Surveying and Mapping Technicians
Machines can already do 34% of this job's tasks. By 2035 that rises to 68%. The job changes before it disappears.
Share of the work machines can do
Worldwide baseline, 2026 to 2050
Surveying and Mapping Technicians in 2026: the short answer
- Today: machines can do 34% of this job's tasks, and AI use is already seen in 0% of them.
- Forecast: machines can do half of its tasks by 2031, and 68% by 2035, according to the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit.
- Size: 58,010 people do this job in the United States, on a median pay of $54,240 a year.
- Contact with people: it scores 61% for contact with people.
- Also called: Field Surveyor, Land Survey Technician (Land Survey Tech), Land Surveyor, Mapping Editor.
Updated by the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit. These are worldwide baseline figures; the Workforce Starburst shows them for your country. Go deeper: How ready am I? or an executive briefing.
How the work changes, task by task
The tasks that take up most of the day, with the share of each that machines can do in 2026 (dark) and 2035 (pink). Worldwide baseline.
| Task | Share of the day | Machines can do | 2026 to 2035 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adjust and operate surveying instruments such as prisms, theodolites, electronic distance measuring equipment, or electronic data collectors | 15% | 20% to 60% | |
| Conduct surveys to ascertain the locations of natural features and man-made structures on the Earth's surface, underground, and underwater, using electronic distance-measuring equipment, such as GPS, and other surveying instruments | 13% | 30% to 75% | |
| Set out and recover stakes, marks, or other monumentation | 8% | 3% to 30% | |
| Position and hold the vertical rods, or targets, that theodolite operators use for sighting to measure angles, distances, and elevations | 8% | 30% to 75% | |
| Search for section corners, property irons, or survey points | 5% | 3% to 30% | |
| Record survey measurements or descriptive data, using notes, drawings, sketches, or inked tracings | 5% | 50% to 85% | |
| Enter Global Positioning System (GPS) data, legal deeds, field notes, or land survey reports into geographic information system (GIS) workstations so that information can be transformed into graphic land descriptions, such as maps and drawings | 4% | 50% to 78% | |
| Collect information needed to carry out new surveys, using source maps, previous survey data, photographs, computer records, or other relevant information | 4% | 55% to 85% |
The skills this job runs on
The skills surveying and mapping technicians use most, most used first.
Safer jobs nearby
Jobs with a similar skill shape where machines can do less of the work by 2035.
- Medical Dosimetrists63% of tasks by 2035 · US median $147,470
- Mathematical Science Teachers, Postsecondary66% of tasks by 2035 · US median $79,940
- Health Information Technologists and Medical Registrars67% of tasks by 2035 · US median $68,020
- Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health67% of tasks by 2035 · US median $55,090
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Questions
When will machines do half of the tasks of Surveying and Mapping Technicians?
Machines can do half of its tasks by 2031. That is the worldwide baseline from the 311 Workforce Starburst, before adjusting for country.
Will AI take the job of surveying and mapping technicians?
Machines can do 34% of the tasks of surveying and mapping technicians today and 68% by 2035. The job changes before it disappears: the routine tasks move first.
Sources and citing
Tasks and their share of the day: O*NET 31.0, occupation 17-3031.00 (US Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0). Pay and jobs: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. AI use today: Anthropic Economic Index (CC BY). Scoring and forecast: the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit; after 2035 the figures extend each trend, with lower confidence. Foresight, not advice.
Cite as: 311 Institute (2026). Surveying and Mapping Technicians: the outlook to 2050. 311 Workforce Starburst. https://www.311institute.com/jobs/surveying-and-mapping-technicians/