Also called: Carnival Ride Operator, Midway Game Operator, Carny
Travels with a carnival from fair to fair, setting up rides and running midway games.
A carnival worker helps assemble a Ferris wheel in a fairground, runs a ring-toss game for 12 hours, and tears it all down Sunday night to drive to the next town.
Approximate; often seasonal.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
No formal education, about 0 years after high school. No degree; carnivals hire and train you on the job to set up rides and run games, and the job means traveling for the season.
Ways in: On-the-job training. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Growing about average. Seasonal.
Low risk for 10 years. Setting up rides and running games across fairs stays physical, traveling work.
Age 18+. One way to start: Ask traveling carnival companies at your county fair or apply on their sites for seasonal crew
Classes: Physical education, Shop class, Business math, Speech.
Official data: O*NET occupation 39-3091.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.