A photogrammetrist turns aerial and drone imagery into measured mapping: stereo compilation, orthophotos, terrain models, and the control work that ties images to the ground.
BLS treats the role inside one occupation with cartographers (SOC 17-1021), and the largest employers are local government and architectural, engineering and related services.
Below is what the work involves at a mapping or survey firm, when a surveying license matters, and the route in.
What is a photogrammetrist?
A photogrammetrist measures the world from photographs.
Working from overlapping aerial or drone images, they derive coordinates, elevations and feature lines, and turn them into topographic maps, terrain models, orthophotos and the 3D data that engineering design and survey deliverables are built on.
Federal statistics treat the title as part of a combined occupation.
BLS groups photogrammetrists with cartographers as cartographers and photogrammetrists (SOC 17-1021) and does not publish a separate employment count for photogrammetrists alone.
Job postings use several names for the same work.
O*NET lists sample titles for the occupation including Aerial Photogrammetrist, Photogrammetric Technician, Photogrammetrist, Stereo Compiler and Stereoplotter Operator.
In a mapping or survey firm the role is a production engine: imagery comes in, control gets tied, surfaces and vectors get compiled, and map deliverables go out.
BLS describes the occupation as integrating land surveys and LiDAR using GIS, CAD and other software to build maps.
The job is anchored in an office.
BLS says cartographers and photogrammetrists spend much of their time in an office, though some jobs require fieldwork to collect data and verify results, and most work full time.
How close it sits to licensed land surveying depends on the duties.
BLS says licensing for cartographers and photogrammetrists varies and depends on job duties.
It also notes that all 50 states and the District of Columbia require surveyors to be licensed before providing services to the public, including certifying legal documents that show property lines.
Photogrammetry and licensed surveying meet on the same projects: photogrammetrists produce the mapping, and certifying legal documents that show property lines is work the states tie to a surveying license.
The licensing section below covers where that line can fall.
What does a photogrammetrist do at a mapping or survey firm?
O*NET's task list for the occupation describes the core: compiling aerial photographs, survey notes and records for map preparation, and delineating control points, hydrography, topography and cultural features using precision stereoplotting apparatus.
The deliverables are familiar across mapping programs.
Caltrans' photogrammetry chapter lists typical products: topographic mapping compiled as 3D vector representations of features and terrain, digital terrain models, photo rectification, and digital orthophotography built from stereo photography plus terrain data.
Compilation itself is a defined step.
Caltrans describes map compilation as collecting observable points to create a 3D vector representation of photogrammetric measurements of the Earth's surface, done on stereoscopic mapping systems that generate coordinates and elevations and assign symbology.
Caltrans names 1"=50' scale 3D mapping as the most common product of that work.
Its chapter listing those products is also the demand-side view: a state transportation agency specifying topographic mapping, digital terrain models and digital orthophotography as its photogrammetric products.
Before any of that mapping is drawn, the imagery has to be tied to the ground.
Caltrans' chapter frames aerotriangulation as analytic bridging: densifying photo control with mathematically computed analytic points so every stereo model has enough control.
ASPRS says aerial triangulation may use a simultaneous bundle block adjustment of control points and tie points, the matching points found on overlapping images.
Airborne GNSS/IMU data can reduce the number of ground control points a project needs, per the same ASPRS standard.
At a survey firm, the mapping feeds projects that can end in certified deliverables — and states tie that end of the work to a license: surveyors must be licensed before providing services to the public, including certifying legal documents that show property lines.
Surface models can be compiled manually in stereo, which ASPRS calls highly accurate but very labor intensive and rarely used, or generated automatically by image matching such as structure from motion.
Do photogrammetrists need a surveying license?
It depends on the duties.
BLS says licensing requirements for cartographers and photogrammetrists vary; they may be state- or employer-specific and depend on job duties.
BLS also notes that some cartographers and photogrammetrists may need to be licensed, and that certification is usually optional.
A surveying license enters the picture when the work becomes the practice of land surveying.
The NCEES Model Law's definition of the practice of surveying, in its current 2026 revision, includes determining the position of any point by geodetic surveys and establishing or replacing any survey monument.
Photogrammetry is named inside that definition too: it describes professional services using "such sciences as mathematics, … geodesy, and photogrammetry" to make geometric measurements of the earth's physical or legal features.
The Model Law is NCEES's model statute, not a state's law — your state's statute and licensing board are what govern your duties.
