Surveying and Mapping Technicians salary

SOC 17-3031 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$54,240

per year, nationally

Middle half

$45,430–$66,700

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

58,010

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+4.5%

7,600 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.

$37,520$81,630

10th: $37,520
25th: $45,430
Median: $54,240
75th: $66,700
90th: $81,630

Getting in

Typical education to enter: High school diploma or equivalent
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Moderate-term on-the-job training

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

Where surveying and mapping technicians 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	$78,110	110.7	3,340	0.49×
2	Alaska	$76,970	102.4	300	2.49×
3	Minnesota	$73,190	98.6	1,060	0.96×
4	Washington	$62,720	107.0	1,030	0.78×
5	Maryland	$61,600	105.0	470	0.46×
6	North Dakota	$60,870	89.0	160	0.97×
7	New Jersey	$60,720	108.8	750	0.47×
8	Ohio	$60,330	92.8	1,350	0.65×
9	Montana	$60,330	94.6	430	2.26×
10	Rhode Island	$60,320	102.3	110	0.59×
11	Utah	$59,600	98.9	360	0.56×
12	Wisconsin	$59,080	94.1	660	0.61×
13	Iowa	$58,950	87.8	390	0.66×
14	Connecticut	$58,900	103.6	380	0.60×
15	Nevada	$58,790	100.0	680	1.17×
16	Massachusetts	$58,730	105.8	640	0.47×
17	Pennsylvania	$58,270	97.6	1,340	0.59×
18	Wyoming	$58,220	92.7	150	1.40×
19	Colorado	$57,890	103.1	2,340	2.18×
20	Illinois	$57,470	100.0	1,110	0.49×
21	New York	$57,360	107.9	2,540	0.70×
22	New Hampshire	$57,290	104.2	260	1.04×
23	Delaware	$57,130	99.8	180	1.00×
24	Virginia	$56,760	101.1	2,440	1.59×
25	Maine	$56,470	97.0	220	0.93×
26	Vermont	$56,460	98.0	40	0.35×
27	Indiana	$56,440	93.3	1,060	0.89×
28	New Mexico	$56,210	92.2	610	1.88×
29	Oregon	$55,790	103.4	1,280	1.74×
30	Hawaii	$55,580	110.0	140	0.59×
31	Arizona	$54,080	100.7	700	0.58×
32	North Carolina	$53,160	94.3	4,100	2.22×
33	Idaho	$52,630	95.5	450	1.42×
34	Missouri	$51,700	90.8	720	0.66×
35	Kansas	$50,900	90.1	730	1.37×
36	Tennessee	$50,370	91.9	1,340	1.09×
37	Michigan	$50,340	96.2	690	0.42×
38	South Dakota	$50,050	88.6	110	0.66×
39	Louisiana	$49,440	88.2	930	1.29×
40	Georgia	$48,810	96.3	1,890	1.04×
41	West Virginia	$48,530	89.5	370	1.41×
42	Nebraska	$48,080	90.1	770	2.00×
43	Florida	$48,040	103.4	4,810	1.30×
44	Texas	$47,680	97.1	8,720	1.66×
45	Mississippi	$47,320	87.0	550	1.26×
46	Oklahoma	$46,760	87.8	810	1.27×
47	Alabama	$46,450	88.8	1,320	1.67×
48	Arkansas	$46,370	86.9	810	1.66×
49	Kentucky	$46,050	90.2	920	1.24×
50	South Carolina	$43,740	93.7	1,420	1.65×

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 surveying and mapping technicians wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for surveying and mapping technicians

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	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$101,270	108.6	40	0.89×
2	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$92,700	113.6	860	0.37×
3	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$84,360	115.6	360	0.41×
4	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$81,120	106.7	250	0.61×
5	Visalia, CA	$80,680	99.8	40	0.56×
6	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$79,450	107.8	50	0.69×
7	Vallejo, CA	$78,790	108.5	40	0.83×
8	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$78,110	111.9	440	0.77×
9	Anchorage, AK	$76,970	105.4	220	3.32×
10	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$76,560	110.4	140	0.34×
11	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$76,140	104.8	740	1.02×
12	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$75,990	105.1	30	0.28×
13	Reno, NV	$73,320	101.0	140	1.38×
14	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$72,230	106.4	380	0.59×
15	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$71,940	108.8	60	0.76×
16	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$68,640	102.7	160	0.70×
17	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$68,270	105.6	40	1.11×
18	Bend, OR	$67,410	103.6	70	1.62×
19	Santa Fe, NM	$66,310	98.8	40	1.79×
20	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$66,130	100.1	30	0.62×
21	Bellingham, WA	$64,900	103.3	40	1.29×
22	Modesto, CA	$64,890	104.1	50	0.67×
23	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$64,720	110.5	50	0.42×
24	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$64,600	99.6	110	0.64×
25	Boulder, CO	$64,570	105.2	110	1.50×
26	Toledo, OH	$63,720	91.5	70	0.61×
27	Ann Arbor, MI	$63,560	100.9	30	0.38×
28	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$63,510	104.5	160	0.32×
29	Bozeman, MT	$62,830	102.5	60	2.34×
30	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$62,720	111.1	500	0.64×
31	New Orleans-Metairie, LA	$62,570	92.6	220	1.34×
32	Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	$62,420	97.6	370	2.88×
33	Madison, WI	$62,400	97.3	80	0.52×
34	Cleveland, OH	$61,860	93.9	250	0.64×
35	Fresno, CA	$61,720	102.2	140	0.78×
36	Duluth, MN-WI	$61,670	88.8	70	1.50×
37	Naples-Marco Island, FL	$61,400	103.2	60	0.91×
38	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$61,340	96.9	240	0.78×
39	Grand Junction, CO	$61,300	95.5	—	—
40	Ogden, UT	$61,280	100.3	60	0.63×

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 surveying and mapping technicians wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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

Surveying and Mapping Technicians salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where surveying and mapping technicians earn the most

Best paying metro areas for surveying and mapping technicians

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