Land Surveyor Salary (2026)
Typical pay is $75,440 a year, with most land surveyors earning between $58,170 and $98,130. Based on the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
Salary Calculator›Land Surveyor
Nationally, the typical land surveyor earns $75,440 a year. Early-career pay starts around $58,170, experienced land surveyors earn $98,130 or more, and the top 10% make over $125,590. About 50,830 people work in this occupation in the US. Pay is highest in California ($105,330) and, among metro areas, in Yuba City, CA ($133,270).
Land Surveyor salary in the United States
Annual pay, BLS survey of May 2025
What land surveyors do
Land surveyors measure and map property boundaries, topography and construction layouts, and they prepare legal descriptions and plats. A state license is required to certify surveys.
Land Surveyor salary by state
Typical annual pay for land surveyors in every state where BLS publishes figures, highest first.
| State | Typical | Early career | Experienced |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | $105,330 | $78,500 | $134,250 |
| Alaska | $99,550 | $81,050 | $126,390 |
| Oregon | $97,070 | $78,850 | $112,260 |
| Massachusetts | $94,590 | $76,770 | $104,450 |
| Washington | $85,610 | $76,000 | $119,060 |
| Montana | $84,610 | $71,730 | $104,810 |
| Minnesota | $83,620 | $67,190 | $100,130 |
| Maine | $83,200 | $61,480 | $118,020 |
| Delaware | $82,890 | $73,990 | $99,580 |
| Nevada | $82,460 | $76,000 | $102,900 |
| Hawaii | $82,200 | $61,030 | $96,550 |
| Wyoming | $81,250 | $76,690 | $102,000 |
| Indiana | $80,510 | $61,080 | $100,920 |
| Wisconsin | $79,650 | $65,560 | $96,690 |
| North Dakota | $79,360 | $74,700 | $109,260 |
| Colorado | $79,310 | $63,700 | $100,240 |
| New York | $78,870 | $63,600 | $103,540 |
| Arizona | $77,490 | $59,390 | $94,730 |
| South Dakota | $77,190 | $68,890 | $100,580 |
| New Jersey | $77,160 | $65,070 | $100,490 |
| Iowa | $77,090 | $68,580 | $102,220 |
| Connecticut | $76,730 | $70,880 | $95,540 |
| Vermont | $76,450 | $59,670 | $80,600 |
| Tennessee | $76,340 | $58,430 | $92,610 |
| North Carolina | $76,210 | $57,730 | $100,890 |
| Illinois | $75,980 | $59,940 | $100,380 |
| Pennsylvania | $75,950 | $60,630 | $93,720 |
| Kansas | $75,860 | $63,200 | $95,260 |
| New Mexico | $74,230 | $53,730 | $93,480 |
| Idaho | $73,940 | $60,810 | $96,340 |
| Utah | $73,230 | $58,790 | $94,560 |
| Michigan | $72,080 | $61,130 | $78,740 |
| Kentucky | $71,840 | $49,300 | $78,690 |
| Virginia | $71,070 | $59,860 | $94,330 |
| Ohio | $70,620 | $57,280 | $91,070 |
| Nebraska | $68,050 | $59,500 | $80,100 |
| Alabama | $66,840 | $50,700 | $86,820 |
| Florida | $65,480 | $57,870 | $94,530 |
| New Hampshire | $65,130 | $60,170 | $80,490 |
| Maryland | $64,910 | $52,800 | $87,700 |
| South Carolina | $63,300 | $50,610 | $83,410 |
| Louisiana | $63,140 | $48,660 | $91,260 |
| Rhode Island | $62,670 | $53,500 | $79,340 |
| Missouri | $62,110 | $49,460 | $77,630 |
| West Virginia | $61,520 | $49,340 | $80,140 |
| Oklahoma | $61,300 | $48,850 | $85,600 |
| Texas | $61,150 | $49,660 | $81,120 |
| Mississippi | $58,720 | $47,080 | $77,920 |
| Georgia | $58,100 | $48,610 | $78,400 |
| Arkansas | $51,800 | $42,660 | $65,150 |
Highest-paying metro areas
| Metro area | Typical |
|---|---|
| 1. Yuba City, CA | $133,270 |
| 2. Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | $128,600 |
| 3. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $125,060 |
| 4. Redding, CA | $124,160 |
| 5. Vallejo, CA | $123,590 |
| 6. Stockton-Lodi, CA | $120,000 |
| 7. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $117,160 |
| 8. Kennewick-Richland, WA | $111,400 |
| 9. San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA | $107,700 |
| 10. Fresno, CA | $107,230 |
| 11. Bellingham, WA | $106,590 |
| 12. Salem, OR | $102,880 |
| 13. Fargo, ND-MN | $102,270 |
| 14. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | $102,210 |
| 15. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $101,950 |
Pay in Apollo's markets
| Metro | Typical |
|---|---|
| Atlanta | $57,260 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth | $66,030 |
| Houston | $62,960 |
| Austin | $57,580 |
| Charlotte | $76,710 |
| Raleigh | $93,660 |
| San Antonio | $59,140 |
| Chicago | $80,060 |
| Orlando | $63,900 |
| Tampa | $66,390 |
| Miami | $74,390 |
| Jacksonville | $66,590 |
| Greenville-Spartanburg | $58,250 |
| Columbia, SC | $66,580 |
| Charleston, SC | $63,680 |
| Savannah | $66,870 |
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Land Surveyor salary FAQs
How much does a land surveyor make in the US?
The typical (median) land surveyor in the US earns $75,440 a year, or about $36.27 an hour (BLS, May 2025). Half earn more and half earn less.
What is the entry-level salary for a land surveyor in the US?
Early-career land surveyors in the US typically earn around $58,170 (the 25th percentile), and the lowest-paid 10% earn under $46,880. Degree, internships, licenses and the industry all move starting pay.
How much do experienced land surveyors earn in the US?
Experienced land surveyors in the US earn $98,130 or more (the 75th percentile), and the top 10% earn over $125,590.
Which state pays land surveyors the most?
California has the highest typical pay for land surveyors at $105,330 a year. The highest-paying metro area is Yuba City, CA at $133,270 (BLS, May 2025).
Are land surveyors in demand?
BLS projects employment in this occupation to grow 5.8% from 2025 to 2035, compared with 3.5% for all jobs, with about 3,100 openings a year nationally as people retire, change jobs or the field grows.
Hiring land surveyors?
Where these numbers come from
Pay figures come from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program (OEWS), which surveys about 1.1 million employer locations and is the government's main source of pay by occupation and location. This page uses the May 2025 survey, released in 2026, and updates itself when BLS publishes the next year's figures. Job outlook comes from the BLS Employment Projections for 2025–35. Cost of living comes from the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities for 2024, where the US average is 100.
Pay is base wages and salary before tax. It does not include bonuses, overtime, benefits or equity. Early career is the 25th percentile (a quarter of workers earn less), Typical is the median and Experienced is the 75th percentile. The bar shows the full range from the 10th to the 90th percentile. The salary rank check estimates a percentile by drawing straight lines between those five published points.
BLS groups some job titles together. Controls engineers, for example, are counted with electrical engineers, and CAD designers with drafters. Each result names the BLS occupation it uses so you can see exactly what is being measured. BLS does not publish every occupation in every area, for example when too few people in a job were surveyed or when a figure does not meet its reliability standards. When a metro figure is missing, the calculator shows the state figure, or the national figure if the state is also missing, and says so.
BLS occupation used on this page: Surveyors (SOC 17-1022).