Hiring Surveyors

What do surveyors do?

• Direct or conduct surveys to establish legal boundaries for properties, based on legal deeds and titles.
• Prepare and maintain sketches, maps, reports, and legal descriptions of surveys to describe, certify, and assume liability for work performed.
• Write descriptions of property boundary surveys for use in deeds, leases, or other legal documents.
• Verify the accuracy of survey data, including measurements and calculations conducted at survey sites.
• Search legal records, survey records, and land titles to obtain information about property boundaries in areas to be surveyed.
• Record the results of surveys, including the shape, contour, location, elevation, and dimensions of land or land features.

Core tasks, O*NET OnLine, 17-1022.00.

What does it take to become one?

Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

O*NET Job Zone 4, SVP (7.0 to < 8.0). O*NET OnLine.

Employers commonly list experience with Autodesk AutoCAD, Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D, Bentley MicroStation, Geographic information system GIS systems, Microsoft Office software, ESRI ArcGIS software for this role.

What do surveyors get paid?

BLS OEWS, May 2025 publishes a wage for surveyors in 88 of the metro areas in this build. The median ranges from $50,780 to $128,600 a year depending on the metro, with a midpoint of $76,710. This is what employers pay, place of work, not a single national figure and not what any one person takes home.

BLS OEWS, BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 17-1022.

What does hiring one cost?

The same as any role: tier, not location or salary, sets the fee. Across all six tiers the published range is $6,240 to $54,340 per search. For scale, the highest published median for surveyors in this build is $128,600. A contingency firm hiring at that level would bill roughly $25,720 to $38,580 on the first year salary alone, 20 to 30%.

Frequently asked

How fast can a surveyors search fill?

23 to 35 days, 2 to 3x faster than a typical contingency search, per the recruiting provider's published figures.

What if the hire does not work out?

A 45-day replacement guarantee, at 50% off a repeat search for the same role.