Cartographers and Photogrammetrists salary

SOC 17-1021 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$81,390

per year, nationally

Middle half

$65,670–$101,960

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

14,260

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+6.4%

1,000 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$53,740$126,950

10th: $53,740
25th: $65,670
Median: $81,390
75th: $101,960
90th: $126,950

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Bachelor's degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: None

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where cartographers and photogrammetrists earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	California	$102,780	110.7	1,450	0.87×
2	Minnesota	$99,850	98.6	100	0.39×
3	Washington	$96,100	107.0	870	2.68×
4	Nevada	$93,560	100.0	180	1.27×
5	Massachusetts	$92,230	105.8	160	0.49×
6	New York	$89,290	107.9	230	0.26×
7	Alaska	$89,170	102.4	60	2.04×
8	New Jersey	$88,480	108.8	170	0.42×
9	Oregon	$88,240	103.4	640	3.53×
10	Colorado	$86,960	103.1	1,220	4.61×
11	Virginia	$86,660	101.1	860	2.28×
12	Oklahoma	$86,410	87.8	70	0.44×
13	Iowa	$84,570	87.8	90	0.62×
14	Maryland	$84,360	105.0	450	1.77×
15	Connecticut	$84,100	103.6	150	0.94×
16	Arizona	$82,260	100.7	400	1.35×
17	Nebraska	$81,500	90.1	50	0.58×
18	North Carolina	$81,080	94.3	900	1.98×
19	Florida	$79,650	103.4	610	0.67×
20	New Mexico	$79,200	92.2	70	0.86×
21	Maine	$78,670	97.0	40	0.72×
22	Missouri	$76,950	90.8	170	0.65×
23	Wisconsin	$76,760	94.1	260	0.96×
24	Utah	$75,220	98.9	150	0.97×
25	Michigan	$75,090	96.2	250	0.61×
26	Indiana	$74,800	93.3	40	0.12×
27	Texas	$73,970	97.1	1,780	1.38×
28	Pennsylvania	$73,180	97.6	140	0.26×
29	Tennessee	$72,990	91.9	150	0.50×
30	Idaho	$72,930	95.5	100	1.25×
31	South Dakota	$72,910	88.6	140	3.34×
32	South Carolina	$72,260	93.7	150	0.70×
33	Montana	$72,220	94.6	160	3.43×
34	New Hampshire	$72,130	104.2	70	1.14×
35	Kentucky	$71,470	90.2	90	0.51×
36	North Dakota	$71,070	89.0	80	1.94×
37	Ohio	$70,990	92.8	490	0.95×
38	Wyoming	$70,590	92.7	100	4.05×
39	Georgia	$62,630	96.3	490	1.10×
40	Louisiana	$59,990	88.2	—	—
41	Illinois	$54,680	100.0	180	0.33×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where cartographers and photogrammetrists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for cartographers and photogrammetrists

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$130,820	106.7	200	2.04×
2	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$130,710	105.1	30	1.20×
3	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$125,330	115.6	330	1.50×
4	Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH	$106,000	92.7	40	1.16×
5	Kansas City, MO-KS	$101,810	92.5	160	1.63×
6	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$101,480	113.6	300	0.52×
7	Salem, OR	$101,350	103.6	60	3.19×
8	Greeley, CO	$101,050	100.2	40	3.94×
9	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$100,550	106.4	130	0.85×
10	Boulder, CO	$100,120	105.2	80	4.71×
11	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$100,080	111.1	430	2.24×
12	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$98,950	103.2	70	3.18×
13	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$97,820	104.8	60	0.33×
14	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$97,650	103.7	50	4.37×
15	Reno, NV	$97,650	101.0	30	1.24×
16	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	$96,450	100.2	110	1.04×
17	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	$96,390	98.6	520	1.72×
18	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$93,430	105.4	380	3.41×
19	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$91,600	111.9	140	1.02×
20	Oklahoma City, OK	$91,500	90.4	40	0.64×
21	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$90,910	108.3	130	0.53×
22	Madison, WI	$90,230	97.3	60	1.54×
23	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	$90,030	114.2	140	0.54×
24	Jacksonville, FL	$88,830	99.5	70	0.94×
25	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	$88,820	103.3	270	1.25×
26	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$86,660	108.9	740	2.57×
27	Bend, OR	$86,620	103.6	40	3.57×
28	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$86,080	105.8	790	5.32×
29	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$85,500	112.6	150	0.17×
30	Anchorage, AK	$84,760	105.4	40	2.26×
31	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$83,390	100.3	60	2.72×
32	Fort Collins-Loveland, CO	$82,490	101.1	100	6.32×
33	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$82,100	102.7	70	1.35×
34	Raleigh-Cary, NC	$81,080	98.2	—	—
35	Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL	$80,850	101.4	100	0.74×
36	Sioux Falls, SD-MN	$80,430	90.6	30	1.84×
37	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$80,030	105.6	30	3.64×
38	Columbus, OH	$79,560	95.5	130	1.27×
39	Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC	$79,550	97.9	110	1.59×
40	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	$79,330	97.3	130	1.08×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where cartographers and photogrammetrists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Architects, Except Landscape and Naval$99,280
Surveyors$75,440
Landscape Architects$79,870

Cartographers and Photogrammetrists salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where cartographers and photogrammetrists earn the most

Best paying metro areas for cartographers and photogrammetrists

Similar occupations

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