What This Index Measures
This index is a practical supply map for homeowners, buyers, builders, and agents who need to hire a land surveyor. It does not try to count every licensed individual in the United States. It counts public firm and office profiles in the Find Land Surveyor directory, grouped by state and county, then looks at how easy it appears to be for a property owner to find a local firm.
As of May 22, 2026, the directory includes 10,026 firm or office profiles across the 50 states. Those profiles cover 1,571 county-level markets with at least one local listing. Another 811 covered markets have only one to three listed profiles, which is the practical warning zone for homeowners because a local search may not produce enough choices for fast scheduling or quote comparison.
Key Numbers From the May 2026 Directory
| Signal | May 2026 value | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Total firm or office profiles | 10,026 | Shows the size of the directory supply base. |
| States represented | 50 | The index covers the 50 states, not DC or territories. |
| County-level markets with at least one listing | 1,571 | Shows where local profile coverage exists. |
| Covered counties with one to three listings | 811 | Shows markets where homeowners may need regional options. |
| Profiles with a website signal | 6,500 | Website presence usually makes service verification easier. |
| Profiles with a phone number | 9,831 | Phone remains the most common visible contact signal. |
| Profiles with an email signal | 3,381 | Email availability affects estimate-routing and follow-up speed. |
| Profiles with a license-record signal | 2,850 | Useful trust signal, but license status should still be confirmed directly. |
The Main Finding: Surveying Supply Is Local, But Not Neat
Land surveying does not behave like a simple national marketplace. A homeowner in a dense metro county may have dozens of visible firms to call. A homeowner one county away may have only one or two local options, even if regional firms regularly serve the area. That matters because a survey is not a remote product. The firm has to research local records, schedule field crew time, travel to the site, recover monuments, and deliver a signed professional work product.
The directory data shows three different markets at once. First, dense counties with high permitting, real estate, flood, and development activity have many visible firms. Second, rural and low-population counties often depend on regional coverage from nearby offices. Third, fast-growing exurban counties can have real demand but still look thin in public firm data because firms are based in the nearest metro.
States With the Largest Directory Supply
| State | Profiles | What the count suggests |
|---|---|---|
| Texas | 986 | Broad demand across metros, rural acreage, energy, commercial, and subdivision work. |
| Florida | 893 | Heavy residential, flood, coastal, and development demand. |
| California | 681 | High-cost, high-complexity markets with dense coastal and metro activity. |
| North Carolina | 616 | Strong metro growth plus rural and mountain land work. |
| Georgia | 460 | Atlanta growth, suburban development, and regional firms serving rural counties. |
| Ohio | 431 | Good visible supply across metro, county engineer, and residential markets. |
| Pennsylvania | 393 | Mixed metro, rural, and older-record boundary complexity. |
| New York | 392 | Dense downstate demand plus upstate rural and subdivision work. |
Counties With the Deepest Visible Supply
The deepest county markets are mostly large population centers, coastal development markets, or places with steady commercial, flood, and construction demand. The leaders in the current directory are Palm Beach County, FL with 75 profiles, Los Angeles County, CA with 70, Maricopa County, AZ with 68, Harris County, TX with 56, Lee County, FL with 55, Miami-Dade County, FL with 52, Hillsborough County, FL with 51, King County, WA with 48, Hennepin County, MN with 47, and San Diego County, CA with 46.
That list is useful because it tells homeowners what a deep market looks like. In a deep market, the right move is not to call the highest-rated firm first. It is to match the project to the firm. A boundary survey for a fence, an ALTA/NSPS survey, an elevation certificate, and construction staking are different buying decisions.
What Thin Supply Means in Practice
A thin local market does not mean the homeowner is stuck. It means the request needs to be clearer. In a county with one to three visible profiles, the homeowner should lead with project type, ZIP, parcel size, timeline, and whether they already have a deed, prior survey, title commitment, or permit requirement. A regional firm is more likely to respond when it can quickly tell whether the trip and scope make sense.
Thin supply also changes the best directory experience. A county page should not only list local offices. It should help users decide which service type they need, show nearby or explicitly serving firms when there is evidence, and explain when local public records, flood maps, or permit requirements may affect scope.
Why Website and Email Signals Matter
Website presence is not the same as quality, but it helps with verification. A firm website can show service types, counties served, staff, license numbers, flood certificate work, ALTA capability, and preferred intake process. The index shows 6,500 profiles with a website signal, which means about two thirds of the directory has at least some public web evidence to review.
Email availability is more limited. Only 3,381 profiles have an email signal in the current directory. That creates a real routing problem: the firms most visible on Google are not always the firms most likely to want homeowner estimate requests, and firms without mature website intake can be harder to reach. This is why profile claims, front-office contact preferences, and direct service-area confirmation matter.
How Homeowners Should Use This Data
Use the index as a confidence check, not as a hiring shortcut. If your county has many local firms, compare by service fit. If your county has thin local supply, start earlier, give more context, and be open to nearby regional firms that clearly serve your area. In every case, confirm the responsible surveyor's current license, ask what deliverable is included, and request written pricing before authorizing work.
Methodology
The index counts active directory firm or office profiles from the Find Land Surveyor public dataset as of May 22, 2026. Profiles are grouped by state and county based on the office or service-area record available in the directory. Website, phone, email, and license-record signals are counted when those fields are present in the profile data. A license-record signal is not a guarantee of current licensure, and users should confirm current status with the relevant state board before hiring.
The index is designed for hiring-context analysis. It intentionally does not count every individual licensee in state rosters because many licensees are retired, inactive in private practice, employed by government or utilities, or not available for homeowner work.
What We Will Track Next
The next version of this index should add three business-quality signals: claimed profiles, confirmed service areas, and observed routing response. Those signals matter because raw supply is only part of the question. The real homeowner question is: who can help with this specific job, in this county, soon enough to matter?