Land Surveying Video Statistics

Key takeaways

1. Channels that say they are land surveyors or surveying firms posted 7.6% of YouTube’s 449 most-viewed ‘land surveying’, ‘land surveyor’ and ‘drone mapping’ videos and drew 3.7% of their views; U.S.-based surveyors drew 0.4% (our read, Nov 2026). (Mark Studios) See details
2. Our read found 0 Florida surveyors or surveying firms among the 287 channels behind those videos (Nov 2026). (Mark Studios) See details
3. Employers had 50,830 wage and salary surveyors in May 2025, at a median annual wage of $75,440; BLS estimates that 2.1% of surveyor jobs are held by the self-employed. (BLS) See details
4. NCEES’s member boards reported 47,754 surveying licences in 2025, 14.8% fewer than the 2008 peak of 56,074; a surveyor licensed in several states is counted in each. (NCEES, Mark Studios) See details
5. BLS publishes no median age for surveyors; in its household survey, 23.8% of employed surveyors, cartographers and photogrammetrists were 55 or older in 2025, against 28.6% in 2011 (our calculation). (BLS, Mark Studios) See details
6. Florida had 2,364 actively licensed individual surveyors in January 2026, and Florida Senate staff report that 55% of the state’s surveyors and mappers are 61 or older. (Florida Legislature) See details
7. The U.S. had 8,570 private surveying and mapping establishments in 2025, and their jobs rose 4.5% from 2019 (our calculation from BLS QCEW); governments paid 21.5% of surveying-firm receipts in 2022. (BLS, Census, Mark Studios) See details
8. NCEES reports first-time pass rates of 62% on the Fundamentals of Surveying exam and 63% on the Principles and Practice of Surveying exam for January-June 2026. (NCEES) See details

Who makes the most-viewed land surveying videos on YouTube?

Channels that say they are land surveyors or surveying firms drew 3.7% of the views of the most-viewed 'land surveying', 'land surveyor' and 'drone mapping' videos on YouTube on November 6, 2026, from 7.6% of the videos (our count). We read YouTube's own view-sorted search results, the top 200 for each of the three searches, through the YouTube Data API, with no country filter. The three lists held 449 unique videos from 287 channels (our count). We sorted every channel by hand from its own title, description and video text, reading Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi and Bengali text in the original. A surveyor here is any channel whose own text says its owner is a land surveyor or works in surveying, or is a land surveying or survey-and-mapping firm, anywhere in the world; 22 channels qualified. We did not check any of them against a licence register.

U.S.-based surveyors and surveying firms, 8 channels whose own text names a U.S. place or whose country setting is the United States, drew 0.4% of the views (our count). 0 of the 287 channels was a Florida surveyor or surveying firm. Only two channels of any kind tie themselves to Florida, a South Florida drone dealer and a Cape Coral home builder, and none to Palm Beach, Broward or Martin County (our count).

Most of the views went to people who explain drones and land measurement without saying they survey. One investigative entertainment channel, with two videos about a Minnesota town missing from Google Street View, drew 18.3% of all views by itself. DJI's own channel drew 8.8%. The 10 most-viewed channels drew 61.9% of all views, and only one of them is a surveying channel (our count). The 10 most-viewed videos drew 51.0% of the views; the median video had 60,299.

Do surveyors do better when the search is about surveying, not drones?

Yes. Among the 263 most-viewed 'land surveying' and 'land surveyor' videos on November 6, 2026, surveyor and surveying-firm channels posted 10.6% of the videos and drew 16.6% of the views (our count). U.S.-based surveyors still drew 0.9% of those views, from 10 videos. The 'drone mapping' list belongs to sellers and hobbyists: surveyors drew 0.3% of its views, while drone, mapping and survey-equipment sellers drew 20.6% and creators with no surveyor role drew 31.4% (our count).

The two surveying searches overlap heavily: 105 of the 449 videos appeared in two or more lists, 104 of them in both the 'land surveying' and 'land surveyor' lists (our count). The surveyor numbers also lean on one channel. A Bangladeshi land survey office and training channel drew 52.9% of all surveyor-channel views; without it surveyors drew 1.8% of the views (our calculation).

Which surveyors and surveying firms show up?

Surveying firms posted 20 of the videos (14 firms, 3.3% of views); U.S. firms posted 4, from 3 firms, with 0.1% of views (our count). The U.S. firms are a survey, mapping and engineering company with seven U.S. offices, an Iowa architecture, engineering and surveying firm and a boundary-dispute consultancy. Most of the other firms are in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in India. 5 channels state a surveying licence or registration, with 12 videos and 1.2% of views; none states a PLS, PSM or RLS credential, and only one of them, a licensed professional surveyor at Ohio State University who also runs a survey school, is U.S.-based (our count).

The U.S. voices are mostly individual field surveyors. 4 of the 22 surveyor channels are field surveyors who state surveying work but no licence or firm, such as day-in-the-life vlogs from Virginia, Michigan and the Catskills, and 7 state their surveying role only in video text (our count). The median surveyor channel had 1,765 subscribers, against 16,600 for equipment and software sellers and 160,000 for media channels (our count).

The word 'surveyor' in a title rarely means a surveyor made the video. 152 of the 162 videos with 'surveyor' in the title came from channels that state no surveyor role, mostly Indian exam-coaching channels (our count). 17.6% of all the videos are recruitment-exam videos by title, mostly for Karnataka's 2026 Land Surveyor posts. One title names an NCEES exam (a 2015 FE exam review) and none names the FS or PS exam. Trainers, schools and exam coaches posted 63.3% of the 'land surveyor' list.

What do the most-viewed surveying videos cover?

Drones dominate. 34.7% of the 449 videos name drones in the title, drawing 37.6% of views, and 17 name LiDAR, with 11.2% of views (our count from titles). Survey basics are rare in titles. 10 videos name a boundary, property line or lot line (43 do so in the title or description, with 17.7% of views). One names a stakeout and 0 names an ALTA survey; 2 mention ALTA anywhere in their text. 17 name GPS, GNSS, RTK or DGPS, 6 a total station and 18 photogrammetry. 6.0% are about careers, pay or a day in the life, including 6 day-in-the-life videos, 4 of them by surveyors, and 3 are about surveying history (our count).

Short videos carry the views. 25.6% of the videos ran 60 seconds or less and drew 48.5% of the views; the median short had 125,552 views, against 50,857.5 for longer videos (our calculation). Videos over 20 minutes were 29.0% of the sample but drew 7.3% of views. Surveyors use shorts more than the sample does: 38.2% of their videos ran 60 seconds or less.

The sample is recent and mostly Indian by upload count. 67.7% of the videos were published in 2024 or later and drew 82.5% of views; 153 were published in 2026. 3.6% predate 2020 (our count). Channels set to India posted 45.2% of the videos and drew 21.9% of views; channels set to the United States posted 26.1% and drew 29.6%. Channels of any kind tied to the United States by their own text or country setting drew 29.7% of the views, and surveyors were 8 of those 65 channels. 17.8% of the titles are in a non-Latin script (our count). None of the 449 videos carried YouTube's altered or synthetic content flag in the API, and one was marked made for kids.

How do surveying associations and equipment makers use YouTube?

The ten official channels of NSPS, ASPRS, NCEES, USGS and six survey-equipment and software sellers posted 688 videos in the year to November 6, 2026, with a median of 321 views per video (our count from the YouTube Data API). Trimble Geospatial posted 271 of them. Only 2 of the ten, DroneDeploy and Emlid with one video each in the 'drone mapping' list, had a video among the 449 most-viewed search results. The six sellers together posted 607 videos with a median of 320 views; 25.9% ran 60 seconds or less (our count).

USGS's most-viewed upload in that window was a Kilauea volcano livestream with 13,517,901 views, so its median says little about surveying. NSPS's 43 uploads all ran longer than 15 minutes: podcast episodes, town halls and webinars, including an overview of the 2026 ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey standards. 4 of the 14 organisations we checked (FSMS, NOAA's National Geodetic Survey, Bowman Consulting and NV5) link no YouTube channel from their own homepage, and handle lookups found none that states it is theirs (our check). Subscriber counts are rounded by YouTube, and view counts include ad views.

How many land surveyors work in the U.S., and what do they earn?

U.S. employers counted 50,830 wage-and-salary surveyors (SOC 17-1022) in May 2025 (BLS OEWS). Their median annual wage was $75,440 (BLS OEWS) and the mean was $80,570 (BLS OEWS). Surveying and mapping technicians, the field crew and CAD staff who work under a surveyor, were a larger group: 58,010 jobs (BLS OEWS) with a median wage of $54,240 (BLS OEWS) and a mean of $58,000 (BLS OEWS). These figures come from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics employer survey, so they leave out self-employed surveyors and owners who draw no wage. May 2025 is the newest OEWS release, and BLS says OEWS estimates are not built for year-over-year comparison.

BLS's Occupational Outlook Handbook says surveyors must be licensed before they can certify legal documents or offer surveying to the public; technicians need no licence. Cartographers and photogrammetrists (SOC 17-1021) are a separate, map-making occupation and are not counted above.

How many surveyors work in Florida and South Florida?

Florida employers counted 4,000 wage-and-salary surveyors in May 2025 (BLS OEWS) and 4,810 surveying and mapping technicians (BLS OEWS). The median Florida surveyor earned $65,480 (BLS OEWS), below the national median of $75,440. Florida's location quotient for surveyors was 1.23 (BLS OEWS): surveyors are a larger share of jobs in Florida than in the country as a whole.

In May 2025, in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metropolitan area (Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties), employers counted 670 wage-and-salary surveyors (BLS OEWS) with a median wage of $74,390 (BLS OEWS). The Port St. Lucie metropolitan area, which includes Martin County, counted 80 (BLS OEWS). OEWS does not publish county estimates, and none of these Florida cells was suppressed; small-area counts carry wide sampling error.

Who employs surveyors?

Most surveyors work for architecture, engineering and surveying firms. BLS's Occupational Outlook Handbook puts 71% of all surveyor jobs in 2025, including the self-employed, in architectural, engineering, and related services, and 9% in government (BLS OOH). OEWS counts 37,260 wage-and-salary surveyors in that industry group (NAICS 5413) in May 2025 (BLS OEWS), 73.3% of the total (our calculation). Engineering firms (NAICS 541330) alone employed 17,740 (BLS OEWS), or 34.9% (our calculation), and government employed 4,590 (BLS OEWS). OEWS publishes no estimate for surveying and mapping firms (NAICS 541370) on their own; they sit inside the 5413 group. Among technicians, 60% of 2025 jobs were in architectural, engineering, and related services and 11% in local government (BLS OOH).

Is surveying employment growing?

BLS projects surveyor employment to grow 5.8% from 2025 to 2035 (BLS Employment Projections), against 3.5% for all occupations (BLS Employment Projections). Its Employment Projections program counted 52.0 thousand surveyor jobs in 2025, a count that includes the self-employed (BLS Employment Projections), and expects about 3.1 thousand openings a year (BLS Employment Projections), most of them to replace workers who retire or change occupations. Only 2.1% of surveyor jobs were held by self-employed workers in 2025 (BLS Employment Projections).

