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

What is a quantity surveyor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a quantity surveyor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $34.35 an hour? That's $71,438 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 1% and produce 400 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreQuantity SurveyorUS Average

Salary

5.6

Avg. Salary $71,438

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.8

Growth rate 1%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.52%

Asian 5.01%

Black or African American 3.36%

Hispanic or Latino 10.93%

Unknown 4.84%

White 75.33%

Gender

female 18.44%

male 81.56%

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 quantity surveyor

Explore quantity surveyor education requirements

Most common quantity surveyor degrees

Bachelor's

68.0 %

Diploma

15.0 %

Master's

6.5 %

Start to develop specific quantity surveyor skills

Skills	Percentages
Construction Projects	17.82%
QS	11.67%
Cost Estimates	6.05%
Contractual Claims	5.83%
Cost Analysis	5.75%

Complete relevant quantity surveyor training and internships

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

Research quantity surveyor duties and responsibilities

Prepare shop drawings using AutoCAD software.
Update contract BOQ base on contractors approve shop drawings to submit update BOQ and expect cost of completion.
Base: UK, UAE, Trinidad
Assist in the preparation of tenders for new contracts including pre-contract measurements and pricing.

Prepare your quantity surveyor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your quantity 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 quantity 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 quantity surveyor resume templates

Build a professional quantity 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 quantity surveyor resume.