Surveyors
SOC Code: 17-1022
Surveyors carries a 58% AI exposure score (High automation risk), with a median annual wage of $72,740 and +4.4% projected employment growth from 2024 to 2034 (BLS), affecting approximately 56,100 workers. Full task breakdown, skills, and employer data are below.
Proportion of tasks susceptible to AI automation (O*NET analysis)
At 58% AI exposure, Surveyors sits 21 points above the 37.2% average across 832 U.S. occupations - more exposed than 93% of them. Most of its core tasks still require human judgment.
Career outlook score
51/100
Surveyors, weighted across 3 of 3 tracked dimensions
A weighted composite of median wage, projected growth, and AI-automation security (inverted exposure), each benchmarked against every other tracked occupation. It describes this occupation's standing across those three dimensions, not a guarantee of future outcomes.
- Median wage B- $72,740
Annual median wage, percentile rank vs all tracked occupations
- Projected growth B +4.4%
Projected employment change, 2024-2034, BLS Employment Projections
- AI exposure (inverted) F 58% exposure
Lower O*NET task-automability scores lower risk; this dimension scores security, not exposure
Home health and personal care aides is #1 of 832 occupations by employment (4.3M, AI exposure rank #392 at 35%) vs. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks #1 by AI task exposure (95%, employment rank #17 at 1.6M).
Automation-risk inventory
Exclusive cut of 832 occupations by PlainWorkforce automation-risk band. Orthogonal to the continuous AI-exposure distribution chart below and to this occupation's single risk badge, this is the corpus band mix, with Surveyors in the High band.
Credential × growth standing
Bachelor's band with mid-pack BLS pace
Surveyors shares the Bachelor's gate with 178 peer occupations and lands in Average (378 of 832). Neither the rarest nor the most crowded growth shelf - use wage and AI desks on this page for the differentiator.
Where Surveyors sits among all occupations
AI-exposure score distribution across 832 U.S. occupations (O*NET task analysis). This occupation is marked in rose.
Where Surveyors sits by AI exposure
AI-exposure score distribution across U.S. occupations (O*NET task analysis)
58% Higher than most higher than 93% of 832 occupations
Occupations, banded by AI-exposure score
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more occupations. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source O*NET task data (U.S. Department of Labor) · BLS 2024–2034
Source: O*NET task data (U.S. Department of Labor); AI-exposure scores are PlainWorkforce's analysis. As of BLS 2024–2034.
Surveyors vs. its occupational neighbors
AI exposure (horizontal) vs projected 2024–2034 growth (vertical) for occupations in the same SOC group. Surveyors is marked in rose; the top-left corner is the most future-proof.
Source: BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 (growth) and O*NET (AI-exposure analysis by PlainWorkforce).
Employment Projections
Where This Score Comes From
Surveyors's High automation-risk tier is computed from O*NET Database 30.0 task-level analysis, where each documented task the occupation performs is evaluated against current generative AI, robotic process automation, and machine-learning capabilities. A score in the 40–70% range indicates meaningful automation pressure on specific task categories, but the role as a whole still requires human judgment for coordination, exception handling, or client interaction.
The employment, wage, and education figures above come from a second, separate federal source: BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034, matched to the O*NET task data by Standard Occupational Classification (SOC 17-1022) code, with the wage figure cross-validated against the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 survey. BLS figures are presented exactly as published, with no adjustment on our part; the SOC-code match is what lets Surveyors be compared directly against every other tracked occupation on the same basis, not just roles that happen to share a job title.
For career planners, this profile should be read alongside the task, skill, and knowledge breakdowns below and the list of employers whose workforce composition includes Surveyors. Adjacent occupations shown further down offer lateral moves that preserve industry knowledge while potentially reducing exposure.
Education & Entry Requirements
Top Tasks (O*NET)
- 1. Direct or conduct surveys to establish legal boundaries for properties, based on legal deeds and titles.
- 2. Prepare and maintain sketches, maps, reports, and legal descriptions of surveys to describe, certify, and assume liability for work performed.
