Survey manager vs professional surveyor

The differences between survey managers and professional surveyors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a survey manager and a professional surveyor. Additionally, a professional surveyor has an average salary of $51,224, which is higher than the $50,706 average annual salary of a survey manager.

The top three skills for a survey manager include GPS, civil 3d and data collection. The most important skills for a professional surveyor are survey data, legal descriptions, and GPS.

Survey manager vs professional surveyor overview

	Survey Manager	Professional Surveyor
Yearly salary	$50,706	$51,224
Hourly rate	$24.38	$24.63
Growth rate	1%	1%
Number of jobs	2,935	45,097
Job satisfaction	4	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 54%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	6	6

Survey manager vs professional surveyor salary

Survey managers and professional surveyors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Survey Manager	Professional Surveyor
Average salary	$50,706	$51,224
Salary range	Between $33,000 And $76,000	Between $34,000 And $76,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	-
Highest paying state	New Jersey	-
Best paying company	Bowman Consulting Group	-
Best paying industry	Professional	-

Differences between survey manager and professional surveyor education

There are a few differences between a survey manager and a professional surveyor in terms of educational background:

	Survey Manager	Professional Surveyor
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 54%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common major	Surveying, Mapping, And Hydraulic Technologies	Surveying, Mapping, And Hydraulic Technologies
Most common college	Pennsylvania State University	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Survey manager vs professional surveyor demographics

Here are the differences between survey managers' and professional surveyors' demographics:

	Survey Manager	Professional Surveyor
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 88.1% Female, 11.9%	Male, 73.5% Female, 26.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.3% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 10.9% Asian, 5.0% White, 75.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 3.3% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 10.6% Asian, 4.9% White, 75.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between survey manager and professional surveyor duties and responsibilities

Survey manager example responsibilities.

Manage a group of 8 surveyors and 2 GIS technicians who are working on commercial development and public infrastructure projects
Prepare documents for zoning, easement vacations, and right-of-way acquisitions.
Hire and train new employees with entry level, instrument operator and to operate the GPS system.
Perform quality control and quality assurance reviews on exhibit documents submit to RMP for the right-of-way acquisition process.
Provide complete boundary surveying services and prepare minor subdivisions.

Professional surveyor example responsibilities.

Implement the use of GPS into the day to day survey operations.
Create and utilize geographic information systems (GIS) for various clients.
Adjust and operate surveying instruments such as prisms, theodolites, and electronicdistance-measuring equipment.
Interface with multiple legal, financial and governmental entities to meet requirements of approvals processes and finalize complex ALTA surveys.
Develop new data from photogrammetric records.

Survey manager vs professional surveyor skills

Common survey manager skills

GPS, 10%
Civil 3D, 7%
Data Collection, 6%
CAD, 6%
Survey Data, 5%
PLS, 5%

Common professional surveyor skills

Survey Data, 25%
Legal Descriptions, 22%
GPS, 21%
Civil 3D, 12%
CAD, 4%
As-Built, 4%