Self-employment method
Surveying and Mapping (except Geophysical) Services
10,023 people filed as a nonemployer business under this industry code in 2022 — no payroll, no employees, just them. These are gross receipts reported to the IRS, before any expense is taken out.
Median GROSS RECEIPTS for the year — money in, before rent, materials, fuel, insurance or tax. This is not take-home pay.
Share who grossed under $10,000 for the whole year — before expenses.
The middle half, in gross receipts. A quarter of filers took less than the lower figure.
Source: US Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics 2022 · view
How often it does not work out
Of the 10,023 people who filed under this code in 2022, 36.78% grossed under $10,000 for the entire year — before a single expense was deducted.
That is a floor, not an estimate. Census publishes GROSS RECEIPTS, not net income. Everyone inside that share earned less than the figure suggests once rent, materials, mileage, insurance and self-employment tax came out — and filers who grossed well above the threshold may still have netted nothing. The true share of people who earn nothing meaningful from this is higher than the number above, never lower.
Denominator: establishments_total = 10,023 · US Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics 2022 · view
Every filer, by what they grossed
The full distribution Census publishes. The median above is interpolated inside the band that holds the 50th percentile.
| Gross receipts for the year | Filers | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Under $5,000 | 2,299 | 22.9% |
| $5,000 to $9,999 | 1,387 | 13.8% |
| $10,000 to $24,999 | 1,992 | 19.9% |
| $25,000 to $49,999 | 1,601 | 16.0% |
| $50,000 to $99,999 | 1,358 | 13.5% |
| $100,000 to $249,999 | 1,060 | 10.6% |
| $250,000 to $499,999 | 256 | 2.6% |
| $500,000 to $999,999 | 55 | 0.5% |
| $1,000,000 to $2,499,999 | 15 | 0.1% |
Who this suits
At the midpoint this work grossed $19,981 for the year — $1,665 a month in revenue. That is a real second income and a long way short of a first one, and Census cannot tell you which of those the typical filer intended.
10,023 people filed under this code — enough that the work exists everywhere and not enough that it supports a visible trade. Most people doing Surveying and Mapping (except Geophysical) Services are doing it alongside something else.
A 13.8% share — 1,383 filers — grossed $100,000 or more. That is well above what most codes here manage, and it says the middle of Surveying and Mapping (except Geophysical) Services is closer to a business than to a sideline.
Professional services are the classic solo business: low capital, high skill, and a ceiling set by how many hours you can sell. It suits people who can market as competently as they deliver.
There is no qualification, licence or minimum to appear in this data — you file and you are counted. Read the receipts distribution as the price of that: no barrier at the door means no filter before the numbers.
Who should not do this
Bottom quarter under $5,745, top quarter over $58,772: 10.2x, or $4,418 a month. At this stretch the label has stopped describing one occupation, and every summary statistic about it — including the midpoint — should be treated with suspicion.
The bottom quarter of Surveying and Mapping (except Geophysical) Services earns under $5,745 — $44,275 below the $50,020 a typical American job pays. Entering at the bottom and waiting is a live risk here, not a theoretical one, and some people never leave that quarter.
Do not start this if you dislike selling. Skill is not the constraint in this subsector — client acquisition is, and it never stops being.
36.8% of the 10,023 people who filed in 2022 grossed under $10,000 for the year — 3,686 people. Approaching half of everyone who tried Surveying and Mapping (except Geophysical) Services took in less revenue than a part-time wage, before costs.
Take it as a floor, not an estimate. The $10,000 threshold is measured on money received, before materials, rent, fuel, insurance and self-employment tax, so the true share of filers who ended the year with no income is higher than the figure shown — we simply cannot say how much higher.
What the spread tells you
At 10.2x, the gap between $5,745 and $58,772 is the shape of a field with a small, well-paid top. $19,981 is real and it is not a forecast — the people quoting the upper end at you are describing a minority.
The middle half of this field earns between $5,745 and $58,772. That is $53,027 of range, with $19,981 sitting inside it as the point half the field is above and half below.
Between $5,745 and $58,772 — the two ends of the middle half — sits $19,981. Moving from the midpoint to the upper quarter is worth $38,791; the whole climb from the lower quarter is $53,027.
The top quarter of Surveying and Mapping (except Geophysical) Services begins $38,791 above the $19,981 midpoint, while the bottom quarter starts only $14,236 below it. A range stretched that far in one direction is the signature of a field where a small group earns a great deal more than the middle does.
Per hour of a full-time year, the middle of Surveying and Mapping (except Geophysical) Services takes $9.60 in revenue — $2.76 at the bottom quarter and $28.25 at the top. Costs have not been deducted from any of those figures, so none of them is an hourly wage.
The raw counts, before anyone interprets them: under $5,000, 2,299 filers. $5,000 to $9,999, 1,387. $10,000 to $24,999, 1,992. Over $100,000, 1,386 — and 326 over $250,000.
What these figures are, and what they are not
These are GROSS RECEIPTS: everything that came in, before expenses. Rent, stock, fuel, insurance and self-employment tax all come out of the $19,981 midpoint before anyone eats, so it is not comparable with a $19,981 wage and should never be read as one.
The hourly number on this page is $19,981 divided by a 2,080-hour year and nothing more. We hold no unpaid-hours or cost data for Surveying and Mapping (except Geophysical) Services, so it is arithmetic rather than an effective rate.
How this is calculated · Self-employment failure rates · What credentials cost and pay back · Look up something else