- 3. Write descriptions of property boundary surveys for use in deeds, leases, or other legal documents.
- 4. Analyze control or survey data to ensure adherence to project specifications or land survey standards.
- 5. Verify the accuracy of survey data, including measurements and calculations conducted at survey sites.
- 6. Search legal records, survey records, and land titles to obtain information about property boundaries in areas to be surveyed.
- 7. Conduct surveys to determine exact positions, measurement of points, elevations, lines, areas, volumes, contours, or other features of land surfaces.
- 8. Calculate the exact horizontal and vertical position of points on the Earth's surface.
- 9. Record the results of surveys, including the shape, contour, location, elevation, and dimensions of land or land features.
- 10. Maintain databases of geodetic and related information, including coordinate, descriptive, or quality assurance data.
Key Skills Required
- Mathematics
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Critical Thinking
- Complex Problem Solving
- Writing
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Speaking
- Active Learning
- Monitoring
Knowledge Areas
- Mathematics
- Engineering and Technology
- Geography
- Computers and Electronics
- English Language
- Physics
- Education and Training
- Design
- Customer and Personal Service
- Law and Government
Frequently Asked Questions
Will AI replace Surveyors?
Surveyors has an AI exposure score of 58%, indicating a high level of automation risk. Some tasks in this role can be augmented or partially automated by AI, but core responsibilities require human judgment.
What is the job outlook for Surveyors?
According to BLS Employment Projections 2024-2034, Surveyors is projected to grow by 4.4% over the decade. Current employment stands at approximately 56,100 workers.
What skills are needed for Surveyors?
Key skills for Surveyors include Mathematics, Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, and others. Typical entry-level education is Bachelor's degree.
How much do Surveyors earn?
The median annual wage for Surveyors is $72,740, according to BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2024). Actual earnings vary by location, experience, industry, and employer. The BLS publishes detailed wage percentiles by region in its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program.
What education is required for Surveyors?
The typical entry-level education for Surveyors is Bachelor's degree. Employers generally expect None of related work experience. On-the-job training typically involves Internship/residency. Requirements can vary by employer and specialization.
Which companies employ Surveyors?
Surveyors roles exist across many industries and employers. Workforce composition is estimated from BLS industry-occupation employment distributions matched to SEC-registered public companies.
AI Exposure Rating
High automation risk based on 10 analyzed tasks. A moderate share of tasks may be augmented by AI tools.
Nationwide occupations with similar workforce profiles
Two data-derived peer sets for Surveyors: AI-exposure neighbors and BLS 2034 growth neighbors (distinct comparison neighborhoods, cross-occupation).
Similar AI exposure score
Nearest O*NET task-automability scores nationwide (58% here).
- Electrical and electronics drafters · AI exposure 58%
- Industrial production managers · AI exposure 57%
- New accounts clerks · AI exposure 57%
- Opticians, dispensing · AI exposure 57%
Similar projected growth (2024–2034)
Nearest BLS employment change rates nationwide (+4.4% here).
- Environmental scientists and specialists, including health · growth +4.4%
- General and operations managers · growth +4.4%
- Health and safety engineers, except mining safety engineers and inspectors · growth +4.4%
- Helpers, construction trades, all other · growth +4.4%
Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on published BLS + O*NET metrics among occupations with ≥10,000 workers in 2024; corpus ranks above sort the full tracked set.
Related Occupations
Showing 6 of 15 occupations with a comparable automation-risk profile.
What to do with this
Use Surveyors' numbers above to compare, not just read in isolation.
- Compare Surveyors side by side against another occupation on wage, growth, and AI exposure. Workforce comparison tool
- Understand how the AI exposure score above is actually calculated before treating it as a verdict. Reading AI exposure scores
- See the full ranked list of occupations with the lowest automation exposure nationwide. Safest occupations from AI
AI exposure scores estimate task automatability from O*NET data; they are not a certainty of job loss, and BLS growth projections are estimates, not guarantees.
Data sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2024–2034 and O*NET Database 30.0. Employment figures are rounded. Wage data from BLS Occupational Employment Statistics (OES).