From 2025 to 2035, technician employment is also projected to grow 5.8% (BLS Employment Projections), with about 6.9 thousand openings a year (BLS Employment Projections). The Handbook adds that although drones and other tools make some survey work more efficient, surveyors will still be needed to review and interpret what those tools produce (BLS OOH).

How old are U.S. surveyors?

BLS does not publish a median age for surveyors. The Current Population Survey counted 42 thousand employed surveyors, cartographers, and photogrammetrists in 2025 (BLS CPS Table 11b), and CPS Table 11b shows no median for any group under 50,000 people (BLS CPS Table 11b). The same was true in 2011 and 2015. So the widely repeated "average surveyor is 58" figure cannot be checked against a BLS median; it is traced in the myths section below.

The published age counts still show the shape. In 2025, 6 thousand of these workers were 55 to 64 (BLS CPS Table 11b) and 4 thousand were 65 or older (BLS CPS Table 11b): 23.8% were 55 or older (our calculation). In 2011, the first year of the table in this form, 10 thousand of 42 thousand were 55 to 64 (BLS CPS Table 11b), and 28.6% were 55 or older (our calculation). The under-35 share was 33.3% in 2025 (our calculation). These counts are rounded to the thousand and come from a household sample, so small moves are within sampling error, and the 2011 table used the 2010 occupation codes.

Women were 12.2% of employed surveying and mapping technicians in 2025 (BLS CPS Table 11). BLS does not publish the women's share for surveyors, cartographers, and photogrammetrists because the group is under the 50,000 threshold. BLS notes that October 2025 CPS data were not collected during the federal shutdown, so 2025 annual averages cover 11 months.

How many surveying and mapping firms are there in the U.S.?

The United States averaged 8,570 private surveying and mapping establishments in 2025, per the BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (BLS QCEW), with 55,943 jobs (BLS QCEW). The industry is NAICS 541370, which Census defines as establishments primarily engaged in surveying and mapping the surface of the earth, including the sea floor (Census NAICS manual); geophysical surveying is a different industry. QCEW counts every employer covered by unemployment insurance and every job on the payroll, from licensed surveyors to office staff.

In 2019 the count was 7,971 establishments (BLS QCEW) and 53,520 jobs (BLS QCEW). That is a 7.5% rise in establishments and a 4.5% rise in jobs over six years (our calculation). Average annual pay rose from $62,195 (BLS QCEW) to $79,216 (BLS QCEW), up 27.4% before inflation (our calculation).

Census counts in other ways. County Business Patterns counted 7,288 employer establishments in 2023 (Census CBP). The 2022 Economic Census counted 7,725 establishments (Census Economic Census) run by 7,225 firms (Census Economic Census), with 72,754 paid employees (Census Economic Census) and receipts of 10,973,355 thousand dollars (Census Economic Census), about 1,420.5 thousand dollars per establishment (our calculation).

How small are most surveying firms?

Most are small. In 2023, 4,248 of the 7,288 employer establishments had fewer than 5 employees (Census CBP), or 58.3% (our calculation). On top of these, Census Nonemployer Statistics counted 9,932 surveying and mapping businesses with no paid employees in 2024 (Census Nonemployer Statistics), up from 9,769 in 2023 (Census Nonemployer Statistics). That makes 1.34 one-person or owner-only surveying businesses for every employer establishment in 2023 (our calculation). Together they reported 517,730 thousand dollars in 2024 receipts (Census Nonemployer Statistics), an average of $52,127 each (our calculation), far below the employer firms. The two programmes count from different frames, tax records and the Business Register, so the ratio is approximate.

How many surveying firms are in Florida and in Palm Beach, Broward and Martin counties?

Florida averaged 726 private surveying and mapping establishments in 2025 (BLS QCEW), with 6,972 jobs (BLS QCEW), 12.5% of the U.S. total (our calculation). Jobs rose 17.6% from 5,931 in 2019 (BLS QCEW) (our calculation). Average pay at Florida surveying firms was $70,645 in 2025 (BLS QCEW), up 36.3% before inflation from $51,820 in 2019 (BLS QCEW) (our calculation). County Business Patterns counted 666 Florida employer establishments in 2023 (Census CBP), and Nonemployer Statistics counted 844 no-employee surveying businesses in 2024 (Census Nonemployer Statistics).

The three counties together had 107 employer surveying establishments in 2023 (our calculation) and 131 no-employee surveying businesses in 2024 (our calculation). Jobs at Palm Beach County surveying firms rose 23.5% from 2019 to 2025, while Broward's fell 11.5% and Martin's slipped from 65 to 58 (our calculation). County figures are small and can swing when one firm moves or changes its industry code.

What do surveying firms sell, and to whom?

Boundary work is the largest product line. In the 2022 Economic Census, boundary, property line, and cadastral surveying made up 27.4% of U.S. surveying firm receipts (Census Economic Census), topographic and planimetric surveying 21.6% (Census Economic Census) and construction surveying 19.9% (Census Economic Census). Geospatial photo and image acquisition, which includes aerial and drone capture, was 4.3% (Census Economic Census).

In 2022, government was the largest named customer group, at 21.5% of receipts (Census Economic Census). Construction contractors paid 18.6% (Census Economic Census), engineering firms 12.6% (Census Economic Census) and households and individuals 13.9% (Census Economic Census). Contractors, architects and engineers together made up 35.5% (our calculation). The rest came from other businesses, such as developers, title and real estate firms, and from not-for-profits.

How much do surveying and engineering firms spend on advertising?

Census does not publish advertising spending for surveying firms alone. For the wider group, U.S. employer firms in architectural, engineering, and related services (NAICS 5413) spent 1,709,473 thousand dollars on purchased advertising and promotion in 2024, per the Annual Integrated Economic Survey (Census AIES). Engineering firms are most of that group; surveying and mapping firms, architects, drafters and testing labs are also in it. The figure leaves out in-house marketing staff.

How many licensed land surveyors are there?

NCEES member boards reported 47,754 surveying licences in the United States and its territories in 2025 (NCEES Squared 2025). NCEES, the national exam body for surveyors and engineers, collects the counts from each state board every year. A surveyor licensed in three states is counted three times, so the figure counts licences, not people. Of those licences, 13,093 were held by nonresidents of the licensing state (NCEES Squared 2025), or 27.4% (our calculation). Boards that do not split resident and nonresident licensees are counted as resident, so the true nonresident share is higher.

The count has shrunk. NCEES's series peaked at 56,074 licences in 2008 (NCEES Squared 2025), and the 2025 total is 14.8% lower (our calculation). Against 49,966 licences in 1997 (NCEES Squared 2025), 2025 is 4.4% lower (our calculation). NCEES dates U.S. surveying licensure to a California law of 1891 (NCEES Squared 2025).

How many licensed surveyors and mappers does Florida have?

Florida had 2,364 actively licensed individual surveyors and mappers in January 2026, according to nonpartisan Florida House staff (Florida House HB 879 analysis), who took the count from the October 2025 minutes of the Board of Professional Surveyors and Mappers. The board reported the same total to NCEES for 2025: 2,364 resident and 0 nonresident surveyors (NCEES Squared 2025). That makes Florida number 3 of the 55 NCEES jurisdictions by surveyor licences (our ranking), behind California, which reported 3,445 resident surveyors plus 685 nonresidents (NCEES Squared 2025), and Texas, with 2,108 resident surveyors plus 346 nonresidents (NCEES Squared 2025). California, Texas, Florida and North Carolina together held 23.6% of all surveyor licences reported to NCEES (our calculation).

Florida's count has fallen over the last decade. House staff, citing the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (DACS), put the number of licensed surveyors at 2,884 in 2013 (Florida House HB 831 analysis) and 2,579 in early 2022 (Florida House HB 831 analysis). Florida Senate staff counted 2,517 licensed surveyors and mappers in April 2025 (Florida Senate SB 320 analysis). The 2026 figure counts active individual licences only, and the analyses do not say whether the earlier figures include inactive licences, so the drop to 2,364 is not a like-for-like change.

How old is the licensed surveyor workforce?

Florida Senate staff report that 55% of Florida's surveyors and mappers were 61 or older in 2024 and 45% were 60 or younger (Florida Senate SB 320 analysis). The staff took the split from the board's Fall 2024 newsletter. For the age of everyone working as a surveyor, licensed or not, see the Current Population Survey median age in the workforce section above.

State licence files have no birth dates, but the year a licence was first issued shows how long its holder has been licensed. In the three states whose files carry that date, close to a third of active licences are more than 25 years old, and about a fifth were first issued in 2020 or later (our calculation from each board's public file, November 2026).

Before 1990 the shares are 19.1% in Texas, 17.7% in Colorado and 7.1% in Delaware (our calculation). Colorado's date is the first Colorado licence, so a surveyor who moved in late shows a late date. The Texas roster also keeps 592 records marked Deceased and 155 marked Retired (our count). Connecticut's file was left out of the table because about a fifth of its active surveyor licences carry a 1999 issue date, which looks like a records conversion rather than real issue years.

What do state licence files show about surveyors and survey firms?

Four of the states checked here publish surveyor licences as open data or a public roster. Counted in November 2026, they show that many licences in small states belong to surveyors based elsewhere (our counts from each board's file).

Connecticut also lists 117 active combined professional engineer and land surveyor credentials. Texas lists 923 current Surveyors in Training (our count), and 86.9% of its registered survey firms have a Texas address. Since September 2023 Texas has removed addresses from its individual rosters (Senate Bill 510), so an in-state share cannot be measured there. The open files do not match the board totals sent to NCEES exactly: each board defines "active" and counts dual licensees in its own way.

How many people pass the FS and PS exams?

In January to June 2026, 878 people took the Fundamentals of Surveying (FS) exam for the first time and 62% passed (NCEES FS exam). 469 repeat takers sat it, and 33% of them passed (NCEES FS exam). The Principles and Practice of Surveying (PS) exam, taken after about four years of experience, had 614 first-time takers, of whom 63% passed, plus 411 repeat takers with a pass rate of 40% (NCEES PS exam). NCEES, the exam body, publishes these rates for each six-month window for every examinee under its member boards.

The number of people taking the exams is rising faster than the pass rates are moving. First-time FS takers in the January-June window rose 19.9% from 2023 to 2026, and first-time PS takers rose 38.3% (our calculation). Over NCEES's fiscal year from October 2024 to September 2025, NCEES counted 2,286 FS examinees (NCEES Squared 2025) and 1,825 PS examinees (NCEES Squared 2025), and said FS and PS volumes had reached a 15-year high (NCEES Squared 2025).

A degree from an accredited programme matters for the first exam. Of 1,433 first-time FS takers that year (NCEES Squared 2025), 1,202 did not report a bachelor's degree from an ABET-accredited programme (NCEES Squared 2025). The 231 first-time takers who did report one passed at 76% (NCEES Squared 2025), against 61% for the other takers. 853 repeat FS takers passed at 35% (NCEES Squared 2025). On the PS exam, 60% of 1,188 first-time takers passed (NCEES Squared 2025), as did 58% of first-time takers without a reported accredited degree (NCEES Squared 2025), and 43% of 637 repeat takers (NCEES Squared 2025).

