Operates the tall cranes that build skyscrapers, from a cab hundreds of feet in the air.
You climb a ladder 300 feet to your cab at dawn, then spend the day lifting steel and concrete buckets by radio with a signalperson you cannot see.
Union operators in big cities earn the most.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Apprenticeship, about 5 years after high school. Operating engineers apprenticeship plus NCCCO tower crane certification.
Ways in: Apprenticeship, Certification. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Majors to look at: Operating Engineers Apprenticeship.
Growing faster than average (about 5% over 10 years).
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. Remote cabs and anti-collision automation are arriving; a certified human still runs and answers for every lift.
Classes: Physics, Geometry, Construction CTE.
Official data: O*NET occupation 53-7021.
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.