How much do land surveyors make in 2026?
Land surveyors have their own BLS wage series: OEWS May 2025 gives the SOC 17-1022 national median as $75,440 a year ($36.27 an hour), with the bottom 10% near $46,880 and the top 10% at $125,590. The defining feature of this occupation is licensure. Only a licensed professional surveyor may certify a boundary survey, plat or legal description, and that authority is what separates the two halves of this band. Survey technicians and party chiefs — running instruments, collecting field data and setting construction stakes — sit in the lower half; licensed professional surveyors who sign and seal work sit above the median, and licensed surveyors who own or lead firms sit at the top. Licensure is a state process involving a surveying degree or equivalent education, documented experience under a licensed surveyor, and the Fundamentals of Surveying and Principles and Practice of Surveying examinations, with specific requirements set by each state board. The work also divides by type. Boundary and cadastral surveying carries the legal liability and the licence requirement; construction surveying, layout and as-built work is volume work tied to project activity; and geospatial specialisms — aerial and drone photogrammetry, terrestrial laser scanning, hydrographic survey — pay a technical premium. Employment is projected to grow 4.4% through 2034 with roughly 3,900 openings a year. → Full land surveyor career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $75,440 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Land Surveyors earn a national median $75,440/yr ($36.27/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 17-1022); the P10 to P90 range is $46,880 to $125,590.
- Licensure divides the $46,880 to $125,590 band: only a licensed professional surveyor may certify boundary surveys, plats and legal descriptions, and that authority sets pay.
- Technicians and party chiefs sit in the lower half; licensed surveyors sit above the median and firm principals at the top.
- Geospatial specialisms — photogrammetry, terrestrial laser scanning and hydrographic survey — carry a technical premium alongside the licence route.
US Land Surveyor Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do land surveyors earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute the published percentile range across the credential tiers this role actually hires at.
Level medians are aligned to the BLS OEWS May 2025 percentile distribution for SOC 17-1022; GlobalCybers does not yet publish a verified placement sample for this role, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
How the numbers on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 17-1022, United States national estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them.
Level and certification medians: distributed across the published BLS percentile range for this SOC code (P10 through P90) according to the credential tiers this occupation actually hires at. They are modeled reference points, not separately surveyed wages.
State and metro figures: modeled — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers state wage index, and for metros by the published metro index for that state. They are estimates of local pay, not BLS state or metropolitan-area observations, and are labelled as modeled in the tables below.
No verified placement sample:GlobalCybers does not yet publish a placement median for this role, so no "verified" figure appears anywhere on this page.
Pay by Career Level
How much does a land surveyor earn at each career stage?
Surveying pay is organised around licensure and certification authority. Each median is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 17-1022.
By State
Which states pay land surveyors the most in 2026?
State figures are modeled estimates — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers salary-calculator state wage index — not BLS state observations. Surveying licensure is state-specific and reciprocity is limited, so a licence's value is bounded by the states in which it is held — a genuine constraint the wage index cannot show.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($86,760), the highest-paying state shown. See all role salary guides →
land surveyor pay by state — all 1 state guide
By Metro
Which cities pay land surveyors the most?
Metro figures are modeled — national median times state wage index times published metro index — not BLS MSA observations. Boundary work follows land transactions and development, while construction surveying follows project activity, so demand can be strong in rural and resource regions as well as metros.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise a land surveyor’s pay the most?
Median annual pay before and after each credential, based on GlobalCybers placement data cross-referenced with BLS. License upgrades move the needle most; stackable certs add on top.
Impacts are not additive, the licensing rows share the same career ladder. Browse all 167 certifications →
Trade Comparison
How does land surveyor pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Land Surveyors sit mid-pack on median but carry one of the widest P10–P90 spreads, licensing and specialization drive the upside.
BLS OEWS May 2025. Verify land surveyor wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a land surveyor actually take home after taxes?
The medians above are gross base wage.
Estimates use 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction, and 7.65% FICA. Actual take-home varies with filing status, deductions, and local tax.
FAQ
Land Surveyor Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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