Also called: Mapping Pilot, Aerial Photography Pilot, Pipeline Patrol Pilot
Flies precise grid patterns so cameras and lidar sensors can map land, cities, forests, and pipelines.
You fly the same straight line over and over at an exact altitude while a sensor operator in back captures images. Some days you patrol pipelines or power lines looking for leaks or damage. It's calm, precise flying that produces the maps behind everything from Google Earth to flood planning.
Estimated.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Certificate, about 2 years after high school. Commercial pilot certificate with instrument rating; precision flying skills matter more than hours.
Ways in: Certification, Trade school. Training cost: $60k – $150k.
Majors to look at: Aviation / Professional Pilot, Geography / GIS.
Growing slowly. Drones and satellites are taking some work, but large-area, high-detail mapping still uses crewed aircraft.
Medium risk in 5 years, high in 10. Drones and satellites now handle much small-area mapping; crewed survey flights shrink to big or high-altitude jobs.
Classes: Physics, Geography or GIS, Algebra II.
Official data: O*NET occupation 53-2012.
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.