Also called: Professional Land Surveyor (PLS)
Owns or leads a surveying firm and signs the legal surveys that define property lines.
You review a field crew's data on a disputed property line, dig through 1890s deeds, and decide where the true corner is. Then you testify in court about it.
Owners earn more; licensed surveyors are in short supply.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 12 years after high school. Bachelor's in surveying or geomatics (or experience in some states), FS and PS exams, and a state PLS license, plus 10+ years.
Ways in: 4-year college, On-the-job training, Certification. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Surveying & Geomatics, Civil Engineering.
Growing about average (about 2% over 10 years). BLS surveyors projection; many surveyors retiring.
Low risk for 10 years. GNSS, drones and AI speed fieldwork and drafting; reading old deeds and signing legal boundaries stay licensed human work.
Classes: Geometry, Precalculus or trigonometry, Drafting CTE class.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-1022.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.