Fiscal year-end evaluations and reviews are here. I'm looking for some kind of wage range/salary base line data for comparisons and for the future possibilities of expanding. In your experience what is a fair wage for Land Surveyor / Project manager position responsible for all aspects of the project, from initial consultations with clients and preparing estimates to drafting and field work when necessary. I know the numbers will vary greatly depending on geographic area and your primary type of projects, but thought this may be an interesting thread.
Start at $100k and work down from there. Those who can do it all are worth every penny. Those who can barely find their way to the job site without a TomTom or some such foolishness aren't worth a plug nickel.
BTW, $100k won't get me because I'm unemployable after 25 years of doing my own thing.
I was over $60k salaried (50 or so hours/week max) when I got my starting Surveyor/Manager position with over 10 years of prior surveying experience, but that was at a large firm in the Charlotte, NC area. I'd say if you're looking for a surveyor with at least a few years of manager experience you'd be looking at $75k to start. If you're looking for a seasoned veteran, then you'd be closer to or beyond the $100k mark. If you are willing to give a young buck a shot, then you could probably start him out around $50-60k and get him going on things your way. I know I did everything you listed and way more! I shared a department for the first few months with another surveyor, and ended up running all 6-7 crews at one point for about 3-4 months by myself. On top of that I got the privilege of developing safety meetings each week for the department as well. Nobody died, and the firm is still in business!
> Fiscal year-end evaluations and reviews are here. I'm looking for some kind of wage range/salary base line data for comparisons and for the future possibilities of expanding. In your experience what is a fair wage for Land Surveyor / Project manager position responsible for all aspects of the project, from initial consultations with clients and preparing estimates to drafting and field work when necessary. I know the numbers will vary greatly depending on geographic area and your primary type of projects, but thought this may be an interesting thread.
With all due respect, I think you are looking at this thing from the wrong end.
Instead the question should be ...
"How much profit can the right person earn?"
Once you know that, then you can start to ask ...
"How much of that profit is fair to share between the company and the right person?"
The answers to those questions will vary not only between regions but also vary much more with the level of skill and experience of the right person.
The wrong person is over paid even if they are working for free. The right person is worth way more than you will ever see listed on this or any other website.
Larry P
We pay Land Surveyors between $57,400 and $74,700 with a great benefit package. It may not be the best salery, but the benefits can not be beat. That is for a 40 hour week. I have only worked 100 hours of over time in the last 20 years.
There are too many variables to be able to respond with monetary amounts.
The major factors are what area of the country are you in?
What type of firm and what type of work is being performed by the firm?
From my experience, engineering firms and there associated fees are more able to pay the higher salaries to their survey departments. Firms that do only boundary surveys do not normally generate the fees needed to be able to pay the higher salaries and probably pay their employees 1/3 less then engineering firms.
To me, these two factors are the ones that most control salary levels.
> I have only worked 100 hours of over time in the last 20 years.
Hmmm, I worked 100 hours last week 😉
I guess I would pay the right person $80,000ish...maybe less...maybe more if they are awesome.
Last I checked the National average was just under 70k/year, a few k above the average for a PE. Starting salarys are around 35k for a associate degree graduate and 50-60 for a BS graduate. You can check for this info on government sites.
For more local specific you can check the data from the census. The census data will spit out people in a certain zip code who listed land surveyor as occupation along with annual income, but the downside is you can't be sure how much of that income is from surveying.
The flip side to what some others have mentioned is that you could well grow and expand your business by hiring the right person. So I wouldn't necessarily limit myself by what the current business might require just to get by. I would study this some more (maybe you have) and see how it works in a business plan targeted at the future of the company, rather than the past or present only. A hiring of this magnitude should be a well thought out investment instead of a cost cutting measure.
Good points all. This research is intended as fodder for budgeting/planning for the next three years. I have looked at the potential income which could be generated with hiring the right individual. I just want to be sure we could offer a competitive wage to lure in said 'perfect' candidate, without endangering the bottom line. The feedback so far has been useful, but I welcome others to comment.
LSAW (Washington State) has a salary survey on their website. Google it. It's from 2008, but I don't suppose there has been much wage inflation since then.
While I agree with Larry (who is always right on the money), but I must say that the presumption is that you would mean a competent manager. If they excel, from that level, you should be raising their salary (after an adequate time) to keep them on. If they are good field surveyors but turn out being poor managers, you should put them back in the field and pay them what they are worth out there. A great field hand should never be forgotten as they can make you a lot of money as well.
I am with the general crowd that around $80,000 is fair for a competent manager for speculation purposes if you expand; and be prepared to start paying more if they are bringing in work and well-respected by the field guys. I'm sure that depends on your location as well.
