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Summary

Surveyors
Surveyors map out boundaries for reasons having to do with law, property, and construction.
Quick Facts: Surveyors
2010 Median Pay $54,880 per year
$26.39 per hour
Entry-Level Education Bachelor’s degree
Work Experience in a Related Occupation None
On-the-job Training None
Number of Jobs, 2010 51,200
Job Outlook, 2010-20 25% (Faster than average)
Employment Change, 2010-20 13,000

What Surveyors Do

Surveyors establish official land, airspace, and water boundaries. Surveyors work with civil engineers, landscape architects, and urban and regional planners to develop comprehensive design documents.

Work Environment

Surveyors work outdoors in many types of terrain, and they also work indoors to prepare legal documents and other reports. Surveyors usually work full time.

How to Become a Surveyor

Surveyors typically need a bachelor’s degree. They must be licensed before they can certify legal documents.

Pay

The median annual wage of surveyors was $54,880 in May 2010

Job Outlook

Employment of surveyors is expected to grow 25 percent from 2010 to 2020, faster than the average for all occupations. Growth will result from increased construction related to improving infrastructure.

Similar Occupations

Compare the job duties, education, job growth, and pay of surveyors with similar occupations.

O*NET

O*NET provides comprehensive information on key characteristics of workers and occupations.

Contacts for More Information

Learn more about surveyors by contacting these additional resources.

What Surveyors Do About this section

Surveyors
Surveyors update boundary lines and prepare sites for construction so that legal disputes are prevented.

Surveyors establish land, airspace, and water boundaries. They measure the Earth’s surface to collect data that are used to draw maps, determine the shape and contour of parcels of land, and set property lines and boundaries. They also define airspace for airports and measure construction and mining sites. Surveyors work with civil engineers, landscape architects, and urban and regional planners to develop comprehensive design documents.

Duties

Surveyors typically do the following:

  • Measure distances, directions, and angles between points on, above, and below the Earth's surface
  • Select known reference points and then determine the exact location of important features in the survey area using special equipment
  • Establish official land and water boundaries
  • Research land records and other sources of information affecting properties
  • Look for evidence of previous boundaries to determine where boundary lines are
  • Travel to locations to measure distances and directions between points
  • Record the results of surveying and verify the accuracy of data
  • Prepare plots, maps, and reports
  • Work with cartographers (mapmakers), architects, construction managers, and others
  • Present findings to clients, government agencies, and others
  • Write descriptions of land for deeds, leases, and other legal documents
  • Provide expert testimony in court regarding their work or that of other surveyors

Surveyors guide construction and development projects and provide information needed for the buying and selling of property. In construction, surveyors determine the precise location of roads or buildings and proper depths for foundations and roads. Whenever property is bought or sold, it needs to be surveyed for legal purposes.

In their work, surveyors use the Global Positioning System (GPS), a system of satellites that locates reference points with a high degree of precision. Surveyors interpret and verify the GPS results. They gather the data that is fed into a Geographic Information System (GIS), which is then used to create detailed maps.

Surveyors take measurements in the field with a crew, a group that typically consists of a licensed surveyor and trained survey technicians. The person in charge of the crew (called the party chief) may be either a surveyor or a senior surveying technician. The party chief leads day-to-day work activities. For more information, see the profile on surveying and mapping technicians.

Some surveyors work in specialty fields to survey particular characteristics of the Earth. Examples include the following:

Geodetic surveyors use high-accuracy techniques, including satellite observations, to measure large areas of the Earth's surface.

Geophysical prospecting surveyors mark sites for subsurface exploration, usually to look for petroleum.

Marine or hydrographic surveyors survey harbors, rivers, and other bodies of water to determine shorelines, the topography of the bottom, water depth, and other features.

Work Environment About this section

Surveyors
Surveyors prepare plots, maps, and reports.

Surveyors held about 51,200 jobs in 2010. Most worked for private surveying or engineering firms. Some worked for state and local governments:  

Architectural, engineering, and related services65%
Local government, excluding education and hospitals6
Heavy and civil engineering construction4
State government, excluding education and hospitals4

About 14 percent of surveyors were self-employed in 2010.

Surveying involves both field work and indoor work. Field work involves working outdoors, standing for long periods, and walking considerable distances. Surveyors sometimes climb hills with heavy packs of instruments and other equipment. When working outside, they are exposed to all types of weather, and they may need to stop outdoor work in bad weather.

Surveyors also do many tasks indoors, including researching land records, analyzing field survey data, mapping, presenting information to regulatory agencies, and providing expert testimony in courts of law.

Traveling is sometimes part of the job, and surveyors may commute long distances or stay at project locations for a period of time.

Work Schedules

Surveyors usually work full time. They may work longer hours during the summer, when warm weather and long hours of daylight are most suitable for field work.

How to Become a Surveyor About this section

Surveyors
Though educational requirements have risen, there is still the need to master traditional tools and methods.

Surveyors typically need a bachelor’s degree. They must be licensed before they can provide surveying services to the public and certify legal documents.

Education                                                                                          

Surveyors typically need a bachelor’s degree.

About 26 colleges and universities offer a relevant bachelor's degree program, such as surveying technology. A degree in a closely related field, such as civil engineering or forestry, is often acceptable as well.

Some states require the degree to be from a school accredited by ABET (formerly the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology). Most states also have a continuing education requirement.

Licenses                                                                                            

Surveyors who are not licensed can work as survey technicians, but they must work under the supervision of licensed surveyors. For more information, see the profile on surveying and mapping technicians.

