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Title Examiner

$58,650
median / year
$38,170 – $90,830
what most earn per year (10th–90th percentile)

What the job actually is

Search public records to trace property ownership and confirm a title is clear before a sale or loan closes.

You may also see this posted as: Abstractor, Title Officer, Title Searcher, Commercial Title Examiner, Searcher, Title Abstractor.

Where you work

Title and real estate offices

The hours

Full-time, daytime

The day to day

What you'd actually spend time doing

  • Examine documentation such as mortgages, liens, judgments, easements, plat books, maps, contracts, and agreements to verify factors such as properties' legal descriptions, ownership, or restrictions.
  • Examine individual titles to determine if restrictions, such as delinquent taxes, will affect titles and limit property use.
  • Prepare reports describing any title encumbrances encountered during searching activities and outlining actions needed to clear titles.
  • Copy or summarize recorded documents, such as mortgages, trust deeds, and contracts, that affect property titles.
  • Verify accuracy and completeness of land-related documents accepted for registration, preparing rejection notices when documents are not acceptable.

Good fit if you like…

Conventional

organizing information, following systems, and getting details right

Enterprising

leading, persuading, selling, or turning an idea into action

Investigative

solving problems, analyzing evidence, and figuring out how things work

O*NET job zone 2 of 5

Some preparation—often a high school credential and on-the-job learning—is usually needed.

Work styles that matter most

Attention to DetailDependabilityCautiousnessIntegrity

Software that shows up in the work

Examples employers report—not a checklist you must already know.

Microsoft ExcelMicrosoft Office softwareMicrosoft OutlookAdobe AcrobatGoogle Workspace softwareMicrosoft Access

By the numbers

May 2025 BLS wage & employment data · 2024–34 BLS employment projections.

Median pay
$58,650
per year
Hourly median
$28.20
per hour
What most earn
$38,170–$90,830
yearly, 10th to 90th percentile
Openings a year
~5,400
projected, 2024–34
Outlook to 2034
+2%
About average
Working in the U.S.
48,580
people, nationwide

Openings a year counts new jobs plus the ones that open when people retire or move on — a truer picture of your odds than growth alone.

“Median” means half earn more and half earn less. Your city, employer, and years on the job move it a lot — that is what the 10th-to-90th range shows.

BLS estimates 8.9% of workers in this occupation are self-employed.

What it pays in your state

Statewide medians are a better starting point than the national number. Your city and experience still matter.

BLS state wage tables

How you get in

Typical starting education

High school / no degree

Training path: On-the-job training, paid.

Related work experience: None.

On-the-job training: Moderate-term on-the-job training.

License or certification

No license required to start in most places.

You can earn while you train. This field has a genuinely paid pathway in — an apprenticeship, a paid academy, or employer-funded training — so you draw a paycheck instead of taking on debt to learn it.

Check the path where you live

Licensing rules and available programs change by state. These federal tools take you to the current official listings.

What it takes

ResearchAttention to detailRecordkeepingReading comprehension

The honest take

The research desk behind every home sale — steady office work that turns careful reading into a paycheck.

Standard Occupational Classification 23-2093. Pay and employment from the BLS May 2025 OEWS survey; outlook and openings from the 2024–34 employment projections; tasks, interests, work styles, software examples, and job zone from O*NET 30.3. See something off? Tell us.