What does it take to become a licensed surveyor in Florida?

A degree, years of supervised work and two national exams. Under the 2026 Florida Statutes, an applicant with a bachelor's degree in surveying and mapping or geomatics needs 4 or more years of experience as a subordinate to a professional surveyor and mapper before sitting the licensure exam (s. 472.013(2)(a)). An applicant whose degree is in another field needs 6 or more years, five of them in responsible charge (s. 472.013(2)(b)), plus at least 25 semester hours in surveying, mapping, mathematics, photogrammetry, forestry, civil engineering, land law or the physical sciences (s. 472.013(2)(b)). Field roles do not count as responsible charge: the statute excludes chainpersons, rodpersons, instrumentpersons, ordinary draftspersons and even the aerial photo pilot (s. 472.005(6)).

The national exams are written by NCEES, the exam body that sells them. Its Fundamentals of Surveying (FS) exam has 110 questions in a 6-hour appointment at Pearson test centres (NCEES) and costs $225 (NCEES). The Principles and Practice of Surveying (PS) exam costs $375 and is aimed at surveyors with at least four years of experience (NCEES); examinees get 7 hours for 100 questions (NCEES PS specifications). NCEES's own Model Law, which states may adopt or ignore, asks for four years of progressive surveying experience (NCEES Model Law 2026) and accepts a bachelor's degree with 30 or more semester course hours in core surveying topics as one education route (NCEES Model Law 2026).

The statute caps the fees. The application and exam fee may not exceed $125 plus the cost of the national exam (s. 472.011(2)), the initial licence fee $200 (s. 472.011(3)) and the biennial renewal fee $500 (s. 472.011(5)). Each renewal needs at least 24 hours of continuing education over the previous two years (s. 472.018). Under rule 5J-17.041, a semester hour of an accredited college surveying course earns Six (6) credits (R. 5J-17.041, F.A.C.). A surveyor reactivating an inactive licence may owe up to forty-eight (48) credits (R. 5J-17.040, F.A.C.).

The rules come from the Board of Professional Surveyors and Mappers, which sits under the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. It has nine members: seven registered surveyors and mappers and two laypeople (s. 472.007(1)).

What must a Florida surveying firm have?

Any company, partnership or business trading under a fictitious name that offers surveying to the public needs a certificate of authorization (s. 472.021(2)). An individual practising under their own given name does not. The statute caps the fee for that certificate at $125 (s. 472.011(4)). A licensee or firm must either carry professional liability insurance or tell clients, including by a sign in the reception area, that it does not (s. 472.015(12)).

The practice act also sets limits on who needs a licence. Contractors and engineers doing construction layout from controls a registered surveyor has set are exempt (s. 472.003(3)). The legal definition of surveying and mapping includes photogrammetric control, the monumentation of property boundaries, the layout of proposed improvements and the preparation of record plats (s. 472.005(4)(b)). Under rule 5J-17.010, the board disciplines licensees for false, fraudulent, deceptive or misleading advertising, which includes overstating their education or experience (R. 5J-17.010, F.A.C.).

What must a Florida boundary survey show?

Florida's minimum technical standards, rule 5J-17.052 F.A.C., are specific. Every boundary survey must produce a map that states it is a "Boundary Survey." (R. 5J-17.052). Every monument the surveyor sets must be at least 18 inches long (R. 5J-17.052(2)(b)), with a cross-section of at least 0.20 square inches of material (R. 5J-17.052(2)(b)). It must carry the licence or firm number and be detectable with a metal detector. The map must show open and notorious evidence of boundary lines, such as fences, walls, buildings, with dimensions to the line (R. 5J-17.052(3)(b)).

Rule 5J-17.051 covers every survey product. Any product with elevation data must state its datum and the control it rests on (R. 5J-17.051(2)(a)). Every map must carry a survey date, defined as the last date of data acquisition (R. 5J-17.051(3)(d)). Statute requires final plats, maps and reports to be signed by the registrant, dated, and stamped with the seal, and allows the seal to be applied electronically (s. 472.025(1)). Under rule 5J-17.062, an electronic signature carries the same weight, authority, and effect as an original signature and seal (R. 5J-17.062). Since 2023, surveyors must send a digital copy of each FEMA elevation certificate to the state Division of Emergency Management within 30 days of completing it (s. 472.0366).

The national exams test the same ground. In NCEES's FS specifications, Boundary Law and Real Property Principles is the largest area at 19–29 of 110 questions (NCEES FS specifications). In the PS specifications that take effect in July 2027, Legal Principles carries 23–35 of 100 questions (NCEES PS 2027 specifications).

What rules govern drone mapping?

Two layers apply: federal flight rules and Florida's privacy statute. Under FAA Part 107 (14 CFR 107), a small drone weighs less than 55 pounds (14 CFR 107.3) and may not fly higher than 400 feet above ground level unless it stays near a structure (14 CFR 107.51). The pilot, any visual observer and the person at the controls must be able to see the aircraft throughout the entire flight (14 CFR 107.31). A remote pilot certificate requires the applicant to be at least 16 (14 CFR 107.61), and the knowledge test or recurrent training must have been passed within the previous 24 calendar months (14 CFR 107.65).

Florida's Freedom from Unwarranted Surveillance Act, s. 934.50, exempts drone use for aerial mapping by anyone who complies with FAA rules (s. 934.50(4)(k)). The exemption is not limited to licensed surveyors and mappers, and the section does not name them. It arrived with chapter 2015-26, Laws of Florida, effective July 1, 2015 (Laws of Fla. ch. 2015-26). The statute still bars using an imaging drone to record private property or its occupants with intent to conduct surveillance, without their written consent (s. 934.50(3)(b)). The exams have caught up: NCEES's 2027 PS specifications list UAS, robotics, GPS, scanning and LiDAR among tools for site-specific accuracy standards (NCEES PS 2027 specifications).

How do governments hire surveyors?

By qualifications first, with price negotiated afterwards. The federal Brooks Act defines architect-engineer services to include surveying and mapping (40 U.S.C. 1102). The Federal Acquisition Regulation says surveying is an A-E service to be bought under FAR 36.601 from registered surveyors or architects and engineers (FAR 36.601-4). Florida's Consultants' Competitive Negotiation Act, s. 287.055, covers registered surveying and mapping in the same way. Agencies must rank no fewer than three firms by qualification (s. 287.055). Continuing contracts may cover projects whose estimated construction cost does not exceed $7.5 million each (s. 287.055(2)(g)).

How do Texas, California and New York compare?

These figures come from the states' own statute texts: Texas through an Internet Archive capture of its statutes site, California from the board's 2026 edition of the Professional Land Surveyors' Act, and New York from the State Education Department.

What governs surveys of federal public land?

The Bureau of Land Management's Manual of Surveying Instructions. The 2009 edition is the 9th in a series of official manuals used since 1855 (BLM). The Department of the Interior formally adopted it on September 24, 2009 (BLM Wyoming). The manual describes the rectangular survey system as townships of 36 square miles, divided into sections of 1 square mile, or 640 acres, more or less (BLM Manual 2009).

What is changing in the National Spatial Reference System?

Every published U.S. latitude, longitude and height will change by up to four meters when NOAA's National Geodetic Survey (NGS) replaces NAD 83 and NAVD 88 with new datums, which NGS is rolling out over 2024 - 2026 (NOAA NGS). NGS says NAD 83 is misaligned to the Earth's center by about 2.2 meters, and NAVD 88 is biased by about half a meter and tilted by about 1 meter from coast to coast (NOAA NGS).

The current system rests on over 1,000 continuously operating GNSS stations and an ageing network of over 1,000,000 survey marks in the ground, many of them damaged or unmaintained, NGS says (NOAA NGS). The new system makes the GNSS stations the main access point. NGS will replace the three NAD 83 frames with four plate-based frames (NATRF2022, PATRF2022, CATRF2022 and MATRF2022) and replace NAVD 88 with a gravity-based height datum, NAPGD2022 (NOAA NGS).

NGS expects the Federal Geodetic Control Subcommittee to vote on the new datums in mid 2026. Survey projects meant to create or update control in the current system must reach NGS by January 13, 2027 (NOAA NGS FAQ). Under the Geospatial Data Act of 2018, federal civilian agencies must move to the new frames within 5 years of adoption (NOAA NGS FAQ).

How are state plane coordinates changing?

The State Plane Coordinate System of 2022 (SPCS2022) is the third generation of state plane coordinates, after SPCS 27 and SPCS 83. Its zone design drew 67 requests and proposals from 41 states, and 27 states designed their own zones, according to NGS's beta SPCS2022 site (NOAA NGS, May 2026). NGS calls SPCS2022 the way most surveyors will use the new reference system. Every state and territory gets a statewide zone, and some states have up to three zone layers.

How much of the U.S. has been mapped with lidar?

At the end of fiscal year 2025, 99% of the United States had baseline elevation data available or in progress that meet 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) specifications, the U.S. Geological Survey reports (USGS). The baseline is quality level 2 lidar or better (IfSAR in Alaska). USGS defines quality level 2 as a nominal pulse spacing of 0.7 meters and a vertical error of 10 centimeters RMSEz (USGS).

When USGS's National Enhanced Elevation Assessment took inventory in summer 2011, lidar covered 28% of the conterminous United States and Hawaii (USGS). The two figures measure slightly different things (any public lidar in 2011, data meeting 3DEP specifications in 2025), so together they show the direction of change rather than an exact gain.

What is national elevation data worth, and who pays for it?

The 2012 National Enhanced Elevation Assessment estimated that a national elevation program could generate $1.2 billion to $13 billion in new benefits a year, across 602 mission-critical uses reported by 34 federal agencies, all 50 states and other users (USGS Fact Sheet 2012-3088). For infrastructure and construction management alone, it put the annual benefit at 206 million dollars (conservative) to 942 million dollars (potential) (USGS). The 2022 3D Nation Study, run by NOAA and USGS, documented $13.5 billion of benefits for 1,352 mission-critical requirements (USGS). It estimated more than $7.6 billion a year in benefits from higher-quality, more frequent 3DEP data (USGS). All of these are benefits users estimated in a requirements survey, not measured outcomes.

For Florida, USGS estimates at least $10.88 million a year in new benefits from 3DEP lidar, against a quality level 2 completion cost of $0.88 million (USGS Fact Sheet 2023-3037). Infrastructure and construction management ranks third among Florida uses, at $2.04 million a year (USGS). The fact sheet also notes that ready lidar can reduce the need for traditional topographic land surveys in project planning.

The program is mostly paid for by partners. From fiscal 2015 to 2025, partners funded 60% of 3DEP data acquisition, USGS 33% and disaster supplemental funds 7% (USGS). Private mapping firms collect the data under contract. The USGS National Geospatial Program line item, which pays for 3DEP along with other National Map work, was funded at $89.650 million in fiscal 2025 (USGS).

