Highway Maintenance Workers
Architecture and ConstructionO*NET 47-4051.00United States
Maintain highways, municipal and rural roads, airport runways, and rights-of-way. Duties include patching broken or eroded pavement and repairing guard rails, highway markers, and snow fences.
- Median annual earnings
- $50,215
- Projected change
- +4.4%
- Typical education
- High school diploma or less
- Employment
- 156.67K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
93.5% of the workforce
Growing to 163.5K by 2035
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The work
What highway maintenance workers do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- Set out signs and cones around work areas to divert traffic.
- Flag motorists to warn them of obstacles or repair work ahead.
- Perform preventative maintenance on vehicles and heavy equipment.
- Drive trucks to transport crews and equipment to work sites.
- Erect, install, or repair guardrails, road shoulders, berms, highway markers, warning signals, and highway lighting, using hand tools and power tools.
- Clean and clear debris from culverts, catch basins, drop inlets, ditches, and other drain structures.
- Haul and spread sand, gravel, and clay to fill washouts and repair road shoulders.
- Drive heavy equipment and vehicles with adjustable attachments to sweep debris from paved surfaces, mow grass and weeds, remove snow and ice, and spread salt and sand.
- Dump, spread, and tamp asphalt, using pneumatic tampers, to repair joints and patch broken pavement.
- Inspect, clean, and repair drainage systems, bridges, tunnels, and other structures.
- Remove litter and debris from roadways, including debris from rock and mud slides.
- Perform roadside landscaping work, such as clearing weeds and brush, and planting and trimming trees.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $36,111
- 25th percentile
- $43,397
- 50th percentile
- $50,215
- 75th percentile
- $61,170
- 90th percentile
- $72,472
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $50,215 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+4.4%average or slower
2025156,674 jobs
2035 projected163,498 jobs
6,824 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- High school diploma or less
- 93.5%
- Associate degree
- 5.1%
- Certificate
- 1.4%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Operation and Control
- Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Quality Control Analysis
- Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- Troubleshooting
- Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Equipment Maintenance
- Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
- Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Traffic Control Flaggers2,975 postings
- 02Flaggers807 postings
- 03Traffic Controllers431 postings
- 04Highway Technicians393 postings
- 05Road Maintenance Workers237 postings
- 06Traffic Control Specialists236 postings
- 07Maintenance Repairers226 postings
- 08Maintenance Operators190 postings
- 09Switchmen190 postings
- 10Certified Flaggers181 postings
- 11Traffic Control Laborers175 postings
- 12Equipment Operators137 postings
- 13Railcar Repairmen137 postings
- 14Repairers133 postings
- 15Maintenance Aides124 postings
- 16Traffic Controllers/Flaggers99 postings
- 17Transportation Workers94 postings
- 18Transportation Equipment Operators82 postings
- 19Road Workers65 postings
- 20Highway Technician Associates55 postings
Top employers
- 01Awp895 postings
- 02Area Wide Protective339 postings
- 03Roadsafe Traffic Systems316 postings
- 04Commonwealth Of Pennsylvania262 postings
- 05Aerotek256 postings
- 06Flagger Force239 postings
- 07State of Indiana209 postings
- 08Commonwealth Of Virginia197 postings
- 09State of Arkansas131 postings
- 10Helix Traffic Solutions114 postings
- 11Traffic Management106 postings
- 12Labor Finders92 postings
- 13State Of Iowa87 postings
- 14State Of Texas66 postings
- 15Ansco & Associates58 postings
- 16Commonwealth of Kentucky57 postings
- 17Watco54 postings
- 18The Wright Company Of NC49 postings
- 19PeopleReady48 postings
- 20United States Department of Transportation48 postings
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