The wages in our industry have really been on my mind lately. In my area (BC, Canada) they seem to be stagnant and I worry they will lead the a decline in qualified professionals.
Speaking to many employers and employees this is what I've found in my area: *in Canadian dollars*
Rodman - $18-22/hr
Tech/drafts person - $21-30/hr
LST (someone working towards their professional accreditation) - $28-34/hr
BCLS (professional) - $36-50+/hr
To give these local numbers a bit of real world context, a average 4br 30 year old home on a .25 ac lot costs about 850k-1.5 million depending where in the province. Entry level wage (flipping burgers) is $17.50. And we get taxed 35% income + 12% sales on goods and services. A survey office typically charges out $165-225/hr for a one man crew for legal work and $150-$200 for a one man construction crew.
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I was looking at jobs in the US and to me it seems like a surveyor generally makes a decent but more but your dollar goes much further. What are some typical wages in your area and do they concern you for the future of our profession?
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County | Trade | Job Classification | Wage | Holiday | Overtime | Note | *Risk Class |
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King | Surveyors | Assistant Construction Site Surveyor | $75.60 | 7A | 11H | 8X | View |
King | Surveyors | Chainman | $72.30 | 7A | 11H | 8X | View |
King | Surveyors | Construction Site Surveyor | $76.87 | 7A | 11H | 8X | View |
King | Surveyors | Drone Operator (when used in conjunction with survey work only) | $72.30 | 7A | 11H | 8X | View |
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Sign me up for the chainman job...
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Standard wages, for everything else, are a lot lower. Good people are hard to find, so they're going up. I hired a drafter, recently, from a big Engineering firm. I'm paying him what they were paying; they offered him another $8.00 per hour to stay.
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My personal experience is a seasoned PLS in the (circa 2013) high rent States US made about $60USD/hr.?ÿ assuming there's a pension plan, full medical, 12 days sick leave & 3 weeks annual leave (vacation).?ÿ As a first year survey crew member (1969) I made $2.40/hr with no benefits ????.
You can Google US surveyor wages, trends, etc. to your heart's content and find official Federal and State sits,?ÿ and commercial sites which will answer your questions.
@shea-gleadle Yikes.?ÿ Pretty terrible wages if you live in a land of $850k houses.?ÿ Maybe not too bad if you were in Appalachia where you could buy a couple farms for that money.?ÿ Time to vote with your feet.
In NZ a bare graduate will be getting maybe $60k per annum. An experienced surveyor maybe twice that if they are lucky. High cost areas eg Auckland or Queenstown will be a little higher.
Housing is around $1M, less in the regions, Tax is graduated but at around 30% plus a 15% goods and service tax.
A Big Mac is around $8.40 for those that use the Big Mac Index
And we get taxed 35% income + 12% sales on goods and services.
I thought Canada had progressive income tax brackets like the USA? At least, they used to...back in 2017 a Canadian counterpart of mine pulling down six figures said it was something like 15% for the first 50K then 20% for the next 50K.
Remember that down here, you (and your employer) are going to be paying health insurance and health care costs directly, and those don't really change no matter what your income is, so unless you're on the high side of salary, those costs are far more of a burden.
When I tally up all the health insurance and health care costs for myself and my wife and add them to our tax burden, it's easily 25-35% of our gross pay. That figure would translate to 40% if I had never gotten licensed, more if I had never gotten my LSIT.
Now, if you never ever get sick or have a medical emergency, and you don't have a chronic illness, and you run with a high deductible plan, you might be OK. I used to do that when I was younger and single. Not really an option any more.
Sales tax is around 9%, so slightly better I guess.
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Housing-wise: down the street from me there is a mediocre 3 bed/2 bath/1500 sq ft house on a mediocre lot with no yard, that just went on the market for 625K, and sold for 660K about a week later. It's likely going to need upwards of 50K in remodelling.
I don't live in a "high-dollar" part of the Puget Sound.
There's a lot of work in the greater Seattle area, and everyone is looking for people. But you're not likely going to get paid enough to afford the average (million-dollar) home around here, even as a license.
You're going to be looking for the sweet spot of a midsize city with enough work to keep you going but not too crazy of housing costs so you can actually afford to live there. It's possible, but your options will be limited.
but your dollar goes much further.
Man!?ÿ you're not kidding, we're taking down entire countries with the damn thing!!?ÿ?ÿ
I thought Canada had progressive income tax brackets like the USA?
They do. Probably income taxes - taking all those things that will be deducted from your check every 2 weeks into consideration -?ÿ are similar in Canada to those we pay in the US at the level of earnings most Surveyors will be at. Check out this article from Investopedia.?ÿ Note the part about premiums on the "free" health care - which no part of were ever covered by my employer when I was there. The main thing for Canadians is that the wages are generally lower and paid with 80 cent dollars.?ÿ ?ÿ?ÿ
I was generalizing for the sake of trying to be concise. The 35% is a typical number one can expect to be deducted off their pay cheque from the government. Provincial and federal income tax, cpp, ei. My last paystub I believe I was deducted 37-38% directly from the government if I remember correctly and im far from the top tax bracket I would think.
The more income one gains, the more taxes they pay.?ÿ Federal and State income taxes, real estate taxes, taxes on purchases, property tax on certain non-real estate possessions, license fees for certain autos, trucks, boats, etc.?ÿ You name it and it is taxed in some fashion.?ÿ And, when you die, the death tax will bite your heirs.
The more income one gains, the more taxes they pay.?ÿ Federal and State income taxes, real estate taxes, taxes on purchases, property tax on certain non-real estate possessions, license fees for certain autos, trucks, boats, etc.?ÿ You name it and it is taxed in some fashion.?ÿ And, when you die, the death tax will bite your heirs.
And that my friends is reality in a nutshell. Every time I make a dollar or spend a dollar someone sticks their hand in my pocket.?ÿ
My personal favorite was the letter I received from the county tax office at the end of my first year of owning my own business. **Welcome to our county. We are so glad you decided to invest in our community. We wish you many years of success. Please be sure to list all of your business assets including equipment, supplies, and furniture with our tax office prior to January 31st. **?ÿ
So to try to start this thread back on track, is anyone else concerned about the relatively low wages of our industry? I guess this may apply less to those who own their own business but if we're paying a college graduate the same as a McDonalds employees how can we expect new recruits?
Whenever I get asked about surveying as a career option these days I make sure to let them know they will most likely make significantly less then any trade out there with comparable experience and training.
The first step is to define typical. We're a small enough profession that we're probably more defined by the extremes and the median salary is more likely a function of mathematics than an actual group of individuals.
Locally I know of licensed surveyors who make $80K and who make $160K (salaried employees, not owners). It all depends on market segment, experience, and actual job description of the position.?ÿ
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