What do the 2026 ALTA/NSPS standards require?

The 2026 Minimum Standard Detail Requirements for ALTA/NSPS Land Title Surveys took effect on February 23, 2026 and replaced all earlier versions (ALTA and NSPS). The standard is set jointly by two associations: the American Land Title Association (ALTA, for title insurers) and the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS). ALTA adopted it on October 8, 2025 and NSPS on October 17, 2025.

Table A lists 20 numbered optional items a client can order, from monuments and flood zone classification to underground utilities, imagery-based features and a table of potential encroachments. Further negotiated items are numbered 21(a), 21(b) and so on (ALTA and NSPS). The maximum allowable relative positional precision between corners is 2 cm (0.07 feet) plus 50 parts per million of the distance (ALTA and NSPS). State standards of practice, such as Florida's rule 5J-17, apply as well.

How many Florida properties carry flood insurance?

Florida held 32.9 percent of all NFIP residential flood insurance contracts in force in the United States, 1,040,662 of them, as of August 3, 2026 (our calculation from OpenFEMA county data). 4 of the 5 U.S. counties with the most contracts are in Florida (our count).

The three counties together had 203,897 residential contracts, 19.6 percent of Florida's total (our calculation). The counts come from FEMA's residential penetration rates dataset, dated August 3, 2026. They cover residential NFIP contracts only, so commercial policies and private flood insurance are excluded. FEMA notes its count of residential structures is incomplete in some counties.

How much building is there for surveyors to stake out?

An estimated 1,431,600 housing units were authorized by building permits in the United States in 2025, 3.1 percent below 2024, and 1,355,800 units were started, the Census Bureau and HUD report in their revised annual estimates (U.S. Census Bureau). Permits are shown here as context for demand for boundary and construction-stakeout surveys.

Florida permits authorized 178,297 housing units in 2025, 12.5 percent of the U.S. total in the Census Building Permits Survey annual file (our calculation). Single-family units fell 9.9 percent, from 123,359 in 2024 to 111,173 in 2025 (U.S. Census Bureau BPS). Units in buildings of five or more rose 34.2 percent, to 63,075 (U.S. Census Bureau BPS). Florida had 12.2 percent of the 911,903 single-family units permitted nationwide (U.S. Census Bureau BPS; our calculation).

How many drones and remote pilots does the FAA count?

The FAA had issued 493,396 Remote Pilot certifications by the end of 2025, and 424,516 nonrecreational (Part 107) drones held an active registration (FAA Aerospace Forecast 2026-2046). More than 126,000 commercial operators registered new drone equipment during 2025. Recreational registrations reached over 1.66 million operators cumulatively (FAA). The FAA does not count surveying drones separately. More drone figures are on the drone video statistics page.

How many surveying degrees do U.S. colleges award?

U.S. colleges awarded 1,111 surveying credentials in academic year 2023-24, counting every award level from short certificates to doctorates (our count from NCES IPEDS Completions, provisional 2023-24 file, first majors, 50 states and DC). "Surveying" here is two NCES program codes: Surveying Technology/Surveying, 15.1102, which covers boundaries, applied geodesy and plane and geodetic surveying NCES CIP, and Surveying Engineering, 14.3801, which adds photogrammetry, remote sensing and GPS NCES CIP. These are awards, not people: one graduate can earn a certificate and a degree.

The total rose 60.5% from 2013-14 (our calculation), but most of the growth is in certificates below the bachelor's degree: 515 of the 2023-24 awards were sub-baccalaureate certificates (our count). IPEDS split its under-one-year certificate code in 2020, so the certificate trend is not a clean comparison. Degree counts are steadier.

The number of colleges in the field shrank while the awards grew: 86 U.S. institutions reported at least one surveying award in 2023-24, against 98 in 2013-14 (our count). Associate's degrees now come from 38 institutions, down from 52.

NCES's own Digest table 318.30, which prints bachelor's, master's and doctor's degrees only, shows the same small scale. In 2013-14 U.S. colleges conferred 159 bachelor's degrees in surveying technology/surveying (women earned 14) and 28 in surveying engineering, plus 15 surveying engineering master's degrees (NCES Digest 2015). In 2021-22, the newest year in the table, the counts were 148 in surveying technology (women: 14) and 69 in surveying engineering (women: 7), with 5 surveying engineering master's degrees (NCES Digest 2023).

How many women earn surveying degrees?

Women earned 10.7% of U.S. surveying awards in 2023-24, almost unchanged from 10.5% in 2013-14 (our calculation from IPEDS). Their share of surveying bachelor's degrees was 12.3% (our calculation). The nearby mapping field is far more mixed: women earned 42.7% of GIS and cartography awards in the same year (our calculation).

How do surveying and GIS degree counts compare?

U.S. colleges awarded 3,515 credentials in Geographic Information Science and Cartography in 2023-24, against 1,549 in 2013-14 (our count from IPEDS, all levels). NCES classes this program, 45.0702, as a social science covering map-making, GIS, photogrammetry and geodesy NCES CIP; its graduates are not licensed surveyors, but the coursework overlaps. In NCES's Digest, GIS and cartography bachelor's degrees rose from 259 in 2013-14 (NCES Digest 2015) to 755 in 2021-22, when women earned 219 of them (NCES Digest 2023). Master's degrees went from 298 to 666 over the same years.

Where do Florida surveyors study?

Florida colleges awarded 54 surveying credentials in 2023-24, up from 15 in 2013-14, and almost all were bachelor's degrees; no Florida college reported a surveying associate's degree (our count from IPEDS). 3 Florida institutions reported surveying awards: the University of Florida, Florida Atlantic University and Everglades University (our count). Florida produced 20.6% of all U.S. surveying bachelor's degrees that year (our calculation).

The University of Florida awarded 27 surveying bachelor's degrees in 2023-24, the most of any institution in the 50 states and DC (our count). Two of the three Florida schools are in Boca Raton, Palm Beach County: Florida Atlantic University and the private Everglades University together accounted for 27 of Florida's 54 surveying awards (our count).

How many surveying programs does ABET accredit?

ABET, the accreditor of engineering, technology and applied science programs, lists 31 currently accredited surveying and geomatics programs at 27 U.S. institutions, Puerto Rico included, as of November 2026 (our count from ABET's public program search). 7 of them are associate's degrees (our count). ABET says it accredits 4,863 programs at 950 colleges and universities in 42 countries across all fields (ABET); surveying and geomatics make up 0.7% of them (our calculation).

Florida has 2 ABET-accredited surveying programs (our count). ABET has accredited the University of Florida's Geomatics bachelor's program since 1986 (ABET program search) and Florida Atlantic University's Geomatics Engineering bachelor's program since 2010 (ABET program search). Florida's licensing law sets its own education and experience rules for surveyors; those are covered in the rules section.

What do listed surveying and geospatial companies disclose?

None of the 10-Ks read here reports land surveying as its own revenue line, but the filings of the few listed firms that survey show where the work is going: toward aerial imaging, LiDAR and mapping. Bowman Consulting, a listed engineering, surveying and geospatial firm, had about 2,300 employees at the end of 2025 (Bowman 10-K, 2025), and licensed professionals of all kinds were 35% of them (Bowman 10-K). The company does not count licensed surveyors separately. About 30% of its workforce worked mainly outside the office in geospatial engineering, construction management, land procurement and field surveying (Bowman 10-K).

Bowman's "traditional survey" list starts with ALTA boundary surveys, then topographic, route, right-of-way, land title and utility-location surveys (Bowman 10-K). Its digital list adds drone inspection of transmission lines, laser scanning and LiDAR imaging and reality capture (Bowman 10-K). The money has followed the imaging side. Bowman's natural resources and imaging market produced $56,234 thousand of gross contract revenue in 2025, 11.5% of the total (Bowman 10-K), and 48.3% of that market came from imaging and mapping (Bowman 10-K). The market grew by $12.0 million in 2025, mainly through the purchase of Surdex, a St. Louis aerial imagery and high-resolution LiDAR firm (Bowman 10-K). Bowman paid $43.3 million for Surdex in 2024 (Bowman 10-K), one of eight acquisitions that year (Bowman 10-K). In 2025 it bought a Texas civil engineering and surveying firm on February 14, 2025 (Bowman 10-K) and a precision mapping firm on October 2, 2025 (Bowman 10-K). Natural resources work rose to 13.9% of Bowman's backlog at the end of 2025, from 9.0% a year earlier (Bowman 10-K).

The balance sheet shows the kit. Bowman carried $5,946 thousand of survey equipment at cost at the end of 2025, less than the $8,345 thousand it carried in aircraft (Bowman 10-K), and it writes survey equipment off over 2 to 5 years (Bowman 10-K). Its advertising expense was 0.3 million dollars in each of 2025 and 2024 (Bowman 10-K).

NV5 Global, the other listed firm with a large surveying and geospatial practice, had 5,024 employees at the end of 2024 (NV5 10-K, 2024). Its surveying services included unmanned aerial vehicle LiDAR mapping and 3D laser scanning (NV5 10-K). Its Geospatial Solutions segment had gross revenues of 282,426 thousand dollars in fiscal 2024, up from $158,323 thousand in 2022 (NV5 10-K), and segment income before taxes of $58,994 thousand (NV5 10-K). Most of the segment's growth came from buying firms: organic growth added only $6,569 thousand in 2024 (NV5 10-K). NV5 had paid $139,569 thousand for Axim Geospatial (NV5 10-K) and $75,371 thousand for L3Harris's geospatial software unit (NV5 10-K), both in 2023. Its client list named the U.S. National Geodetic Survey, the USGS, NOAA and the Oregon LiDAR Consortium (NV5 10-K). The 2024 10-K was NV5's last: Acuren bought it on August 4, 2025 and renamed itself TIC Solutions. TIC's new Geospatial segment, which collects data through LiDAR, imaging, remote sensing and unmanned aerial systems (TIC Solutions 10-K, 2025), reported $131.3 million of revenue for the five months it owned NV5 in 2025 (TIC Solutions 10-K). TIC assigned $233.1 million of the deal's goodwill to that segment (TIC Solutions 10-K). TIC had 12,760 employees in all at the end of 2025, most of them inspection staff (TIC Solutions 10-K).

Willdan Group, a listed energy and engineering firm, employed 1,814 people at January 2, 2026, and named land surveyors among them without counting them (Willdan 10-K, 2025). Its surveying and mapping work covers construction layout, design and topographic surveys, aerial mapping, GIS and right-of-way engineering (Willdan 10-K).

What do surveying equipment makers report?

