The important role played by right-of-way officials seems to lack recognition. This results in the relative inadequacy of the compensation paid this group of employees. This survey of the 51 state and territorial jurisdictions shows that the right-of-way function in 33 states has achieved separate and coordinate status in the organization answerable to the chief engineer or his equivalent. comparative data on state highway department right-of-way operations are summarized in a table. The states are ranked in terms of amount of property acquired, number of employees of the right-of-way agencies, property acquired per employee, and salary of the chief right-of-way official. Salary data are summarized in a table for right-of-way employees. It is concluded that in spite of the increasing complexity of the right-of-way salaries remain relatively low.