds and titles.
• 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.
• Record the results of surveys, including the shape, contour, location, elevation, and dimensions of land or land features.
• Prepare, or supervise preparation of, all data, charts, plots, maps, records, and documents related to surveys.
• Compute geodetic measurements and interpret survey data to determine positions, shapes, and elevations of geomorphic and topographic features.
• Calculate heights, depths, relative positions, property lines, and other characteristics of terrain.

Tools & Technology

★ = Hot Technology (in-demand)

Education Requirements

Typical entry-level education: Bachelor's Degree

Related Careers

Careers with the highest skill compatibility from Surveyors.

A Day in the Life

A surveyor's morning typically begins with reviewing project files, researching historical plats, deeds, and recorded easements at county recorder offices or digital databases to understand the legal context before setting foot in the field. In the field, surveyors direct survey crews in setting up instrument stations, locating monuments, collecting coordinate data, and performing level runs across sites that range from suburban lots to expansive rural tracts. Between field sessions, surveyors process collected data, run adjustment calculations, resolve discrepancies between record evidence and measured positions, and draft survey plats or maps. Client meetings to explain boundary results, testify as expert witnesses in property disputes, or collaborate with engineers and attorneys on development projects are regular components of the workweek. Report preparation, licensing compliance, and staff mentorship complete the professional management side of the role.

Work Environment

Surveyors divide their time between outdoor field environments and office settings, with the balance shifting toward more office work as professionals advance into project management and licensure. Field conditions span all terrain types and weather conditions, from urban construction sites to dense forest, agricultural land, and coastal margins. Physical demands in the field include hiking, navigating rough terrain, and directing crew operations for extended periods. Office tasks center on data processing, drafting, legal document review, and client communication using CAD and GIS platforms. Many surveyors operate their own practices as small business owners, which adds marketing, billing, and staff management responsibilities to an already varied workload.

Career Path & Advancement

The path to professional licensure requires a bachelor's degree in surveying, geomatics, or a closely related field, followed by four to six years of supervised field experience under a licensed Professional Land Surveyor (PLS). All states require passage of the Fundamentals of Surveying (FS) examination and the Principles and Practice of Surveying (PS) examination administered by NCEES before granting licensure. Many surveyors begin their careers as field crews personnel or survey technicians during college and accumulate supervised hours before taking the licensing exams. After licensure, surveyors build client bases as project managers, establish their own firms, or advance into senior management at engineering and consulting organizations. Specialization in hydrographic or construction surveying opens additional career tracks in infrastructure and maritime industries.

Specializations

Boundary surveyors focus on the legal determination of land ownership lines, interpreting deeds, historical records, and physical evidence to produce legally binding survey plats. Construction surveyors stake out building footprints, road alignments, utility corridors, and grading operations, working closely with civil engineers and project managers through all construction phases. Geodetic surveyors measure large portions of the Earth's surface to establish national horizontal and vertical control networks, often working for federal agencies like NOAA or the National Geodetic Survey. Hydrographic surveyors map underwater features of oceans, rivers, lakes, and harbors for navigation charting, dredging, and coastal engineering. Forensic surveyors apply their measurement expertise and legal knowledge in property dispute litigation, testifying as expert witnesses and analyzing historical survey evidence.

Pros & Cons

Industry Insight

Infrastructure investment through federal legislation and state programs is generating strong long-term demand for professional surveyors on highway, bridge, utility, and broadband deployment projects. The surveying profession is simultaneously experiencing a significant workforce shortage as a large cohort of senior surveyors approaches retirement while graduation rates from surveying programs have not kept pace. Technology transformation—particularly drone mapping, mobile ground scanning, and digital twin development—is expanding the scope of surveying services into data management and spatial analytics, creating new revenue streams for forward-looking firms. State licensing boards are actively discussing education pathway modernization to attract more candidates from adjacent STEM fields. Compensation for licensed surveyors is rising in competitive labor markets as firms compete for a limited licensed workforce.