How To Become A Land Survey Technician: What It Is and Career Path

What is a land survey technician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Surveying deals with examining and recording different land features to construct a plan or detailed analysis of its features. It is an important exercise every landowner must carry out on an acquired land before fixing a property on it.

A land survey technician is usually an entry-level professional who works under the supervision of the surveyor, and they must collect land information that is used in construction and engineering. They use different surveying equipment to mark boundaries on land and also assist the surveyor with the computation of results.

A land survey technician needs to have a minimum of a high school diploma or GED to work in this field. However, many technicians have a bachelor's degree. A land survey technician can earn about $22.19 per hour and $46,146 per year. Nonetheless, you must show commitment to duty so that you can be the best in the field.

ScoreLand Survey TechnicianUS Average

Salary

3.6

Avg. Salary $45,850

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.4

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.28%

Asian 3.19%

Black or African American 4.47%

Hispanic or Latino 13.02%

Unknown 3.83%

White 74.21%

Gender

female 37.64%

male 62.36%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress level

7.4

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.0

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a land survey technician

Explore land survey technician education requirements

Most common land survey technician degrees

Bachelor's

53.6 %

Associate

26.6 %

High School Diploma

8.5 %

Start to develop specific land survey technician skills

Skills	Percentages
GPS	14.66%
CAD	10.65%
Civil 3D	9.92%
Boundary Surveys	7.20%
Survey Data	6.83%

Complete relevant land survey technician training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New land survey technicians learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a land survey technician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real land survey technician resumes.

Obtain the necessary licensing

Becoming a licensed land survey technician usually doesn't require a college degree. However, you need to pass an exam to become a licensed land survey technician in most of states. 44 states require land survey technicians to have license for their work. You can see the list of states below.

State	Education	Exam	License url
Alabama	Degree required	Both state and third-party exams required	Licensed Land Surveyor
Maryland	Degree required	State exam required	PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR
Alaska	-	-	Land Surveyor
Arkansas	-	State exam required	Professional Surveyor
California	Degree required	Both state and third-party exams required	Land Surveyor

Research land survey technician duties and responsibilities

Work closely with GIS department to determine land locations.
Load documents into the database using a custom GIS application.
Provide topographic data through leverage of the photogrammetric process at an archeological dig in Spain.
Aid in the completion of natural gas pipeline layouts and in grind location projects through multiple GPS techniques.

Prepare your land survey technician resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your land survey technician resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a land survey technician resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable land survey technician resume templates

Build a professional land survey technician resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your land survey technician resume.