How To Become A Soil Technician: What It Is and Career Path

What is a soil technician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a soil technician. For example, did you know that they make an average of $17.55 an hour? That's $36,510 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 5% and produce 1,800 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreSoil TechnicianUS Average

Salary

2.9

Avg. Salary $36,510

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

6.8

Growth Rate 5%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.31%

Asian 1.39%

Black or African American 0.49%

Hispanic or Latino 2.13%

Unknown 3.17%

White 91.51%

Gender

female 13.70%

male 86.30%

Age - 41

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 41

Stress Level

6.8

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

6.8

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

7.0

Work Life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a soil technician

Explore soil technician education requirements

Most common soil technician degrees

Bachelor's

62.9 %

Associate

14.0 %

High School Diploma

12.5 %

Start to develop specific soil technician skills

Skills	Percentages
Lab Tests	26.94%
Test Results	13.74%
Field Testing	12.03%
Air Content	8.93%
Excavations	8.65%

Complete relevant soil technician training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New soil technicians learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a soil technician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real soil technician resumes.

Research soil technician duties and responsibilities

Manage daily RCRA inspections and mechanical, electrical, and electronic equipment preventive/corrective maintenance procedures.
Test and analyze soil samples using ASTM and AASHTO standards
Perform on site field inspections for testing concrete, masonry, soil compaction and asphalt.
Analyze field-tested of grind soils, concrete and asphalt for contractors including offering solutions when test fail.

Prepare your soil technician resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your soil technician resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a soil technician resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Soil Technician Resume templates

Build a professional Soil Technician resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Soil Technician resume.

Apply for soil technician jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a soil technician job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do soil technicians rate their job?

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Soil Technician reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jul 2019

Cons

Lack of clarity sometimes.