Trimble, which sells surveying instruments, GNSS receivers and field software to surveyors, had Field Systems segment revenue of $1,539.5 million in fiscal 2025, 43% of the company's revenue (Trimble 10-K, 2025). The segment serves surveying and mapping, civil construction and building construction, and Trimble does not split out surveying. The segment earned $478.1 million of operating income, 31.1% of its revenue (Trimble 10-K). Its revenue was $1,967.9 million in 2023, before Trimble moved its agriculture business into a joint venture (Trimble 10-K). Of the 2025 total, $841.7 million came from North American customers (Trimble 10-K). The segment grew 5% organically in 2025 on civil construction sales, partly offset by "lower demand in Surveying" (Trimble 10-K). Trimble's joint venture with Nikon makes surveying instruments, including mechanical total stations, in Japan (Trimble 10-K). Sales to its joint ventures and other investees, which include surveying and mapping products, came to $124.1 million in 2025 (Trimble 10-K). Trimble employed over 11,500 people at the end of 2025 and names surveyors among its representative customers (Trimble 10-K).

FARO Technologies, a laser scanner maker that AMETEK bought in 2025, said in its last 10-K that its Orbis mobile scanners are designed for surveying and mapping, engineering, construction and public safety work (FARO 10-K, 2024). FARO listed low-resolution LiDAR, 360° photo, video, mobile mapping and terrestrial laser scanning as the reality-capture methods its software joins on one coordinate system (FARO 10-K). FARO's total sales were $342,427 thousand in 2024 across all its markets (FARO 10-K).

How often do 10-K filings mention land surveying and LiDAR?

Only 1 Form 10-K filed in 2025 used the phrase "land surveying", Bowman Consulting's, against 9 in 2001 (our count from EDGAR full-text search, filing years 2001-2025). The phrase turns up mostly in other industries' reports: 68 companies filed the 108 matching 10-Ks over the 25 years, and only 5 came from companies classed under engineering and architectural services (our count). The phrase "surveying and mapping" matched 14 10-Ks filed in 2025, near its 2012 peak of 17 (our count); Willdan's annual reports used it 14 times, the most of any company (our count).

LiDAR is a different story. 67 10-Ks filed in 2025 mentioned lidar, against 24 in 2020 and a peak of 84 in 2022 (our count). Most of that is the automotive and chip industry: 169 companies used the word over 2001-2025, semiconductor makers filed 99 of the matches, and companies classed under engineering, architectural and surveying services filed none (our count). "Reality capture" appeared in only 18 10-Ks, all since 2019 (our count), and "mobile mapping" in 44 (our count). "Land surveyors" matched 5 filings in 2025 (our count).

The SEC's own SIC code list has an entry for 8711, engineering services, but none for surveying services (SEC SIC code list). So 0 of the 1,130 matching filings came from a company classed under SIC 8713 (our count), and listed surveying firms show up under management consulting (Bowman, 8742), business services (NV5, 7380), engineering (Willdan, 8711) or measuring instruments (Trimble and FARO, 3829). These counts cover filings, not mentions or companies, and any context counts: a credit agreement exhibit counts the same as a business description.

How many surveyors use drones and laser scanners?

No national count of drone use by private surveying firms was found. The firmest public figure is for state transportation departments: NCHRP Research Report 1147 (2025), from the state DOTs' cooperative highway research programme, found surveying and mapping the most adopted drone use case, with 83 percent of states and U.S. territories using drones to assist with surveying (NCHRP Research Report 1147). That counts the DOTs' own programmes, not the consultants they hire.

State DOT manuals now set out how drone and mobile LiDAR surveys must be done:

• Florida DOT's Surveying and Mapping Handbook (February 28, 2025) sets out three categories of terrestrial mobile LiDAR survey, from Type A high accuracy (design topography, as-builts, bridge clearance) to Type C lower-accuracy mapping. A Professional Surveyor and Mapper in responsible charge must back the point cloud with a survey report (FDOT).
• FDOT's own drone guidelines (June 30, 2023) require at least one onsite pilot with a current FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate on every flight (FDOT).
• North Dakota DOT asks for drone imagery with at least 75% forward and side overlap (NDDOT), and ground control points no more than 600 feet apart, with at least four checkpoints (NDDOT).
• Texas DOT's June 2025 specification sets a vertical accuracy (RMSE) of +/- 0.16 ft on hard surfaces for drone photography used in design mapping (TxDOT). Its cameras must deliver at least 1.5 cm ground sampling distance from 175 to 400 ft (TxDOT). A Registered Professional Land Surveyor or an ASPRS-certified photogrammetrist or mapping scientist, pre-certified in TxDOT work categories 15.3.1 and 15.3.6, must oversee the work (TxDOT).

Accuracy claims from equipment sellers are their own tests. Drone maker Wingtra, which sells survey drones, says its SURVEY61 camera gave sub-3 cm results across 102 test flights at five Swiss sites (Wingtra, seller). Only the public summary was read; the full paper sits behind a download form.

What do surveyors say about the workforce shortage?

The national association's reports show recruiting work, but few measured results. NSPS, the National Society of Professional Surveyors, said in October 2026 that it speaks for about 15,000 surveyors (NSPS, association). In October 2015 its president had put membership at 16,000+, mostly from 47 joint-membership states (xyHt, NSPS president's message). The two figures are worded differently, so they do not show a clean trend.

What NSPS committees reported for 2025 and 2026 (all self-reported by an association that promotes the profession):

• Certified Survey Technician exams: 1,381 in 2025, against 1,310 in 2024 (NSPS CST board). Renewals: 1,694 through December 2025, against 1,595 a year earlier (NSPS CST board).
• The Young Surveyors Network mentoring programme grew from 15 mentors and 24 mentees in May 2026 to 105 mentors and 100 mentees by June 9 (NSPS Workforce Development Committee).
• The Military Committee has worked over 20 military career fairs (NSPS president). Its outreach led to four former service members being hired in 2026 (NSPS Workforce Development Committee).
• One volunteer told the Future City competition's organisers that only 10 to 15 percent of the middle-school students he met knew what land surveying was. That is one person's observation, not a survey (NSPS Workforce Development Committee).
• A five-day technician boot camp in Indianapolis in October 2026 trained 16 technicians at $600 a seat (NSPS Workforce Development Committee).
• An NSPS industry questionnaire for a new body of knowledge drew over 400 responses; the results were not yet published in April 2026 (NSPS board minutes).
• NSPS awards over 25 scholarships a year (NSPS). Its Trig-Star high-school trigonometry contest has run since 1984 (NSPS, via Internet Archive).

The committee is open about the gap: until it collects data on why students choose surveying, it writes, it is guessing which events and messages produce students. Its first lead tracking, a QR sign-up form, started at military career fairs in May 2026 (NSPS Workforce Development Committee). The ageing-workforce figures (median age and retirement claims) are covered in the workforce and myths sections.

How do surveying associations use video and social media?

NSPS's social media views rose from 2024 to 2025. Its board minutes record 340,000 social media views in 2024 and 1.72 million in 2025, with LinkedIn followers up 30% (NSPS board minutes). The executive director's September 2026 report gives the same 1.72 million views for 2025 (NSPS executive director) and over 20K LinkedIn followers (NSPS executive director). The president's report counts more than 1.7 million impressions across 2025 and 2026 (NSPS president). The two reports use different words (views, impressions) and periods, and neither breaks out platforms.

Video is part of that output:

• NSPS made five podcast episodes on the 2026 ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey Standards and began posting video versions on YouTube (NSPS executive director).
• Its Speaker's Academy recorded nine promotional video presentations (NSPS executive director).
• Surveying-career VR videos used at school outreach cost $1,000 each to license, or $3,500 for three videos with a headset kit; a web tour is free on BeASurveyor.com (NSPS Workforce Development Committee). Ten states have statewide access (NSPS Workforce Development Committee).
• NSPS also made 51 state trading-card characters for recruiting (NSPS executive director).

Florida's state society is small on video. The Florida Surveying and Mapping Society, founded in 1955 (FSMS), printed these counts in its member magazine:

In-person meetings still draw more people locally. FSMS's president put attendance at the March 2025 Quad-County meeting (Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Indian River) at 115+ (FSMS). The Tri-County meeting at Florida Atlantic University on March 25, 2025 drew about 100 members (FSMS).

Who are surveyors' clients?

Property sales are one large source of work. Title companies and lenders order boundary surveys and ALTA/NSPS land title surveys, and the title business is big. The American Land Title Association (ALTA), the title industry's trade association, reports $18.5 billion in U.S. title insurance premiums in 2025, up 13.8% on 2024 (ALTA). Florida was second among states at $2.01 billion, up 5.2%, behind Texas at $2.7 billion (ALTA). ALTA does not publish how many of those transactions included a survey. The Census split of surveying revenue by type of customer is in the industry section.

What do the popular surveying numbers really say?

Three numbers that surveying pages repeat trace back to narrower sources than the repeats suggest: an average licensed-surveyor age of 58 to 60 that no association document we found measured; drone time savings that come from a handful of single-site projects told by drone sellers; and a video vendor's client tests behind "video lifts conversions 80%". Each claim below gives the claim as repeated, where it came from, what the original measured, and what to use instead. The Internet Archive was offline during this run, so archived editions of association pages could not be checked.

"The average licensed surveyor is 58" (or 57 to 60, nearly 60)

The claim as repeated. Land Surveyors United, a surveying community site that sells memberships and job listings, says that according to the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS) and state licensing boards the average licensed land surveyor in the U.S. "hovers around 58" (Land Surveyors United), and that for every new surveyor two or three are preparing to retire (Land Surveyors United). The same article says most surveys by boards and national organizations put the average between 57 and 60 (Land Surveyors United), but names none. A second article on the same site says the average is nearly 60 and that four surveyors retire for every one who enters (Land Surveyors United). A March 2026 post on its blog says the average is "pushing into the upper 50s" in most of the country (Land Surveyors United blog). Geo Week News, a geospatial trade publication, put it at between 50 and 55 in 2024 (Geo Week News). An American Surveyor columnist wrote in February 2023 that "unnamed sources" put the 2022 average at 57, "some reports say 60" (The American Surveyor).

Where it came from. We found no NSPS or state-board document that gives 58. The oldest dated use of the 57-to-60 wording we found is a June 2014 column by Jerry Carter, chief executive of NCEES, the body that writes the surveying licensure exams. He wrote that many readers had "heard the statistic" that the average professional surveyor is somewhere between 57 and 60 (NCEES Licensure Exchange, June 2014), with no survey, sample or year. That same month a Land Surveyors United forum post retold the column as saying 57 and 61 (Land Surveyors United forum, 2014). Nine years earlier, NCEES's own newsletter had said about 38,000 licensed professional surveyors practised in the U.S. (NCEES Licensure Exchange, February 2005) and that their average age was in the mid-40s (NCEES, 2005), also without a method.

What the originals measured. The only licensee average with a stated method that we found is in a March 2007 article in The American Surveyor. Its author asked all 50 licensing boards for registrants' birth dates, got usable data from only 11 states (The American Surveyor, 2007), and computed an average age of 54 (The American Surveyor, 2007). He called the result not statistically "bomb proof" and did not name the states. The figure often given as an NSPS finding is a 2016 online questionnaire: xyHt, a geospatial trade magazine, reported that 82 percent of NSPS members polled were over 41 and 60 percent over 51 (xyHt, 2020). Those are age bands from a self-selected online questionnaire, not an average. When xyHt went to print in June 2016 it had just under 700 responses and was "by no means a scientific study or statistical sampling" (xyHt, June 2016). It closed with more than 2,200 responses, about 1,500 from NSPS (xyHt, July 2016). Licence counts also overstate the working population: xyHt notes that many surveyors keep a licence active long after they retire.

