Surveyors in New York
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,653
after federal, FICA and New York tax
Tax takes
$18,217
23.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$56,355
New York costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in New York — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$78,870
Kept after tax
$60,653
Worth in national money
$56,355
State rank
17
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. New York pays surveyors around $78,870 at the midpoint, 17 of 50 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations New York reports figures for, this is number 193.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $78,870 the take-home is $60,653. But New York costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $56,355 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $87,640, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For surveyors the New York median is $78,870, ranking 17 of 50 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- In New York's occupational distribution, surveyors sits at 193 of 493 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and New York income tax is $60,653 for surveyors, from $78,870. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $56,355. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $87,640 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Surveyors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $53,390 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $78,870 |
| Top tenth earn over | $126,340 |
| This salary | $78,870 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in New York | $60,653 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $64,315 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$9,829 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $73,665 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$13,427 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of surveyors in New York earn under $78,870 and half over. The published range runs $53,390 at the tenth percentile to $126,340 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind New York's $60,653, worked from $78,870. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 193 of 493.
- Two cautions on $56,355, the adjusted value of that $78,870 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of New York. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 193 of 493 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for surveyors in New York, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $53,390 to $126,340; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The New York take-home of $60,653, on $78,870 for work ranking 193 of 493 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 193 of 493 in the state.
- This $56,355 adjusted figure, worked from $78,870, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 193 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 193 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $87,640 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $53,390 at the bottom tenth to $126,340 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in New York run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $56,355 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and New York's own levy, $60,653 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in New York is $87,640. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($53,390) and the ninetieth ($126,340) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
New York's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $56,355 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $60,653 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and New York income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.