All 50 states and the District of Columbia require surveyors to be licensed before they can certify legal documents showing property lines or determine proper markings on construction projects. Licensure requires a number of years of experience working under the direction of a licensed surveyor. It usually takes about 4 years of work experience for a candidate with a bachelor’s degree to earn a license. 

The process for getting a license varies by state, but the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying has a generalized process of four steps:

  • Complete the level of education required in your state.
  • Pass the Fundamentals of Surveying (FS) exam.
  • Gain sufficient work experience under a licensed surveyor.
  • Pass the Principles and Practice of Surveying (PS) exam.

Important Qualities

Communication skills. On the job, surveyors have to give team members clear instructions. After the work in the field is done, surveyors must be able to explain the job’s progress to developers, lawyers, financiers, or government authorities.

Detail oriented. Surveyors must work with precision and accuracy because mistakes can be costly.

Interpersonal skills. Surveying is a cooperative operation, so surveyors must be able to work well on a team.

Listening skills. Surveyors receive instructions from designers, such as architects, and they must listen carefully. They also depend on others on their team and must allow team members to respond as needed. They are often required to interview land owners about land boundaries and then interpret this information to resolve land boundary issues.

Physical stamina. Surveyors traditionally work outdoors and often in rugged terrain. They must have the ability to stand on their feet for many hours and over many weeks.

Problem-solving skills. Surveyors must figure out discrepancies between documents showing property lines and current conditions on the land. If there have been changes in previous years, they must figure out why the changes occurred so that property lines can be reestablished.

Time-management skills. Surveyors must be able to plan not only their time on the job but also that of their team members. This is critical when there are pressing deadlines or while working outside during winter months when daylight hours are short.

Visualization skills. Surveyors must be able to envision objects, distances and sizes.

Pay About this section

Surveyors

Median annual wages, May 2010

Architects, Surveyors, and Cartographers

$64,820

Surveyors

$54,880

Total, All Occupations

$33,840

 

The median annual wage of surveyors was $54,880 in May 2010. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $30,800, and the top 10 percent earned more than $89,930.

Median annual wages for surveyors in selected industries in May 2010 were the following:

State government, excluding education and hospitals$71,020
Local government, excluding education and hospitals60,930
Construction of buildings56,970
Architectural, engineering, and related services53,360
Heavy and civil engineering construction52,060

Surveyors usually work full time. They may work longer hours during the summer, when warm weather and long hours of daylight are most suitable for field work.

Job Outlook About this section

Surveyors

Percent change in employment, projected 2010-20

Surveyors

25%

Architects, Surveyors, and Cartographers

24%

Total, All Occupations

14%

 

Employment of surveyors is expected to grow 25 percent from 2010 to 2020, faster than the average for all occupations. Growth will result from increased construction related to improving infrastructure.  

The demand for traditional surveying services is closely tied to construction activity and opportunities will vary by year and geographic region, depending on local economic conditions. When real estate sales and construction slow down, surveyors may face greater competition for jobs. However, because surveyors can work on many different types of projects, they may have steadier work than others when construction slows.

An increasing number of firms are interested in geographic information and its applications. For example, a Geographic Information System (GIS) can be used to create maps and information for emergency planning, security, marketing, urban planning, natural resource exploration, construction, and other applications. Surveyors will still be needed for legal reasons to verify the accuracy of the data and information gathered for input into a GIS.

Job Prospects

Although surveyors have traditionally relied on construction projects for many of their opportunities, increased demand for geographic data should mean better opportunities for professionals who are involved in developing and using GIS technology and digital mapmaking. Other opportunities should result from the many surveyors who are expected to retire or permanently leave the occupation for other reasons.

Employment projections data for surveyors, 2010-20
Occupational Title SOC Code Employment, 2010 Projected Employment, 2020 Change, 2010-20 Employment by Industry
Percent Numeric

SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections program

Surveyors

17-1022 51,200 64,200 25 13,000 [XLS]

Similar Occupations About this section

This table shows a list of occupations with job duties that are similar to those of surveyors.

Occupation Job Duties ENTRY-LEVEL EDUCATION Help 2010 MEDIAN PAY Help
Architects

Architects

Architects plan and design buildings and other structures.

Bachelor’s degree $72,550
Cartographers and photogrammetrists

Cartographers and Photogrammetrists

Cartographers and photogrammetrists measure, analyze, and interpret geographic information to create maps and charts for political, cultural, educational, and other purposes. Cartographers are general mapmakers, and photogrammetrists are specialized mapmakers who use aerial photographs to create maps. 

Bachelor’s degree $54,510
Civil engineers

Civil Engineers

Civil engineers design and supervise large construction projects, including roads, buildings, airports, tunnels, dams, bridges, and systems for water supply and sewage treatment.

Bachelor’s degree $77,560
Landscape architects

Landscape Architects

Landscape architects plan and design land areas for parks, recreational facilities, highways, airports, and other properties. Projects include subdivisions and commercial, industrial, and residential sites.

Bachelor’s degree $62,090
Surveying and mapping technicians

Surveying and Mapping Technicians

Surveying and mapping technicians assist surveyors and cartographers in collecting data and making maps of the earth’s surface. Surveying technicians visit sites to take measurements of the land. Mapping technicians use geographic data to create maps.

High school diploma or equivalent $37,900
Urban and regional planners

Urban and Regional Planners

Urban and regional planners develop plans and programs for the use of land. They use planning to create communities, accommodate growth, or revitalize physical facilities in towns, cities, counties, and metropolitan areas.

Master’s degree $63,040
Suggested citation:

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2012-13 Edition, Surveyors,
on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/surveyors.htm (visited October 02, 2012).

Publish Date: Tuesday, August 7, 2012