What to use instead. BLS publishes no median age for "Surveyors, cartographers, and photogrammetrists" because the group is too small for its household survey table, but the survey's age counts, in the workforce section of this page, show 23.8% of employed surveyors, cartographers and photogrammetrists were 55 or older in 2025. They count working people, not licences. The same goes for age shares from the American Community Survey: Davron, a recruiter that places surveyors, cites a 2026 analysis of pooled 2020-2024 ACS data that found 32.8% of surveyors were 55 or older and a median age of 45 (Davron). That counts licensed and unlicensed workers, so it cannot be set directly against a licensee average. For licensees, use the state licence files counted in the registry section, which give issue dates rather than ages. The "two or three retire for every one who enters" ratio has no count behind it in any source we found.

"Drones cut survey time in half" (or by 45%, 58%, 5 to 10 times faster)

The claim as repeated. Wingtra, which sells survey drones, says research shows drone surveys can cut project duration by up to 45% and field costs by 50% (Wingtra). DJI, which also sells drones, says a drone project "would have resulted in 33% time savings and 58% cost savings" (DJI Enterprise). For a rooftop job it says 7 days against 12, "a 41 percent cost savings and a 58 percent savings in time" (DJI Enterprise). GIM International, a geomatics trade magazine, reported a golf course mapped in 15 days instead of an estimated 30, a time saving of 50 per cent (GIM International, 2020).

Where it came from. Wingtra's footnote points to one 2025 comparison study in a Nigerian journal, Environmental Technology and Science Journal. Its page did not load for this research agent, so the study's site and figures were not read. DJI's and GIM's numbers come from one December 2019 paper in the Journal of Unmanned Vehicle Systems. That paper covered a 4-acre church site flown with a DJI drone, plus projects by the same team where the conventional survey was an estimate, not a survey that was actually run. On the rooftop job, 7 days is 58% of the 12, so the "58 percent savings in time" reads as the share of time taken, not time saved.

What the originals measured. Single sites, and mostly accuracy rather than time. The Federal Highway Administration's 2019 brief for highway agencies says work that once took a full crew months can now be done "within days" with a 1-2 person crew (FHWA), but gives no measured comparison. Peer-reviewed comparisons we found in PubMed measured accuracy against GNSS or total-station surveys, not time. On one logged forest site in Croatia in 2025, the total station's error (RMSE) was 0.33 m against an RTK GNSS reference (Sensors, 2025). UAV photogrammetry's error was between 0.07 and 0.09 m whatever the flight height (Sensors, 2025). On a Brazilian landfill flown monthly for a year, drone volumes differed from total-station topography by 9% on average with ground control only at the edge (Waste Management, 2022), and by 4% with control points on the working faces too (Waste Management, 2022). Both studies note limits: vegetation hides the ground from cameras, and ground control still matters.

What to use instead. State the job, the site and the comparison: "on one 4-acre site, half a day of flying and a day and a half of processing against three days of conventional work", not "drones are 33% faster". No independent multi-site study of surveying time that we found supports a single percentage or multiple. Accuracy claims are better supported than time claims, and they depend on ground control, canopy and the reference survey.

"Video lifts conversions 80%"

The claim as repeated. Beverly Boy Productions, a video production company, tells land development firms that according to HubSpot, video can "increase conversion rates by 80% on landing pages" (Beverly Boy), naming no study. We found no HubSpot study with that figure.

Where it came from. The trail starts with EyeView, which made and tested videos for its clients. A blog post of December 4, 2008 said visitors to eToro's site who viewed EyeView's video were 20% more likely to download the product. That compared viewers with non-viewers, who chose for themselves whether to watch (EyeView, 2009 capture). The first 80% figure we found is in a post of February 10, 2009: viewers of EyeView's videos for UMOO were 80% more likely to become depositing users, the same kind of comparison (EyeView). In November 2009 a TutorVista manager said the first test on one landing page "boosted conversion by over 80 percent" (EyeView). EyeView's case study gave that one A/B test, with the video autoplaying for first-time visitors, as an 86 percent increase (EyeView).

How it changed. EyeView's 2010 white paper said that "in some cases" the boost was over 80% (EyeView white paper). It reported the eToro split test, earlier told as 20%, as almost 32 percent (EyeView white paper). By August 2010 Unbounce, a landing-page software seller, wrote that "a study by eyeviewdigital.com shows that using video on landing pages can increase conversion by 80%" (Unbounce, 2010 capture). That dropped "in some cases" and the single-client scope. Later repeats dropped EyeView too, and some now credit HubSpot.

What to use instead. Unbounce's own August 2021 look at about 35,000 customer landing pages in each of three periods from late 2020 to early 2021 (Unbounce) found that video had a minimal or negative effect on landing page conversion, whatever the page's goal (Unbounce). Surveying firms were not among its ten industries. A surveying firm that wants a number for its own site needs its own test: the same page with and without the video, shown to visitors at random.

Every popular claim our research pages trace, 789 in all, is on one page: popular video statistics, fact-checked.

How we built this page

We started from the questions people search for about land surveying video statistics and looked for the organization that actually produced each answer. Every figure on this page sits in an evidence ledger with its source, the exact table or paragraph it came from, the measurement period, the population measured, and the date we checked it. This edition holds 502 figures from 46 publishers.

On November 6, 2026, each sourced figure on this page was re-fetched with the fetch cache cleared and matched against the recorded wording: BLS occupation wage estimates (through the BLS data API), Employment Projections, the Occupational Outlook Handbook and the Current Population Survey (bls.gov pages through Internet Archive copies, because bls.gov refuses automated requests), the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages; Census County Business Patterns, Nonemployer Statistics, the 2022 Economic Census and the Annual Integrated Economic Survey (through the Census data API), the 2022 NAICS Manual and the Census building permits releases; NCES and ABET figures; Florida’s surveying statutes and board rules, Florida’s drone law, the Texas, California and New York surveying acts, the Brooks Act, the Federal Acquisition Regulation, the FAA’s drone rules and the Bureau of Land Management’s survey manual; NCEES’s exam pages, Model Law and licensee tables; Florida House and Senate bill analyses; NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey, the USGS 3D Elevation Program, ALTA/NSPS standards and FEMA flood insurance data (through the OpenFEMA API); the 10-K filings of Bowman, NV5, TIC Solutions, Trimble, Willdan and FARO; NSPS’s, FSMS’s, ALTA’s, Florida DOT’s, Texas DOT’s and other agencies’ own reports; and the pages behind each popular claim. Where a site refuses automated requests we read an Internet Archive copy. Our licence counts come from NCEES’s published tables and the Texas, Colorado, Connecticut and Delaware licence files, our graduate counts from the IPEDS completions files, our 10-K phrase counts from EDGAR full-text search, and our YouTube figures from the YouTube Data API. We left out the Florida surveyor board’s own pages and licence search (its host’s robots rules exclude automated readers, so Florida licence counts come from legislative staff analyses and NCEES), ASPRS’s accuracy standards (behind a login), FIG papers and several state society publications (robots rules or refused requests), and gated seller reports.

We only cite the producer: government agencies, regulators, company filings and official posts, and the survey owner's own report. We do not cite statistics roundups, Statista-style aggregators, or salary sites without a public method. We did not bypass paywalls or sign-up forms; where a full report was gated, we used only the figures its publisher states publicly.

Figures marked "our calculation" are arithmetic on the cited numbers, and anyone can reproduce them:

This edition contains no Mark Studios customer data.

Limitations

• Our YouTube read follows YouTube’s ranking. The 449 videos are what YouTube’s search returned for ‘land surveying’, ‘land surveyor’ and ‘drone mapping’ (the top 200 results of each, sorted by views, with no country filter) on November 6, 2026. It is not a census of surveying video, view counts are lifetime snapshots, and we sorted 287 channels by hand from their public text. We counted a channel as a surveyor only when its own text said so.
• Job and firm counts count different things. BLS’s payroll survey leaves out the self-employed, the household survey groups surveyors with cartographers and photogrammetrists, and OEWS is not built for year-to-year comparison. More surveyors work for engineering firms than for surveying firms, so industry 541370 is not the whole profession. BLS publishes no median age for surveyors because the group is too small.
• Licence counts count paperwork. A surveyor licensed in several states is counted in each, so NCEES’s national total is licences, not people. Florida’s counts come from legislative staff, who define them differently from year to year, and the Senate staff’s age figure relays the board’s own newsletter.
• Company and association figures are self-reported. NSPS, FSMS and ALTA are membership bodies, NCEES is the exam body and ABET the accreditor; Wingtra, DJI and Trimble sell equipment to surveyors. We give each survey’s sample and dates where the publisher states them.
• 2023-24 graduate counts are provisional. Our counts use first majors only, and IPEDS changed its certificate categories in 2020, so the certificate trend is not a clean comparison.

How to cite this page

For a single figure, cite the original publisher named next to it, and link here if the verification trail is useful to your readers. Each figure has its own anchor, so you can link straight to it, for example https://www.markstudios.com/research/land-surveying-video-statistics#DRV-203. To cite the page as a whole:

Mark Studios. "Land Surveying Video Statistics." Last verified Nov 6, 2026. https://www.markstudios.com/research/land-surveying-video-statistics

@misc{markstudios_land_surveying_video_statistics_2026,
  author = {{Mark Studios}},
  title = {{Land Surveying Video Statistics}},
  year = {2026},
  month = nov,
  url = {https://www.markstudios.com/research/land-surveying-video-statistics},
  note = {Last verified 2026-11-06}
}

Our calculations and the evidence table are free to reuse with attribution and a link to this page. Each underlying figure remains the claim of its original publisher, and some publishers ask for a link when their figures are reused.

