How To Become A Marine Surveyor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a marine surveyor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a marine surveyor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $33.93 an hour? That's $70,572 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 1% and produce 400 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreMarine SurveyorUS Average

Salary

5.5

Avg. Salary $70,572

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.8

Growth rate 1%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.51%

Asian 4.85%

Black or African American 3.25%

Hispanic or Latino 10.55%

Unknown 4.81%

White 76.04%

Gender

female 10.78%

male 89.22%

Age - 42

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 - 42

Stress level

7.8

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.9

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.3

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a marine surveyor

Explore marine surveyor education requirements

Most common marine surveyor degrees

Bachelor's

61.9 %

Associate

11.9 %

Master's

11.4 %

Start to develop specific marine surveyor skills

Skills	Percentages
GPS	23.16%
Bulk Cargo	14.04%
Boats	12.19%
ABS	8.77%
Data Acquisition	8.70%

Complete relevant marine surveyor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 2-4 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New marine surveyors 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 marine surveyor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real marine surveyor resumes.

Research marine surveyor duties and responsibilities

Utilize and maintain GPS, dive beacons, and sonar equipment in order to achieve safe and cost-effective positioning.
Insure that all repairs meet IICL and ISO regulations.
Research utility services via GIS computer system and reference library and mark relevant utilities in specify construction areas.
Check compliance of cargo boat in accordance with the law; check loading/downloading condition of the goods

Prepare your marine surveyor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your marine surveyor 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 marine surveyor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable marine surveyor resume templates

Build a professional marine surveyor 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 marine surveyor resume.