Survey and Mapping Technician Salary (2026)
Typical pay is $54,240 a year, with most survey and mapping technicians earning between $45,430 and $66,700. Based on the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
Salary Calculator›Survey and Mapping Technician
Nationally, the typical survey and mapping technician earns $54,240 a year. Early-career pay starts around $45,430, experienced survey and mapping technicians earn $66,700 or more, and the top 10% make over $81,630. About 58,010 people work in this occupation in the US. Pay is highest in California ($78,110) and, among metro areas, in San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA ($101,270).
Survey and Mapping Technician salary in the United States
Annual pay, BLS survey of May 2025
What survey and mapping technicians do
Survey and mapping technicians collect field data with GPS and total stations and turn it into CAD drawings and maps for surveyors and engineers.
Survey and Mapping Technician salary by state
Typical annual pay for survey and mapping technicians in every state where BLS publishes figures, highest first.
| State | Typical | Early career | Experienced |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | $78,110 | $61,090 | $102,770 |
| Alaska | $76,970 | $66,470 | $88,930 |
| Minnesota | $73,190 | $61,980 | $81,120 |
| Washington | $62,720 | $53,830 | $76,070 |
| Maryland | $61,600 | $46,240 | $77,640 |
| North Dakota | $60,870 | $49,380 | $71,160 |
| New Jersey | $60,720 | $51,590 | $77,260 |
| Montana | $60,330 | $48,260 | $65,580 |
| Ohio | $60,330 | $48,170 | $72,760 |
| Rhode Island | $60,320 | $52,200 | $84,240 |
| Utah | $59,600 | $47,190 | $69,550 |
| Wisconsin | $59,080 | $51,400 | $65,450 |
| Iowa | $58,950 | $49,920 | $63,310 |
| Connecticut | $58,900 | $47,790 | $77,090 |
| Nevada | $58,790 | $46,980 | $78,920 |
| Massachusetts | $58,730 | $50,660 | $76,560 |
| Pennsylvania | $58,270 | $46,350 | $70,260 |
| Wyoming | $58,220 | $52,000 | $71,660 |
| Colorado | $57,890 | $46,290 | $70,620 |
| Illinois | $57,470 | $48,090 | $68,080 |
| New York | $57,360 | $47,170 | $65,060 |
| New Hampshire | $57,290 | $48,030 | $68,080 |
| Delaware | $57,130 | $48,170 | $61,270 |
| Virginia | $56,760 | $46,670 | $73,830 |
| Maine | $56,470 | $50,400 | $61,910 |
| Vermont | $56,460 | $51,110 | $69,630 |
| Indiana | $56,440 | $45,180 | $62,400 |
| New Mexico | $56,210 | $45,760 | $68,480 |
| Oregon | $55,790 | $47,390 | $63,100 |
| Hawaii | $55,580 | $47,150 | $60,800 |
| Arizona | $54,080 | $45,410 | $64,890 |
| North Carolina | $53,160 | $45,740 | $62,730 |
| Idaho | $52,630 | $45,280 | $62,930 |
| Missouri | $51,700 | $45,590 | $62,180 |
| Kansas | $50,900 | $50,440 | $61,870 |
| Tennessee | $50,370 | $45,330 | $61,090 |
| Michigan | $50,340 | $46,940 | $66,140 |
| South Dakota | $50,050 | $47,270 | $60,020 |
| Louisiana | $49,440 | $41,600 | $69,210 |
| Georgia | $48,810 | $37,540 | $60,690 |
| West Virginia | $48,530 | $38,390 | $59,070 |
| Nebraska | $48,080 | $45,350 | $56,120 |
| Florida | $48,040 | $39,310 | $60,930 |
| Texas | $47,680 | $39,080 | $63,840 |
| Mississippi | $47,320 | $38,790 | $59,490 |
| Oklahoma | $46,760 | $38,820 | $57,780 |
| Alabama | $46,450 | $36,930 | $59,740 |
| Arkansas | $46,370 | $39,150 | $58,590 |
| Kentucky | $46,050 | $42,880 | $59,160 |
| South Carolina | $43,740 | $38,860 | $55,960 |
Highest-paying metro areas
| Metro area | Typical |
|---|---|
| 1. San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA | $101,270 |
| 2. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $92,700 |
| 3. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $84,360 |
| 4. Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | $81,120 |
| 5. Visalia, CA | $80,680 |
| 6. Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA | $79,450 |
| 7. Vallejo, CA | $78,790 |
| 8. San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | $78,110 |
| 9. Anchorage, AK | $76,970 |
| 10. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $76,560 |
| 11. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | $76,140 |
| 12. Stockton-Lodi, CA | $75,990 |
| 13. Reno, NV | $73,320 |
| 14. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | $72,230 |
| 15. Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA | $71,940 |
Pay in Apollo's markets
| Metro | Typical |
|---|---|
| Atlanta | $48,810 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth | $45,460 |
| Houston | $49,570 |
| Austin | $48,160 |
| Charlotte | $58,480 |
| Raleigh | $49,150 |
| San Antonio | $48,430 |
| Chicago | $57,470 |
| Orlando | $47,320 |
| Tampa | $46,920 |
| Miami | $49,180 |
| Jacksonville | $46,960 |
| Greenville-Spartanburg | $43,740 |
| Columbia, SC | $45,370 |
| Charleston, SC | $47,880 |
| Savannah | $56,010 |
Related cad and design salaries
Survey and Mapping Technician salary FAQs
How much does a survey and mapping technician make in the US?
The typical (median) survey and mapping technician in the US earns $54,240 a year, or about $26.08 an hour (BLS, May 2025). Half earn more and half earn less.
What is the entry-level salary for a survey and mapping technician in the US?
Early-career survey and mapping technicians in the US typically earn around $45,430 (the 25th percentile), and the lowest-paid 10% earn under $37,520. Degree, internships, licenses and the industry all move starting pay.
How much do experienced survey and mapping technicians earn in the US?
Experienced survey and mapping technicians in the US earn $66,700 or more (the 75th percentile), and the top 10% earn over $81,630.
Which state pays survey and mapping technicians the most?
California has the highest typical pay for survey and mapping technicians at $78,110 a year. The highest-paying metro area is San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA at $101,270 (BLS, May 2025).
Are survey and mapping technicians 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 6,900 openings a year nationally as people retire, change jobs or the field grows.
Hiring survey and mapping technicians?
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: Surveying and Mapping Technicians (SOC 17-3031).