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Engineering | Surveying / Mapping Technician

Surveying / Mapping Technician

What Does a Professional in this Career Do?

A Surveying or Mapping Technician works with surveyors and cartographers to gather data and create maps. Visits sites and records survey measurements and descriptive data. Selects data needed to create maps, including photos, aerial photos and satellite information, and helps produce and update maps that show boundaries or topographical information.

Job Outlook

There were 690 Surveying / Mapping Technician job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 13122 in the United States.

In combination with other careers in the Surveying / Mapping Technician industry, which includes the Surveying / Mapping Technician career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:

Salary

Many new Surveying / Mapping Technician jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.

National

The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $58,161.

State

The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $54,077.

Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Surveying / Mapping Technician postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $45,061.

Education and Experience

Posted Surveying / Mapping Technician jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.

Education LevelPercentage
Associate's Degree0%
Bachelor's Degree25.47%
Master's Degree8.63%
Doctoral Degree1%
Other31.48%

Posted Surveying / Mapping Technician jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.

Years of ExperiencePercentage
0 to 2 years55.6%
3 to 5 years30.93%
6 to 8 years7.66%
9+ years5.82%

Skills

Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Surveying / Mapping Technician positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.

Baseline Skills

A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.

  • Communication (32.11%)
  • Management (16.8%)
  • Research (16.1%)
  • Detail Oriented (14.49%)
  • Operations (14.17%)
  • Customer Service (12.41%)
  • Writing (11.32%)
  • Mathematics (11.04%)
  • Problem Solving (10.52%)
  • Self-Motivation (10.34%)

Defining Skills

A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.

  • Topographic Surveying (14.48%)
  • Surveying (50.33%)
  • Topography (20.4%)

Necessary Skills

A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.

  • Field Notes (9.96%)
  • AutoCAD Civil 3D (19.3%)
  • Computer-Aided Design (22.34%)
  • ArcGIS (GIS Software) (11.83%)
  • Data Collection (10.58%)
  • Global Positioning Systems (12.48%)
  • Legal Land Description (10.6%)
  • AutoCAD (16.99%)
  • Construction (7.71%)
  • Geographic Information Systems (19.28%)
  • Civil Engineering (8.76%)
  • Field Surveys (14.29%)
  • Project Management (16.69%)
  • MicroStation (CAD Design Software) (13.29%)

Distinguishing Skills

A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.

  • Radiofrequency Ablation (5.58%)
  • Surveying Instruments (9.63%)
  • Cartography (5.63%)
  • Clinical Trial Protocols (5.01%)
  • Geospatial Analysis (6.77%)
  • Watchman (5.04%)
  • Total Station (6.5%)
  • Survey Methodologies (2.14%)

Salary Boosting Skills

A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.

  • Clinical Trial Protocols (99.45%)
  • Watchman (100%)

Alternative Job Titles

Sometimes employers post jobs with Surveying / Mapping Technician skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:

  • Survey Technician
  • Survey CAD Technician
  • Survey Field Technician
  • Mapping Specialist
  • Geospatial Analyst
  • Land Survey Technician
  • Director of Surveying
  • Field Technician
  • Cartographer
  • Surveyor

Similar Occupations

If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.

Common Employers

Here are the employers that have posted the most Surveying / Mapping Technician jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.

United States

  • Boston Scientific (605)
  • Actalent (375)
  • GPAC (274)
  • Leidos (200)
  • SAM (192)
  • Cci Systems (152)
  • Westwood Professional Services (121)
  • Southern Cross Corporation (103)
  • BAE Systems (90)
  • Trane Technologies (87)

North Carolina

  • Southern Cross Corporation (33)
  • Actalent (31)
  • Mckim & Creed (22)
  • Timmons Group (19)
  • N.C Department Of Transportation (18)
  • Bateman Civil Survey Company (Bcsc) (16)
  • Greene Resources (14)
  • The Gel Group (14)
  • Boston Scientific (14)
  • GPAC (12)

NC State Programs Relevant to this Career

If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!