Also called: Flood Certification Specialist, Flood Determination Analyst
Decides whether a house is in a FEMA flood zone using maps and data, which tells the bank whether the buyer must buy flood insurance.
You get 150 addresses a day from mortgage lenders and match each one to FEMA's flood maps. Most are clear, but a house right on a zone line means zooming into maps, checking elevation and old paper maps. Your answer can add $3,000 a year to a family's housing cost.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
High school diploma, about 0 years after high school. High school diploma; trained on the job; GIS skills help.
Ways in: On-the-job training, 2-year college. Training cost: Under $15k.
Majors to look at: Geographic Information Systems, Geography.
Shrinking (about -5% over 10 years). Automated mapping now handles most determinations.
High risk for 10 years. Automated GIS now decides most addresses; people review borderline properties and disputes.
Age 18+. One way to start: Apply to flood determination firms (CoreLogic, LERETA, ServiceLink) for trainee roles
Classes: Geography, Earth science, Computer science.
Official data: O*NET occupation 43-9041.
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.