The following information was taken from the URISA 2017 Salary Survey for IT/GIS Professionals. The full comparison report between GISPs and non-GISPs is available as a PDF file.
We anticipate working with URISA on a new salary summary in 2023
Access the 2017 Salary Survey Summary
Download the 2011 Salary Survey Summary
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Highlights from the 2011 / 2017 reports:
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How many years of GIS professional experience do you have? (2011)
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GISP
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Non-GISP
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Average
12.1 years
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Average
8.7 years
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Median
11.4 years
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Median
7.5 years
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What is the highest level of education you have attained? (2011)
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GISP
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Non-GISP
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Bachelor’s degree or higher
87.7%
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Bachelor’s degree or higher
84.0%
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Postgraduate degree(s)
41.8%
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Postgraduate degree(s)
35.5%
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Please select the range that most closely describes your salary for calendar year 2017.
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GISP
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Non-GISP
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Average
$76,632
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Average
$66,550
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Median
$73,000
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Median
$62,000
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What additional forms of compensation, if any, does your organization offer? 2017
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GISPs
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Health insurance
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91.5%
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Paid conference attendance
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72.3
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Paid training
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63.9
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Retirement plans
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61.1
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Membership dues in a professional organization
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46.3
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Professional certification reimbursement or support
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47.0
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401(k) plans (or similar)
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56.6
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College tuition reimbursement
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37.9
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Bonuses
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27.0
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Stock
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7.7
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Life Insurance
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68.2
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What GIS and geospatial skills are required for your job? (2011)
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GISPs
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Non-GISPs
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Data analysis
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90.9%
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82.8%
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Data acquisition and creation
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85.3
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78.1
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Data manipulation
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85.0
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77.3
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Editing and querying GIS data
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84.6
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76.6
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Cartography and visualization
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79.0
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75.4
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Database design
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77.7
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68.9
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Database maintenance
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77.0
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64.5
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Map composition
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69.7
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61.7
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Project P planning and implementation
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65.2
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55.6
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Data visualization and reporting
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64.9
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54.5
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Quality assurance/Quality control
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63.6
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54.0
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Global Positioning Systems (GPS)
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62.1
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53.3
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Data modeling
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61.4
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52.0
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Geocoding
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61.1
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49.5
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Application development
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54.7
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41.9
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Database/Systems administration
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53.6
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39.9
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Geospatial management
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49.1
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39.1
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Maintain GIS Web capabilities
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43.7
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33.2
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Programming
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43.5
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31.8
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Systems design
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38.2
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25.5
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Photogrammetry
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22.5
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23.4
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Remote sensing
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21.0
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21.4
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Geocomputation
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17.9
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13.6
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| What other skills are required for your job? (2011) |
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GISPs
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Non-GISPs
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Project management
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83.2%
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74.7%
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Technical support
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77.7
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72.5
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Teaching/Training
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72.0
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62.6
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Public speaking
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68.2
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60.9
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Report writing
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66.0
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59.3
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Research
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61.8
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59.0
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Budgeting
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58.7
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51.0
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Personnel management
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57.4
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50.6
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Mathematics
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39.1
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36.6
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Cost benefit analysis
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38.9
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34.1
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Statistics
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30.7
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30.2
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Sales/Marketing
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25.2
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17.8
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