Jobs / Architecture and engineering / 17-3031.00
Surveying and Mapping Technicians
Perform surveying and mapping duties, usually under the direction of an engineer, surveyor, cartographer, or photogrammetrist, to obtain data used for construction, mapmaking, boundary location, mining, or other purposes. May calculate mapmaking information and create maps from source data, such as surveying notes, aerial photography, satellite data, or other maps to show topographical features, political boundaries, and other features. May verify accuracy and completeness of maps.
- US jobs
- 58,010
- Median wage
- $54,240 a year
- Job family
- Architecture and engineering
Can agents do the work of surveying and mapping technicians?
We read the evidence at the level of the job family, Architecture and engineering:
- Task levelUnexploredNo task-level benchmark in our collection tests architecture or engineering design work, such as CAD modeling or engineering calculations.
- Project levelNot yetWhole projects are mostly out of reach. The Remote Labor Index includes 3D, CAD, and architecture projects; across all its projects, the best agent completed 15.8% to a standard a client would accept. GDPval includes mechanical engineers, and its deliverables score higher, but those tasks are one-shot and fully specified.
Benchmarks for the job family
These cover work in architecture and engineering, not always this occupation's tasks.
- 1846 EloClaude Opus 5.5 (Adaptive Reasoning, Max Effort, Default Fallback) · 23 Sep 2026Unrated
Typical tasks
From O*NET 31.0. Core tasks first. Few of these tasks have a benchmark today.
- Set out and recover stakes, marks, or other monumentation.
- Search for section corners, property irons, or survey points.
- Calculate latitudes, longitudes, angles, areas, or other information for mapmaking, using survey field notes or reference tables.
- Enter Global Positioning System (GPS) data, legal deeds, field notes, or land survey reports into geographic information system (GIS) workstations so that information can be transformed into graphic land descriptions, such as maps and drawings.
- Adjust and operate surveying instruments such as prisms, theodolites, electronic distance measuring equipment, or electronic data collectors.
- Check all layers of maps to ensure accuracy, identifying and marking errors and making corrections.
- Collect information needed to carry out new surveys, using source maps, previous survey data, photographs, computer records, or other relevant information.
- Record survey measurements or descriptive data, using notes, drawings, sketches, or inked tracings.
- Conduct surveys to ascertain the locations of natural features and man-made structures on the Earth's surface, underground, and underwater, using electronic distance-measuring equipment, such as GPS, and other surveying instruments.
- Prepare topographic or contour maps of land surveyed, including site features and other relevant information, such as charts, drawings, and survey notes.
- Supervise or coordinate activities of workers engaged in surveying, plotting data, drafting maps, or producing blueprints, photostats, or photographs.
- Compile information necessary to stake projects for construction, using engineering plans.
Other job titles for this occupation (44)
Field Surveyor · Land Survey Technician (Land Survey Tech) · Land Surveyor · Mapping Editor · Mapping Technician (Mapping Tech) · Photogrammetric Technician (Photogrammetric Tech) · Rodman · Stereoplotter Operator · Survey Technician (Survey Tech) · Surveying Technician (Surveying Tech) · Compass Operator · Field Map Technician (Field Map Tech) · Field Survey Technician (Field Survey Tech) · Geodetic Computator · GIS Mapping Technician (Geographic Information Systems Mapping Technician) · Instrument Man (I-Man) · Instrument Operator · Instrument Person · Instrument Rodman · Instrumentation Technician (Instrumentation Tech) · Land Surveying Survey Worker · Map Compiler · Map Drafter · Map Editor · Mineral Surveying Technician (Mineral Surveying Tech) · Photogrammetric Stereo Compiler · Stereo Compiler · Stereo Map Plotter Operator · Stereo Plotter Operator · Survey CAD Technician (Survey Computer-Aided Design Technician) · Survey Field Technician (Survey Field Tech) · Survey Instrument Operator · Survey Instrument Person · Survey Rodman · Surveying Crew Rodman · Surveyor Helper · Surveyor Instrument Assistant · Surveyor Rod Helper · Technical Illustrations Map Inker (Tax Map Tech) · Topographic Computator · Topographical Drafter · Topography Technician (Topography Tech) · Transit Survey Worker · Utility Mapping Technician (Utility Mapping Tech)