Home / California / Field Surveyor / Los Angeles County group
California · Field Surveyor · 13 counties
Field Surveyor prevailing wage, Los Angeles County group, California (13 counties)
DIR sets the same field surveyor rates, row for row, in 13 counties: Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Los Angeles, Mono, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura. Every figure on this page applies in each of them.
$110.38an hour, base wage + fringe benefits · Chief of Party
$68.91 base wage + $41.47 fringe benefits
On California public works in each of these 13 counties, a field surveyor working as chief of party must be paid at least $110.38 an hour in total: $68.91 in wages plus $41.47 in employer payments to health, pension, training and other funds. Daily overtime is $144.84 and Sunday and holiday work is $179.29.
DIR general determination 063-12-3, issued August 22, 2026. Expires June 30, 2027. Checked against dir.ca.gov on October 24, 2026.
DIR lists 3 field surveyor rates for each of these counties, from $101.93 to $110.38 an hour. See all of them.
Base wage and fringe benefits: $68.91 + $41.47
The basic hourly rate is the taxable wage. The other lines, the fringe benefits DIR calls employer payments, are what DIR expects the employer to pay into health, pension and other plans for each hour worked. An employer can pay part of that as extra wages instead, as long as the total per hour stays at $110.38 or more.
| Basic hourly rate (taxable wage) | $68.91 |
| Health and welfare | $17.45 |
| Pension | $17.90 |
| Vacation and holiday (footnote G) | $4.67 |
| Training | $1.30 |
| Other payments | $0.15 |
| Total straight-time hourly rate | $110.38 |
Straight time covers an 8-hour day.
When does this rate change?
- A project pays the rates in effect on its bid advertisement date for the life of the job, plus any increase DIR set in advance (DIR FAQ).
- DIR issues new determinations on February 22 and August 22, and they take effect 10 days later. This rate is from determination 063-12-3, issued August 22, 2026; DIR's expiration date for it is June 30, 2027.
Scheduled increases
DIR has already set these increases. Work on or after each date is paid the higher rate. DIR often leaves part of an increase "to be allocated to wages and/or employer payments" and confirms the split when it comes due, and it can reduce a scheduled increase in a later notice, so check DIR's increase page before you pay it.
| Takes effect | Increase per hour | Total after increase |
|---|---|---|
| July 1, 2027 | +$4.50 | $114.88 |
| July 1, 2028 | +$4.50 | $119.38 |
The double asterisk after DIR's expiration date means the next rate is already set. If the work runs past that date you have to pay the new rate, and DIR says to build it into contracts signed now (DIR FAQ, Q8).
Rate history since 2024
Total hourly rate for this classification in each DIR release. The chart above draws the same figures with the increases that follow.
| Release | Total | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-2 | $95.38 | |
| 2025-1 | $99.38 | +$4.00 |
| 2025-2 | $99.38 | no change |
| 2026-1 | $105.38 | +$6.00 |
| 2026-2 | $110.38 | +$5.00 |
Every field surveyor rate in the Los Angeles County group
As DIR lists them. The highlighted row is the one this page leads with.
- Chief of Party$110.38
- Instrumentman$102.56
- Chainman/Rodman$101.93
How the Los Angeles County group compares
The main field surveyor rate in every county that has one, and how the pay splits here and in the nearest counties. All bars use the same scale.
Every county in California
Base wage and fringe benefits, nearby
- Los Angeles County groupbase $68.91$110.38
- Ventura Countybase $68.91$110.38
- Orange Countybase $68.91$110.38
- Tulare Countybase $64.75$100.58
Which county is in which field surveyor group
Every California county with a field surveyor rate. Counties DIR treats alike share one page; the rest have their own. You pay the rate for the county where the work is done, even if your shop is somewhere else.
5 groups of counties with identical DIR rates, and 1 county with rates of its own.
California field surveyor prevailing wage by county, with a map
Footnotes on this rate
DIR's footnotes, in DIR's words. Several change the rate itself: zone pay, a percentage added to the total, or which overtime hours get which rate.
- G Includes an amount per hour worked for supplemental dues.
- Q Rate applies to the first 4 daily overtime hours and the first 12 hours worked on Saturday; all other time is paid at the Sunday and holiday overtime hourly rate.
- W Dictionary of occupational titles, fourth edition, 1977, u.s. Department of labor.
DIR's other marks: # means an apprenticeable craft, * means in effect until superseded, ** means the next rate is already set.
More from DIR on this rate
- Holidays (DIR PDF)
- Scope of work: which tasks this rate covers
- Travel and subsistence
- Apprentice rates: DIR publishes these separately, by program. Look them up on DIR.
Every trade's rates, county by county: Imperial · Inyo · Kern · Kings · Los Angeles · Mono · Orange · Riverside · San Bernardino · San Diego · San Luis Obispo · Santa Barbara · Ventura
Are you being paid this rate?
Add your hourly wage to what your employer pays into health, pension and other plans for you, and compare it with $110.38. Plan payments only count if the money goes into the plan; your pay stub won't show them, but plan statements will. The training amount goes to the California Apprenticeship Council or an apprenticeship program, not to you. Check a week of pay.
Contractors on most public works jobs file certified payroll with the state, and anyone can look it up in DIR's CPR public search. If your total comes up short, you can file a public works complaint with the California Labor Commissioner.
Source
California Department of Industrial Relations, general prevailing wage determination 063-12-3. DIR prints it in one file per county:
- Imperial: www.dir.ca.gov/oprl/2026-2/PWD/Determinations/Subtrades/IMP.html
- Inyo: www.dir.ca.gov/oprl/2026-2/PWD/Determinations/Subtrades/INY.html
- Kern: www.dir.ca.gov/oprl/2026-2/PWD/Determinations/Subtrades/KER.html
- Kings: www.dir.ca.gov/oprl/2026-2/PWD/Determinations/Subtrades/KIN.html
- Los Angeles: www.dir.ca.gov/oprl/2026-2/PWD/Determinations/Subtrades/LOS.html
- Mono: www.dir.ca.gov/oprl/2026-2/PWD/Determinations/Subtrades/MON.html
- Orange: www.dir.ca.gov/oprl/2026-2/PWD/Determinations/Subtrades/ORA.html
- Riverside: www.dir.ca.gov/oprl/2026-2/PWD/Determinations/Subtrades/RIV.html
- San Bernardino: www.dir.ca.gov/oprl/2026-2/PWD/Determinations/Subtrades/SBR.html
- San Diego: www.dir.ca.gov/oprl/2026-2/PWD/Determinations/Subtrades/SDI.html
- San Luis Obispo: www.dir.ca.gov/oprl/2026-2/PWD/Determinations/Subtrades/SLO.html
- Santa Barbara: www.dir.ca.gov/oprl/2026-2/PWD/Determinations/Subtrades/STB.html
- Ventura: www.dir.ca.gov/oprl/2026-2/PWD/Determinations/Subtrades/VEN.html
Each figure is copied from DIR's file and checked by a second, separate reader. How we check · How to read a determination · Download every California rate as CSV · Report an error