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California training programs, and what happened to the people who took them

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Cartographers and Photogrammetrists

SOC 17-1021 · 2024-2034

Research, study, and prepare maps and other spatial data in digital or graphic form for one or more purposes, such as legal, social, political, educational, and design purposes. May work with Geographic Information Systems (GIS). May design and evaluate algorithms, data structures, and user interfaces for GIS and mapping systems. May collect, analyze, and interpret geographic information provided by geodetic surveys, aerial photographs, and satellite data.

How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.

What California expects of this job

Typical pay in California
$105,657per year
Projected openings
1,090
Projected change
+6.7%
Usually needs
Bachelor's degree

Bright Outlook — a U.S. Department of Labor designation
Rapid Growth

The Department's own designation, made from its national projections. It is not this project's assessment and it is not California's: every other figure on this page comes from California's projection, which can point the other way and for some occupations does.

Skills this work uses most

O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, rates how important each of these is to this work, and they are listed in that order, most important first. The ratings themselves are not shown, because the data carries the number without the scale it was measured on. The names are as published, in English.

  1. Reading Comprehension
  2. Critical Thinking
  3. Writing
  4. Active Listening
  5. Active Learning
  6. Complex Problem Solving

Pay by region

RegionTypical pay in CaliforniaProjected openings
Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties)$131,900140
Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties)$125,27180
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County)$108,981120
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties)$98,332110
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County)$91,86090

What the pay actually ranges across

The lowest-paid tenth earn under
$64,846
A quarter earn under
$77,480
Half earn under
$105,657
Three quarters earn under
$135,150
The highest-paid tenth earn over
$139,283

A median is one point. These are the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2026 figures for California, and they say how far apart the people doing this job actually are. Read them as the spread across everyone already in the work — not as a starting wage and not as a promise about where anyone lands.

Similar work

O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, names these as occupations involving work similar to this one — its own reading of the job, not a grouping by code. They keep O*NET's order, and only those California publishes a projection for are shown.

OccupationTypical pay in CaliforniaProjected openingsProjected change
Surveying and Mapping Technicians$80,2974,620+8.8%
Surveyors$108,2783,440+6.4%
Computer Occupations, All Other$138,20359,320+11.1%
Life, Physical, and Social Science Technicians, All Other$80,54316,040+6.6%
Physical Scientists, All Other$134,2662,220+6.3%

Programs that train for this job — 8