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Civilian occupations required to spend the most time outdoors in 2020
June 25, 2021
If you enjoy fresh air and sunshine, we have data to inform your career choices. In 2020, 4.3 percent of civilian workers were required to spend more than two-thirds of their workday outdoors. Among landscaping and groundskeeping workers, 89.9 percent were required to spend more than two-thirds of their working time outside. This occupation includes greenskeepers, hedge trimmers, lawn caretakers, and shrub planters.
Percent of workers required to spend more than two-thirds of their workday outdoors, selected occupations, 2020
Occupation
Percent constantly outdoors
Landscaping and groundskeeping
89.9%
Construction laborers
79.0
Highway maintenance
47.9
Lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service
45.3
First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers
38.8
Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators
36.3
Coaches and scouts
13.8
Transportation and material moving
8.0
All workers
4.3
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media
2.3
We also have information on jobs with fresh air and sunshine, but not too much. Among all civilian workers in 2020, 15.1 percent were required to be outdoors 2 to 33 percent of their workday. Among preschool teachers, except those teaching special education, 88 percent were required to spend 2 to 33 percent of their working time outdoors.
Percent of workers required to spend 2 percent to 33 percent of their workday outdoors, selected occupations, 2020
Occupation
Percent occasionally outdoors
Preschool teachers, except special education
88.1%
Light truck drivers
82.0
Childcare workers
76.3
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers
71.5
Carpenters
62.8
News analysts, reporters, and journalists
59.5
Construction managers
56.8
Mobile heavy equipment mechanics, except engines
55.5
Bus drivers, transit and intercity
54.4
All workers
15.1
These data are from the Occupational Requirements Survey. To learn more, see “Occupational Requirements in the United States — 2020.” Workers are defined to be outdoors when they perform their critical tasks outdoors and are unprotected and exposed to the elements. Occupations required to spend more than two-thirds of their working time outside are defined to be constantly outdoors. Occupations required to spend between 2 percent and 33 percent of their working time outside are defined to be occasionally outdoors. For more information about concepts and definitions in the survey, see the Handbook of Methods chapter.
United States Department of Labor
