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Pay · 17-1021

Cartographers and Photogrammetrists earn $81,390 a year at the midpoint

The middle of the pay scale for cartographers and photogrammetrists is $81,390. A typical start is nearer $65,670; the top tenth earn about $126,950.

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$81,390median a year · United States
$39.13an hour $86,690average 14,260people
Nine in ten people in this work earn between the two ends. The shaded part is the middle half — where most people are.
$65,67025th $81,390median $101,96075th
$53,74010th percentile $126,95090th percentile
$65,670a year at the 25th percentile, nearer a first job
$102,780best-paying state · California
$54,680lowest-paying state · Illinois
+26%top state against the national median
  • Read the spread, not the middle. The median is the midpoint across everyone in the occupation, most of them years into the work. A beginner starts nearer the 10th to 25th percentile, which is why the spread is published alongside it.
  • What the figure counts. The figure counts base pay plus tips, commissions and production bonuses. It leaves out the self-employed, unpaid family workers, private household workers, and the value of benefits or profit sharing.
  • Where you live moves it more than your resume does. National figures. A state or metro area can sit far from the national number, and that gap is usually larger than any difference a resume makes.
  • Not in these numbers. Growth and annual openings are not in this dataset. They come from the separate Employment Projections tables, where an opening is a modelled ten year average and not a posted vacancy.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025. Retrieved through the BLS Public Data API on 2026-08-13. bls.gov/oes “BLS.gov cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov.”

State matters a lotThe same job pays $102,780 in California and $54,680 in Illinois — a gap of $48,100 a year.

Cartographer earnings, from starting pay to the best-paid 10%

Pick the job, where you work and how long you have done it. The range comes from the published wage percentiles for that job.

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An estimate from survey percentiles, not an offer. Employer, industry, shift and credentials move pay within and beyond this range. Full wage page for this job →

Writing a resume for cartographers and photogrammetrists

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ESRI ArcGIS softwareGeographic information system GIS systemsBentley MicroStationBentley Systems InRoads SuiteESRI ArcViewESRI ArcInfoPythonC
  • Compiled data required for map preparation, including aerial photographs, survey notes, records, reports, and original maps.
  • Delineated aerial photographic detail, such as control points, hydrography, topography, and cultural features, using precision stereoplotting apparatus or drafting instruments.
  • Prepared and altered trace maps, charts, tables, detailed drawings, and three-dimensional optical models of terrain using stereoscopic plotting and computer graphics equipment.

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This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. The owner of tiersi.com has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

Cartographer pay rate, hourly to yearly

Starts at this job’s median. Change the rate or the hours; a full-time year is 40 hours for 52 weeks.

$81,390a year

Related work, and what it pays

Occupations in the same group of the federal classification — the usual next steps, or the ones beside this one.

Cartographers and Photogrammetrists$81,390
Landscape Architects$79,870−$1,520 Surveyors$75,440−$5,950

Cartographer wages in each state

The 33 states where the most people do this work, of 41 with a published figure: their medians range by 1.88 times. Figures are the 2025 survey.

State Median a year Where most start 10th to 90th Employed
California $102,780 $63,080 $63,080 — $135,490 1,450
Minnesota $99,850 $71,620 $71,620 — $125,660 100
Washington $96,100 $66,250 $66,250 — $128,100 870
Nevada $93,560 $67,040 $67,040 — $121,000 180
Massachusetts $92,230 $72,770 $72,770 — $158,370 160
New York $89,290 $37,530 $37,530 — $126,170 230
New Jersey $88,480 $63,790 $63,790 — $122,660 170
Oregon $88,240 $61,460 $61,460 — $121,560 640
Colorado $86,960 $61,060 $61,060 — $130,310 1,220
Virginia $86,660 $59,480 $59,480 — $122,480 860
Iowa $84,570 $57,600 $57,600 — $105,300 90
Maryland $84,360 $58,870 $58,870 — $131,810 450
Connecticut $84,100 $52,470 $52,470 — $122,430 150
Arizona $82,260 $58,400 $58,400 — $114,770 400
North Carolina $81,080 $59,110 $59,110 — $99,270 900
Florida $79,650 $59,410 $59,410 — $109,110 610
Missouri $76,950 $50,290 $50,290 — $116,430 170
Wisconsin $76,760 $54,400 $54,400 — $112,510 260
Utah $75,220 $50,100 $50,100 — $109,990 150
Michigan $75,090 $57,720 $57,720 — $98,350 250
Texas $73,970 $43,040 $43,040 — $138,390 1,780
Pennsylvania $73,180 $53,490 $53,490 — $102,820 140
Tennessee $72,990 $59,070 $59,070 — $100,630 150
Idaho $72,930 $51,790 $51,790 — $96,100 100
South Dakota $72,910 $42,300 $42,300 — $96,600 140
South Carolina $72,260 $49,280 $49,280 — $103,220 150
Montana $72,220 $44,590 $44,590 — $91,560 160
Kentucky $71,470 $46,970 $46,970 — $105,950 90
North Dakota $71,070 $37,390 $37,390 — $97,910 80
Ohio $70,990 $47,400 $47,400 — $103,000 490
Wyoming $70,590 $52,490 $52,490 — $85,730 100
Georgia $62,630 $39,090 $39,090 — $94,330 490
Illinois $54,680 $47,480 $47,480 — $104,720 180

No estimate is published for 1 states: the survey withholds a figure when too few employers report it. Nothing has been filled in for them.

No. 189 of 788 by median pay

Better paid than 76% of the occupations in the survey.

  1. 187 Mathematical Science Occupations, All Other $81,490
  2. 188 Locomotive Engineers $81,410
  3. 189 Cartographers and Photogrammetrists $81,390
  4. 190 Insurance Underwriters $81,370
  5. 191 Orthotists and Prosthetists $81,110

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What people often ask

What is a cartographer’s yearly income?

A cartographer makes a median of $81,390 a year (2025 survey). The middle half earn between $65,670 and $101,960.

What is a cartographer’s hourly pay rate?

The median pay rate is $39.13 an hour; the average is $86,690 a year.

What is the starting pay for a cartographer?

Starting pay is usually near the 25th percentile, $65,670 a year, and sometimes as low as the 10th, $53,740.

Which state pays cartographers and photogrammetrists the most?

California, with a median of $102,780 a year.

How many people work as cartographers and photogrammetrists?

About 14,260 in the United States — number 189 of 788 occupations by median pay.

Jobs that pay about the same

Median pay within $280 of what cartographers and photogrammetrists earn — $81,390 a year — but not always the same spread.

See all 788 occupations