BLS reports that all 50 states and the District of Columbia require surveyors to be licensed before providing services to the public.
Where the line sits for photogrammetric mapping, our research did not find a published list of which states require a surveying license — so treat the question as one for the board, not an assumption.
Confirm with the board
What tools and skills are used?
The production software is specialized.
O*NET's technology skills file lists Intergraph ImageStation Stereo Softcopy Kit for cartographers and photogrammetrists (17-1021.00).
The same file lists BAE Systems SOCET SET, Leica ERDAS IMAGINE, Agisoft Metashape, Pix4D Pix4Dmapper, Terrasolid TerraScan and Esri Site Scan for remote sensing technicians (19-4099.03), an adjacent occupation.
Around that production layer, BLS describes the occupation as integrating land surveys and LiDAR using GIS, CAD and other software to build maps, so GIS and CAD fluency is part of the job rather than an extra.
Under the software, the durable skills are photogrammetric: stereo interpretation and measurement, aerial triangulation and ground control, image and accuracy quality checks, and coordinate reference systems.
The judgment skill is knowing when automation is wrong.
ASPRS notes that structure from motion is fully automated but can make matching errors.
Run without ground control, the camera positions lack scale and orientation, so the point cloud sits in an image-space coordinate system and must be transformed to real-world coordinates — a transform ASPRS says can need significant manual QA/QC.
That check is the photogrammetrist's judgment step.
How do you become a photogrammetrist?
There is no single gate into the role: degree and certificate routes are both in use, and the specialty credential is voluntary.
The steps below run in the order the data and credentials suggest.
Build the foundation
Aim your coursework at the occupation BLS describes: cartographers and photogrammetrists typically need a bachelor's degree in cartography, geography, geomatics, surveying or a related field. BLS names fields, not courses — match electives to the fields above and confirm specifics with each program.Search the production titles
O*NET's sample titles for the occupation include Photogrammetric Technician, Stereo Compiler and Stereoplotter Operator, so look for openings under each, not just Photogrammetrist. Preparation data shows both routes: in O*NET's worker survey, 36% of respondents said a new hire needs a post-secondary certificate and 30% said a bachelor's degree, a different measure from BLS's typical-entry statement.Add a voluntary credential
ASPRS offers voluntary certifications at two levels, Mapping Scientist and Technologist, in Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing, Lidar and UAS. The Scientist level, which includes Certified Photogrammetrist, requires 6 years of active experience in the specialty; the Technologist level requires 3 years.Certify and keep building
ASPRS certification requires peer appraisal and a written examination delivered through Prometric, including remote proctoring, and the program is open to non-members. From there the field splits between deeper production specialization and the teams that run control and QA.Check the license question
Whether your duties need a state surveying license depends on the state and the work — confirm with the state licensing board before you accept boundary, monument or certified-deliverable scope.
Photogrammetrist jobs
Search more than one title: O*NET's title list for the occupation spans Photogrammetrist, Aerial Photogrammetrist, Photogrammetric Technician, Stereo Compiler and Stereoplotter Operator, and postings can use any of them.
Browse open photogrammetrist jobs on SurveyorHires.
The employer mix is measurable.
In 2025 the largest employers of cartographers and photogrammetrists were local government (41%), architectural, engineering and related services (22%), management, scientific and technical consulting services (5%), federal government (4%) and state government (4%).
Surveying and mapping firms sit inside that row: NAICS 5413 (Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services) includes surveying and mapping (NAICS 541370).
The outlook adds to the case.
BLS counts 14,700 cartographer and photogrammetrist jobs in 2025 in its Employment Projections, with 7% growth projected from 2025 to 2035 — much faster than the average for all occupations — and 900 openings a year on average.
The openings figure counts the whole occupation, not photogrammetry alone — another reason the combined-occupation framing matters.
Pay runs through the same combined occupation.
BLS OEWS shows cartographers and photogrammetrists earned a national median of $39.13 per hour ($81,390 per year) in May 2025, all industries — the figures cover cartographers and photogrammetrists together, so read them as the occupation's, not photogrammetry's alone.
For the full tables, percentiles and state breakdowns, see the photogrammetrist salary page.
Employers hire this specialty too.
Firms adding mapping staff can post a surveying job on the hiring hub.
Career information, not legal, tax or licensing advice — confirm licensure and credential questions with your state licensing board or the credentialing body named.