Mapping employment in surveying and mapping services

The surveying and mapping (except geophysical) services industry encompasses cartographic, topographic, ownership-related, and other surveying and mapping work. Why not recognize Geography Awareness Week with a map of employment concentrations for this industry?

Alaska had the highest concentration of surveying and mapping (except geophysical) services employment in 2023, at more than twice (2.38 times) that of the nation. An industry's employment concentration in a state is measured using location quotients. A location quotient greater than 1 means that the industry's share of employment in the state is greater than its share of employment in the nation as a whole. Other states with high employment location quotients for this industry were Florida (1.92), Texas (1.85), and Louisiana (1.81).

Eight states had surveying and mapping (except geophysical) services employment location quotients from 0.90 to 1.09, meaning that the industry's share of employment in each of these states was close to its share of employment in the nation as a whole. The District of Columbia had the lowest concentration of employment in this industry, at 0.06 times that of the nation.

Total U.S. employment in surveying and mapping (except geophysical) services was 55,206 in 2023. The states with the highest number of workers in this industry were Texas (9,139), Florida (6,684), and California (4,085).

These data are from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program. For more data on employment and wages, see our QCEW Data Viewer. We also have charts and maps on the latest QCEW data release. Want to learn more about how location quotients are calculated? See "What is a Location Quotient?", one of our Economics Made Easy classroom handouts.