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

What is a registered land 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 registered land surveyor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $22.77 an hour? That's $47,361 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 1% and produce 400 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreRegistered Land SurveyorUS Average

Salary

3.7

Avg. Salary $47,361

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.8

Growth rate 1%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.47%

Asian 4.24%

Black or African American 2.82%

Hispanic or Latino 9.18%

Unknown 4.71%

White 78.59%

Gender

female 2.56%

male 97.44%

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 registered land surveyor

Explore registered land surveyor education requirements

Most common registered land surveyor degrees

Bachelor's

42.9 %

Associate

38.1 %

Certificate

9.5 %

Start to develop specific registered land surveyor skills

Skills	Percentages
Data Collection	24.64%
GPS	19.67%
Survey Data	18.44%
GIS	11.55%
Boundary Surveys	7.49%

Complete relevant registered land surveyor training and internships

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

Obtain the necessary licensing

Becoming a licensed registered land surveyor usually doesn't require a college degree. However, you need to pass an exam to become a licensed registered land surveyor in most of states. 44 states require registered land surveyors 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 registered land surveyor duties and responsibilities

Collect, processes, analyzes and manages field data using GIS and spatial technologies.
Complete field work by inspecting dams, setting grade stakes, and updating property records using a Trimble R8 GNSS system.
Provide complete boundary surveying services and prepare minor subdivisions.

Prepare your registered land surveyor resume

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

Build a professional registered land 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 registered land surveyor resume.