Sources

Download the evidence table (CSV)

1. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS series OEUN000000000000017102201 (BLS Public Data API v2) (2026-04). Accessed 2026-11-06.
2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS series OEUN000000000000017102213 (BLS Public Data API v2) (2026-04). Accessed 2026-11-06.
3. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS series OEUN000000000000017102204 (BLS Public Data API v2) (2026-04). Accessed 2026-11-06.
4. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS series OEUN000000000000017303101 (BLS Public Data API v2) (2026-04). Accessed 2026-11-06.
5. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS series OEUN000000000000017303113 (BLS Public Data API v2) (2026-04). Accessed 2026-11-06.
6. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS series OEUN000000000000017303104 (BLS Public Data API v2) (2026-04). Accessed 2026-11-06.
7. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS series OEUS120000000000017102201 (BLS Public Data API v2) (2026-04). Accessed 2026-11-06.
8. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS series OEUS120000000000017303101 (BLS Public Data API v2) (2026-04). Accessed 2026-11-06.
9. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS series OEUS120000000000017102213 (BLS Public Data API v2) (2026-04). Accessed 2026-11-06.
10. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS series OEUS120000000000017102217 (BLS Public Data API v2) (2026-04). Accessed 2026-11-06.
11. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS series OEUM003310000000017102201 (BLS Public Data API v2) (2026-04). Accessed 2026-11-06.
12. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS series OEUM003310000000017102213 (BLS Public Data API v2) (2026-04). Accessed 2026-11-06.
13. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS series OEUM003894000000017102201 (BLS Public Data API v2) (2026-04). Accessed 2026-11-06.
14. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Surveyors: Occupational Outlook Handbook (2026-09). Accessed 2026-11-06.
15. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS series OEUN000000054130017102201 (BLS Public Data API v2) (2026-04). Accessed 2026-11-06.
16. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS series OEUN000000054133017102201 (BLS Public Data API v2) (2026-04). Accessed 2026-11-06.
17. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS series OEUN000000099900017102201 (BLS Public Data API v2) (2026-04). Accessed 2026-11-06.
18. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Surveying and Mapping Technicians: Occupational Outlook Handbook (2026-09). Accessed 2026-11-06.
19. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Table 1.2 Occupational projections, 2025–35, and worker characteristics, 2025 (2026-09). Accessed 2026-11-06.
20. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey, Table 11b. Employed persons by detailed occupation and age (2026-01). Accessed 2026-11-06.
21. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey, Table 11b. Employed persons by detailed occupation and age (2012-01). Accessed 2026-11-06.
22. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey, Table 11. Employed persons by detailed occupation, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity (2026-01). Accessed 2026-11-06.
23. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, QCEW Open Data: 2025 annual averages, industry 541370 (CSV) (2026-09). Accessed 2026-11-06.
24. U.S. Census Bureau, North American Industry Classification System, United States, 2022 (manual) (2022). Accessed 2026-11-06.
25. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, QCEW Open Data: 2019 annual averages, industry 541370 (CSV) (2020-09). Accessed 2026-11-06.
26. U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns: 2023 (Census Data API, cbp) (2025-06). Accessed 2026-11-06.
27. U.S. Census Bureau, Economic Census: Selected Sectors: Summary Statistics for the U.S., States, and Selected Geographies: 2022 (Census Data API, ecnbasic) (2025). Accessed 2026-11-06.
28. U.S. Census Bureau, Economic Census: Selected Sectors: Employment Size of Firms for the U.S.: 2022 (Census Data API, ecnsize) (2025). Accessed 2026-11-06.
29. U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics: 2024 (Census Data API, nonemp) (2026-06). Accessed 2026-11-06.
30. U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics: 2023 (Census Data API, nonemp) (2025-06). Accessed 2026-11-06.
31. U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns: 2023 (Census Data API, cbp) (2025-06). Accessed 2026-11-06.
32. U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns: 2023 (Census Data API, cbp) (2025-06). Accessed 2026-11-06.
33. U.S. Census Bureau, Economic Census: Selected Sectors: Products and Services by Industry for the U.S.: 2022 (Census Data API, ecnnapcsind) (2025). Accessed 2026-11-06.
34. U.S. Census Bureau, Economic Census: Selected Sectors: Class of Customer for the U.S.: 2022 (Census Data API, ecnclcust) (2025). Accessed 2026-11-06.
35. U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Integrated Economic Survey: Selected Sectors: Detailed Operating Expenses for Employer Firms in the U.S.: 2024 (Census Data API, aiesexp02) (2026-06-30). Accessed 2026-11-06.
36. National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES), the exam body, Squared 2025 (NCEES annual data report) (2026-03-01). Accessed 2026-11-06.
37. Florida House of Representatives (nonpartisan committee staff), HB 879 (2026) Bill Analysis, Industries & Professional Activities Subcommittee (2026-01-15). Accessed 2026-11-06.
38. Florida House of Representatives (nonpartisan committee staff), CS/HB 831 (2022) Staff Analysis, Regulatory Reform Subcommittee (2022-01-21). Accessed 2026-11-06.
39. The Florida Senate (professional staff), SB 320 (2025) Bill Analysis and Fiscal Impact Statement, Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment, and General Government (2025-04-09). Accessed 2026-11-06.
40. National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES), the exam body, FS Exam | NCEES (2026-07-01). Accessed 2026-11-06.
41. National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES), the exam body, PS Exam | NCEES (2026-07-01). Accessed 2026-11-06.
42. National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES), the exam body, FS Exam | NCEES (Internet Archive capture 20231004) (2023-07-01). Accessed 2026-11-06.
43. National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES), the exam body, PS Exam | NCEES (Internet Archive capture 20231004) (2023-07-01). Accessed 2026-11-06.
44. National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES), the exam body, FS Exam | NCEES (Internet Archive capture 20250316) (2025-01-01). Accessed 2026-11-06.
45. National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES), the exam body, PS Exam | NCEES (Internet Archive capture 20250316) (2025-01-01). Accessed 2026-11-06.
46. National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES), the exam body, FS Exam | NCEES (Internet Archive capture 20251018) (2025-07-01). Accessed 2026-11-06.
47. National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES), the exam body, PS Exam | NCEES (Internet Archive capture 20251018) (2025-07-01). Accessed 2026-11-06.
48. National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES), the exam body, FS Exam | NCEES (Internet Archive capture 20260418) (2026-01-01). Accessed 2026-11-06.
49. Florida Legislature, The 2026 Florida Statutes, Chapter 472 Land Surveying and Mapping (2026). Accessed 2026-11-06.
50. NCEES (exam body), NCEES Principles and Practice of Surveying (PS) Examination Exam Specifications, Effective Beginning July 2027 (2026-07). Accessed 2026-11-06.
51. NCEES (exam body; model law, not binding), NCEES Model Law, Revised August 2026 (2026-08). Accessed 2026-11-06.
52. Florida Board of Professional Surveyors and Mappers (rule, via Cornell LII), Fla. Admin. Code Ann. R. 5J-17.041 (Cornell LII copy) (2026). Accessed 2026-11-06.
53. Florida Board of Professional Surveyors and Mappers (rule, via Cornell LII), Fla. Admin. Code Ann. R. 5J-17.040 (Cornell LII copy) (2026). Accessed 2026-11-06.
54. Florida Board of Professional Surveyors and Mappers (rule, via Cornell LII), Fla. Admin. Code Ann. R. 5J-17.010 (Cornell LII copy) (2026). Accessed 2026-11-06.
55. Florida Board of Professional Surveyors and Mappers (rule, via Cornell LII), Fla. Admin. Code Ann. R. 5J-17.052 (Cornell LII copy) (2026). Accessed 2026-11-06.
56. Florida Board of Professional Surveyors and Mappers (rule, via Cornell LII), Fla. Admin. Code Ann. R. 5J-17.051 (Cornell LII copy) (2026). Accessed 2026-11-06.
57. Florida Board of Professional Surveyors and Mappers (rule, via Cornell LII), Fla. Admin. Code Ann. R. 5J-17.062 (Cornell LII copy) (2026). Accessed 2026-11-06.
58. NCEES (exam body), NCEES Fundamentals of Surveying (FS) CBT Exam Specifications (2026-08). Accessed 2026-11-06.
59. U.S. Government Publishing Office / Office of the Federal Register (eCFR), 14 CFR Part 107 - Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, current edition) (2016-06-28). Accessed 2026-11-06.
60. Federal Aviation Administration (eCFR, 14 CFR Part 107), 14 CFR Part 107 - Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (2016-06-28). Accessed 2026-11-06.
61. Florida Legislature, The 2026 Florida Statutes, 934.50 Searches and seizure using a drone (2026). Accessed 2026-11-06.
62. Florida Legislature, Laws of Florida, Chapter 2015-26 (2015-05-14). Accessed 2026-11-06.
63. U.S. Congress (via Cornell LII), 40 U.S. Code § 1102 - Definitions (2002-08-21). Accessed 2026-11-06.
64. FAR Council (acquisition.gov), FAR 36.601-4 Implementation (2026). Accessed 2026-11-06.
65. Florida Legislature (Online Sunshine, Florida Statutes), The 2026 Florida Statutes, s. 287.055 Acquisition of professional architectural, engineering, landscape architectural, or surveying and mapping services (2026). Accessed 2026-11-06.
66. Texas Legislature, Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1071 Land Surveyors (Internet Archive capture 2025-10-16) (2025-09-01). Accessed 2026-11-06.
67. California Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists (statute text), Professional Land Surveyors' Act (Business and Professions Code 8700-8805), 2026 edition (2026-01-01). Accessed 2026-11-06.
68. New York State Education Department (statute text), New York Education Law Article 145 (Engineering, Land Surveying and Geology) (2026). Accessed 2026-11-06.
69. Bureau of Land Management, Cadastral Tools (2026). Accessed 2026-11-06.
70. Bureau of Land Management (Wyoming State Office), Cadastral Survey Plats & Records - BLM Wyoming (2026). Accessed 2026-11-06.
71. Bureau of Land Management, Manual of Surveying Instructions 2009 (2009-09-24). Accessed 2026-11-06.
72. NOAA National Geodetic Survey, New Datums: Replacing NAVD 88 and NAD 83 (undated). Accessed 2026-11-06.
73. NOAA National Geodetic Survey, New Datums Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) (undated). Accessed 2026-11-06.
74. NOAA National Geodetic Survey, State Plane Coordinate System of 2022 (SPCS2022) Home (2026-05-14). Accessed 2026-11-06.
75. U.S. Geological Survey, What is 3DEP? (undated). Accessed 2026-11-06.
76. U.S. Geological Survey, Program Benefits and Uses (undated). Accessed 2026-11-06.
77. U.S. Geological Survey, National Enhanced Elevation Assessment (undated). Accessed 2026-11-06.
78. U.S. Geological Survey, National Enhanced Elevation Assessment at a glance (Fact Sheet 2012-3088) (2012). Accessed 2026-11-06.
79. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program (undated). Accessed 2026-11-06.
80. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program - Florida (Fact Sheet 2023-3037) (2023). Accessed 2026-11-06.
81. U.S. Geological Survey, 3DNTM By The Numbers (undated). Accessed 2026-11-06.
82. American Land Title Association and National Society of Professional Surveyors (associations), Minimum Standard Detail Requirements for ALTA/NSPS Land Title Surveys (Effective February 23, 2026) (2025-11-25). Accessed 2026-11-06.
