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Surveyor instrument assistant vs professional surveyor

The differences between surveyor instrument assistants 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 surveyor instrument assistant and a professional surveyor. Additionally, a professional surveyor has an average salary of $51,224, which is higher than the $43,952 average annual salary of a surveyor instrument assistant.

The top three skills for a surveyor instrument assistant include GPS, survey data and construction sites. The most important skills for a professional surveyor are survey data, legal descriptions, and GPS.

Surveyor instrument assistant vs professional surveyor overview

Surveyor Instrument AssistantProfessional Surveyor
Yearly salary$43,952$51,224
Hourly rate$21.13$24.63
Growth rate1%1%
Number of jobs5,72445,097
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 50%Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age4444
Years of experience66

Surveyor instrument assistant vs professional surveyor salary

Surveyor instrument assistants and professional surveyors have different pay scales, as shown below.

Surveyor Instrument AssistantProfessional Surveyor
Average salary$43,952$51,224
Salary rangeBetween $30,000 And $64,000Between $34,000 And $76,000
Highest paying City--
Highest paying state--
Best paying company--
Best paying industry--

Differences between surveyor instrument assistant and professional surveyor education

There are a few differences between a surveyor instrument assistant and a professional surveyor in terms of educational background:

Surveyor Instrument AssistantProfessional Surveyor
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 50%Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common majorCivil EngineeringSurveying, Mapping, And Hydraulic Technologies
Most common collegeMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyUniversity of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Surveyor instrument assistant vs professional surveyor demographics

Here are the differences between surveyor instrument assistants' and professional surveyors' demographics:

Surveyor Instrument AssistantProfessional Surveyor
Average age4444
Gender ratioMale, 83.8% Female, 16.2%Male, 73.5% Female, 26.5%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 10.9% Asian, 5.0% White, 75.4% 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 Percentage7%7%

Differences between surveyor instrument assistant and professional surveyor duties and responsibilities

Surveyor instrument assistant example responsibilities.

  • Set up tripods with GPS equipment clear brush areas to obtain accurate line of site data, stake targets.
  • Assist lead surveyor with surveying instruments theodolites.
  • Use of trimble M3 total station and Topcon level.
  • Prepare drawings using rough sketches, GIS and engineering data.
  • Work with and become skilled with various forms of GIS mapping systems.
  • Perform various traverse, property survey, ALTA, construction staking and mapping duties.
  • Show more

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.

Surveyor instrument assistant vs professional surveyor skills

Common surveyor instrument assistant skills
  • GPS, 20%
  • Survey Data, 16%
  • Construction Sites, 15%
  • Boundary Surveys, 5%
  • Data Collection, 5%
  • Survey Equipment, 4%
Common professional surveyor skills
  • Survey Data, 25%
  • Legal Descriptions, 22%
  • GPS, 21%
  • Civil 3D, 12%
  • CAD, 4%
  • As-Built, 4%

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