Social Science
What you can do with Geography
Places, maps and how people use land. Leads to planning, mapping, surveying and environment.
- Careers
- 5
- Early career
- $50,000
- Mid-career
- $88,000
- Growing fast
- 2 of 5
How these numbers work: A major does not have its own salary. Early and mid-career pay is what people who hold this degree earn at the start of their careers and midway through them. Career pay comes from the 5 careers a Geography degree commonly leads to, and counts everyone in those jobs, including people who have been doing them for thirty years. The two answer different questions, which is why they do not match.
2 of 5 careers this degree leads to are projected to grow faster than average from 2024 to 2034. Of those, Surveying / Mapping Technician has the most openings, about 7,600 a year.
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5 careers this degree leads to
Geographer
$102,040Study the land, its features and the people on it, and turn that into maps and analysis for planning and policy.
- Middle half of workers
- $80,290 to $121,870
- Growth
- Declining
- Openings a year
- 100
- Spatial Analysis
- GIS
- Research
- Data Analysis
Urban Planner
$89,320Develop plans and programs for the use of land, design communities, and accommodate population growth in urban areas.
- Middle half of workers
- $72,020 to $110,030
- Growth
- About average
- Openings a year
- 3,400
Work-life72Remote52Satisfaction75- Land Use Planning
- GIS
- Zoning Regulations
- Community Engagement
Cartographer
$81,390Build maps and geographic data from surveys, satellite imagery and field measurements.
- Middle half of workers
- $65,670 to $101,960
- Growth
- Faster than average
- Openings a year
- 1,000
- GIS
- Geodesy
- Data Visualization
- Attention to Detail
Surveyor
$75,440Measure and map land with precision instruments to establish the boundaries construction, mapping, and property law depend on.
- Middle half of workers
- $58,170 to $98,130
- Growth
- About average
- Openings a year
- 3,900
Work-life47Remote17- Land Surveying
- GPS/GIS Tools
- Mathematics
- Attention to Detail
Surveying / Mapping Technician
$54,240Collect and process the measurements and imagery that surveyors and cartographers turn into maps.
- Middle half of workers
- $45,430 to $66,700
- Growth
- Faster than average
- Openings a year
- 7,600
- Measurement
- GIS
- Fieldwork
- Attention to Detail
Related majors
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Where these pay figures come from
Early and mid-career pay is the median annual wage of full-time workers who hold a bachelor's degree in that major, ages 22 to 27 and ages 35 to 45, from 2024 data. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (IPUMS). Published as Outcomes by Major by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Career pay is the annual wage of everyone working in that occupation, not only recent graduates, so it includes people who have done the job for decades. The middle half is the 25th to the 75th percentile. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and O*NET OnLine (median and percentile annual wages May 2025; employment projections 2024-2034).
All figures are national. What you earn depends on where you work, who you work for, and how far you take the degree.