83. Federal Emergency Management Agency (OpenFEMA), OpenFEMA API: NFIP Residential Penetration Rates (v1) (2026-08-04). Accessed 2026-11-06.
84. Federal Emergency Management Agency (OpenFEMA), OpenFEMA API: NFIP Residential Penetration Rates (v1) (2026-08-04). Accessed 2026-11-06.
85. Federal Emergency Management Agency (OpenFEMA), OpenFEMA API: NFIP Residential Penetration Rates (v1) (2026-08-04). Accessed 2026-11-06.
86. U.S. Census Bureau, Monthly New Residential Construction, September 2026 (Release CB26-162) (2026-10-20). Accessed 2026-11-06.
87. U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey: State annual file 2024 (st2024a.txt) (2025). Accessed 2026-11-06.
88. U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey: State annual file 2025 (st2025a.txt) (2026). Accessed 2026-11-06.
89. Federal Aviation Administration, FAA Aerospace Forecast Fiscal Years 2026-2046 - Emerging Aviation Entrants: Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Advanced Air Mobility (2026-05-20). Accessed 2026-11-06.
90. National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), CIP 2020 Detail for CIP Code 15.1102 (2020). Accessed 2026-11-06.
91. National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), CIP 2020 Detail for CIP Code 14.3801 (2020). Accessed 2026-11-06.
92. National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Digest of Education Statistics 2015, Table 318.30. Bachelor's, master's, and doctor's degrees conferred by postsecondary institutions, by sex of student and discipline division: 2013-14 (2015-09). Accessed 2026-11-06.
93. National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Digest of Education Statistics 2023, Table 318.30. Bachelor's, master's, and doctor's degrees conferred by postsecondary institutions, by sex of student and field of study: Academic year 2021-22 (2023-12). Accessed 2026-11-06.
94. National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), CIP 2020 Detail for CIP Code 45.0702 (2020). Accessed 2026-11-06.
95. ABET (accreditor), About ABET (2026). Accessed 2026-11-06.
96. ABET (accreditor), ABET Accredited Program Search: University of Florida, Surveying and Geomatics discipline (2026). Accessed 2026-11-06.
97. ABET (accreditor), ABET Accredited Program Search: Florida Atlantic University, Surveying and Geomatics Engineering discipline (2026). Accessed 2026-11-06.
98. Bowman Consulting Group Ltd. (SEC Form 10-K), Bowman Consulting Group Ltd. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 (2026-03-05). Accessed 2026-11-06.
99. NV5 Global, Inc. (SEC Form 10-K), NV5 Global, Inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 28, 2024 (2025-02-21). Accessed 2026-11-06.
100. TIC Solutions, Inc. (SEC Form 10-K), TIC Solutions, Inc. (formerly Acuren Corporation) Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 (2026-03-12). Accessed 2026-11-06.
101. Willdan Group, Inc. (SEC Form 10-K), Willdan Group, Inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 2, 2026 (2026-02-27). Accessed 2026-11-06.
102. Trimble Inc. (SEC Form 10-K), Trimble Inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 2, 2026 (2026-02-25). Accessed 2026-11-06.
103. FARO Technologies, Inc. (SEC Form 10-K), FARO Technologies, Inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024 (2025-02-24). Accessed 2026-11-06.
104. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Code List (undated). Accessed 2026-11-06.
105. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NCHRP, the state DOTs' cooperative highway research program), Implementation of Uncrewed Aircraft Systems Operational Capabilities: A Guide (NCHRP Research Report 1147) (2025). Accessed 2026-11-06.
106. Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), Surveying and Mapping Handbook (2025-02-28). Accessed 2026-11-06.
107. Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), FDOT Standard Operating Guidelines for UAS (2023-06-30). Accessed 2026-11-06.
108. North Dakota Department of Transportation (NDDOT), Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Guidelines (surveying) (undated). Accessed 2026-11-06.
109. Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Design Division Remote Sensing Services Section, TxDOT UAS Aerial Mapping Specifications and Workflow for Design-Grade Mapping Applications (2025-06). Accessed 2026-11-06.
110. Wingtra AG (drone maker; sells survey drones), SURVEY61 repeat accuracy - what does data from 102 flights show? [White paper] (undated). Accessed 2026-11-06.
111. NSPS (National Society of Professional Surveyors; membership association), NSPS President's Report, Fall 2026 Business Meeting (Tim Murphy, PLS, October 20, 2026) (2026-10-20). Accessed 2026-11-06.
112. xyHt (publishing NSPS President Jon Warren's message), NSPS President's Message to the Membership (2015-10-01). Accessed 2026-11-06.
113. NSPS (National Society of Professional Surveyors; membership association), NSPS CST Fall Meeting Report, November 2026 (2026-11). Accessed 2026-11-06.
114. NSPS (National Society of Professional Surveyors; membership association), NSPS Workforce Development Committee Fall 2026 Report (Trent Keenan, chair) (2026-10-07). Accessed 2026-11-06.
115. NSPS (National Society of Professional Surveyors; membership association), NSPS Board of Directors Meeting, April 16-17, 2026, Draft Minutes (2026-04-17). Accessed 2026-11-06.
116. NSPS (National Society of Professional Surveyors; membership association), More Than a Membership - National Society of Professional Surveyors (2025-08-22). Accessed 2026-11-06.
117. NSPS (National Society of Professional Surveyors; membership association), History - National Society of Professional Surveyors (Trig-Star) (2025-10-03). Accessed 2026-11-06.
118. NSPS (National Society of Professional Surveyors; membership association), NSPS Executive Director's Report, Fall 2026 (Tim Burch, September 17, 2026) (2026-09-17). Accessed 2026-11-06.
119. Florida Surveying and Mapping Society (FSMS; state membership association), Florida Surveying and Mapping Society home page (2026). Accessed 2026-11-06.
120. Florida Surveying and Mapping Society (FSMS; state membership association), The Florida Surveyor, April 2025 (Social Media Links) (2025-04). Accessed 2026-11-06.
121. Florida Surveying and Mapping Society (FSMS; state membership association), The Florida Surveyor, April 2026 (Social Media Links) (2026-04). Accessed 2026-11-06.
122. American Land Title Association (ALTA; title industry trade association), ALTA Reports 2025 Market Share and Title Insurance Premium Volume (press release) (2026-05-22). Accessed 2026-11-06.
123. Land Surveyors United (surveying community site that sells memberships and job listings), Vanishing Lines: Confronting the Surveying Workforce Shortage (Undated). Accessed 2026-11-06.
124. Land Surveyors United (surveying community site that sells memberships and job listings), The Generational Knowledge Gap: Where Are the Next Surveyors? (Undated). Accessed 2026-11-06.
125. Land Surveyors United (surveying community site that sells memberships and job listings), Mapping the Retirement Wave: Where the U.S. Surveying Workforce Is Thinning-and What Comes Next (2026-03). Accessed 2026-11-06.
126. Geo Week News (geospatial trade publication and conference), National Surveyors Week highlights industry strengths to be passed on to the next generation (2024-03-22). Accessed 2026-11-06.
127. The American Surveyor (Amerisurv, surveying trade magazine; opinion column), Bad Backsights: The Topic that Dare Not Speak Its Name (2023-02-09). Accessed 2026-11-06.
128. NCEES (licensure exam body; newsletter column by its chief executive), Licensure Exchange, June 2014 (Headquarters update: Redefining the surveyor of the future) (2014-06). Accessed 2026-11-06.
129. Land Surveyors United (forum post by a member), NCEES Licensure Exchange says surveyors a dying breed (2014-06-24). Accessed 2026-11-06.
130. NCEES (licensure exam body; newsletter), Licensure Exchange, February 2005 (Societies collaborate to attract students to surveying) (2005-02). Accessed 2026-11-06.
131. The American Surveyor (Amerisurv, surveying trade magazine; contributor's own data request), Surveyors Report: Our Uncertain Future (2007-03-31). Accessed 2026-11-06.
132. xyHt (geospatial trade magazine), reporting an NSPS poll, Outlook 2021: Diversity (xyHt, December 2020/January 2021) (2020-12). Accessed 2026-11-06.
133. xyHt (geospatial trade magazine), reporting an NSPS questionnaire, Measured Responses (2016-06). Accessed 2026-11-06.
134. xyHt (geospatial trade magazine), reporting an NSPS questionnaire, NSPS Questionnaire Says... (2016-07). Accessed 2026-11-06.
135. Davron (recruiting firm that places surveyors), citing an unnamed 2026 analysis, The Aging Surveying Workforce: Who Will Become America's Next Licensed Land Surveyors? (2026-10-06). Accessed 2026-11-06.
136. Wingtra (survey drone maker; sells the drones), Drone surveying for surveyors and GIS (Wingtra) (Undated (online 2026)). Accessed 2026-11-06.
137. DJI Enterprise (drone maker; sells the drones), retelling a journal study, Is Drone Photogrammetry an Alternative to Classical Terrestrial Surveying Techniques? (Undated). Accessed 2026-11-06.
138. GIM International (geomatics trade magazine), retelling a journal study, UAV Photogrammetry as an Alternative to Classic Terrestrial Surveying Techniques (2020-12-01). Accessed 2026-11-06.
139. Federal Highway Administration (U.S. DOT), Use of Small Unmanned Aerial Systems for Land Surveying (Tech Brief FHWA-HIF-20-034) (2019-12). Accessed 2026-11-06.
140. Sensors (MDPI) (Lovrincevic et al., University of Zagreb), New Possibilities of Field Data Survey in Forest Road Design (2025-07-05). Accessed 2026-11-06.
141. Waste Management (Elsevier) (Mello, Salim and Simoes, Federal University of Minas Gerais), UAV-based landfill operation monitoring: A year of volume and topographic measurements (2022-01-01). Accessed 2026-11-06.
142. Beverly Boy Productions (video production company; sells the videos), Video production for the land development industry (Undated). Accessed 2026-11-06.
143. EyeView Digital (video production and testing vendor; sold the videos it tested), EyeView - The new "Conversion" game (2008-12-04). Accessed 2026-11-06.
144. EyeView Digital (video production and testing vendor; sold the videos it tested), UMOO - a prime beef example of EyeView's success (2009-02-10). Accessed 2026-11-06.
145. EyeView Digital (video production and testing vendor; sold the videos it tested), Another video conversion success story (2009-11-10). Accessed 2026-11-06.
146. EyeView Digital (video production and testing vendor; sold the videos it tested), Case study: TutorVista (2009). Accessed 2026-11-06.
147. EyeView Digital (video production and testing vendor; sold the videos it tested), Making Video Accountable (EyeView white paper) (2010). Accessed 2026-11-06.
148. Unbounce (landing-page software seller), The benefits of using video on landing pages (2010-08). Accessed 2026-11-06.
149. Unbounce (landing-page software seller; analysis of its own customers' pages), Video on landing pages means more conversions, right? Wrong. Here's why (2021-08-26). Accessed 2026-11-06.

Update policy and change log

We re-verify every figure quarterly and when a major source publishes a new edition. The next scheduled review is February 2027. Corrections go to contact@markstudios.com.

• Nov 6, 2026: First published with 502 figures from 46 publishers, each checked against its original source.
• Nov 6, 2026: Corrected after a check at source: 2025 building permits and housing starts now use the Census Bureau's revised annual estimates (1,431,600 permits, 3.1% below 2024, and 1,355,800 starts), which replace the preliminary December figures (1,425,200 and 1,358,700).
• Nov 6, 2026: YouTube title count re-read by hand: 6.0% of the videos are about careers, pay or a day in the life, not 6.7% (three titles whose dollar figure is an equipment price came out).