Surveys are always pretty popular, however, it seems that salary surveys are year after year the hot topic that people love to check out. Over the year’s there’s been a number of efforts to try and get a grip on what GIS professionals make. Overall this is a pretty tough thing to nail down, mainly because GIS being the tool that it is, the requirements placed on professionals vary from job to job and thus you can easily see a huge range in salary. Then factor in the various job descriptions, geographic variances, additional duties and requirements and you’ll likely see a pretty wide range of pay scale. Nailing down exactly what a GIS Analyst earns is not simple. I’ve seen some Analyst jobs that pay $10 per hour, others paying over $80K per year! So, in an effort to help shed a little light on the topic check out the following GIS salary resources of interest:
- GISjobs.com salary survey – this is a comprehensive, ongoing survey that has been online for several years. There’s a number of variables but some interesting results
- GIS Chalkboard – Eric over at the GeoChalkboard conducted a survey on 2011 and has provided the results in a detailed PDF
- URISA – the org typically conducts an annual survey and publishes the results for members – the results are available for purchase
- MN Salary Survey – The State of MN conducted a survey and has published some interesting findings
- State of Indiana – survey results available online to those interested
- Payscale – this career resource offers some basic summaries and findings for GIS pros
- GISlounge roundup – Caitlin has tackled the topic as well and provides some pointers
See also 10 Tips for the Geo Tech Job Seeker and Hints For Leveraging Social Media