• Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2023

47-4051 Highway Maintenance Workers

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. May also mow or clear brush from along road, or plow snow from roadway. Excludes “Tree Trimmers and Pruners” (37-3013).

---

National estimates for Highway Maintenance Workers
Industry profile for Highway Maintenance Workers
Geographic profile for Highway Maintenance Workers

National estimates for Highway Maintenance Workers:

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for Highway Maintenance Workers:

Employment (1)	Employment RSE (3)	Mean hourly wage	Mean annual wage (2)	Wage RSE (3)
150,860	0.9 %	$ 23.59	$ 49,070	0.3 %

Percentile wage estimates for Highway Maintenance Workers:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$ 15.52	$ 18.66	$ 22.77	$ 27.53	$ 31.95
Annual Wage (2)	$ 32,280	$ 38,810	$ 47,360	$ 57,260	$ 66,450

---

Industry profile for Highway Maintenance Workers:

Industries with the highest published employment and wages for Highway Maintenance Workers are provided. For a list of all industries with employment in Highway Maintenance Workers, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Industries with the highest levels of employment in Highway Maintenance Workers:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Local Government, excluding Schools and Hospitals (OEWS Designation)	105,430	1.91	$ 23.71	$ 49,310
State Government, excluding Schools and Hospitals (OEWS Designation)	38,150	1.80	$ 23.77	$ 49,440
Highway, Street, and Bridge Construction	5,060	1.38	$ 21.49	$ 44,700
Other Support Services	340	0.10	$ 20.56	$ 42,760
Employment Services	320	0.01	$ 15.42	$ 32,080

Industries with the highest concentration of employment in Highway Maintenance Workers:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Local Government, excluding Schools and Hospitals (OEWS Designation)	105,430	1.91	$ 23.71	$ 49,310
State Government, excluding Schools and Hospitals (OEWS Designation)	38,150	1.80	$ 23.77	$ 49,440
Highway, Street, and Bridge Construction	5,060	1.38	$ 21.49	$ 44,700
Other Support Services	340	0.10	$ 20.56	$ 42,760
Other Specialty Trade Contractors	270	0.04	$ 19.45	$ 40,460

Top paying industries for Highway Maintenance Workers:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Federal, State, and Local Government, excluding State and Local Government Schools and Hospitals and the U.S. Postal Service (OEWS Designation)	40	(7)	$ 28.11	$ 58,470
Real Estate	(8)	(8)	$ 23.84	$ 49,590
State Government, excluding Schools and Hospitals (OEWS Designation)	38,150	1.80	$ 23.77	$ 49,440
Local Government, excluding Schools and Hospitals (OEWS Designation)	105,430	1.91	$ 23.71	$ 49,310
Services to Buildings and Dwellings	160	0.01	$ 23.44	$ 48,750

---

Geographic profile for Highway Maintenance Workers:

States and areas with the highest published employment, location quotients, and wages for Highway Maintenance Workers are provided. For a list of all areas with employment in Highway Maintenance Workers, see the Create Customized Tables function.

States with the highest employment level in Highway Maintenance Workers:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
New York	15,790	1.68	1.69	$ 26.38	$ 54,860
Pennsylvania	10,490	1.76	1.78	$ 23.64	$ 49,180
Illinois	10,220	1.70	1.71	$ 29.32	$ 60,990
California	7,320	0.41	0.41	$ 28.95	$ 60,220
Texas	7,090	0.52	0.53	$ 18.97	$ 39,470

States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Highway Maintenance Workers:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
South Dakota	1,890	4.24	4.27	$ 21.93	$ 45,600
Vermont	1,000	3.33	3.35	$ 25.20	$ 52,410
Mississippi	3,600	3.13	3.15	$ 16.05	$ 33,380
Wyoming	770	2.83	2.85	$ 21.82	$ 45,390
Maine	1,730	2.79	2.81	$ 22.36	$ 46,500

Top paying states for Highway Maintenance Workers:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Washington	2,580	0.74	0.74	$ 29.57	$ 61,500
Connecticut	2,170	1.31	1.32	$ 29.54	$ 61,450
Illinois	10,220	1.70	1.71	$ 29.32	$ 60,990
California	7,320	0.41	0.41	$ 28.95	$ 60,220
Massachusetts	1,310	0.36	0.36	$ 28.70	$ 59,690

Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in Highway Maintenance Workers:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	9,740	1.03	1.03	$ 28.91	$ 60,120
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	4,210	0.93	0.94	$ 31.43	$ 65,370
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	3,250	1.15	1.16	$ 25.76	$ 53,570
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	2,140	0.35	0.35	$ 28.04	$ 58,310
Pittsburgh, PA	2,000	1.87	1.88	$ 24.41	$ 50,760
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	1,930	1.01	1.02	$ 29.68	$ 61,740
St. Louis, MO-IL	1,620	1.22	1.23	$ 25.29	$ 52,600
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	1,530	0.39	0.39	$ 20.53	$ 42,690
Rochester, NY	1,240	2.51	2.52	$ 25.25	$ 52,530
Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, NY	1,170	2.22	2.24	$ 25.76	$ 53,590

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Highway Maintenance Workers:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Watertown-Fort Drum, NY	290	7.43	7.48	$ 22.05	$ 45,870
Glens Falls, NY	290	5.82	5.86	$ 22.76	$ 47,340
Kingston, NY	290	5.10	5.13	$ 25.93	$ 53,940
Ocean City, NJ	200	5.05	5.09	$ 20.36	$ 42,360
Utica-Rome, NY	560	4.78	4.81	$ 22.70	$ 47,210
Binghamton, NY	380	4.01	4.03	$ 23.07	$ 47,990
Danville, IL	100	3.95	3.97	$ 27.03	$ 56,220
Michigan City-La Porte, IN	160	3.83	3.86	$ 22.97	$ 47,770
Johnstown, PA	180	3.81	3.83	$ 19.36	$ 40,270
Gettysburg, PA	110	3.45	3.48	$ 23.15	$ 48,150