Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers
US occupation · SOC 47-4021
Job titles people report: Elevator Adjuster, Elevator Constructor, Elevator Installer, Elevator Mechanic, Elevator Repair and Maintenance Technician (Elevator Repair and Maintenance Tech), Elevator Service Mechanic, Elevator Service Technician (Elevator Service Tech), Elevator Serviceman, Elevator Technician (Elevator Tech), Elevator Troubleshooter
Pay and outlook
- Median annual wage, May 2025
- $109,910
- Half earn more, half earn less
- Middle half earn
- $79,290 – $135,720
- 25th to 75th percentile
- People employed, May 2025
- 23,790
- Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)
- Projected change, 2025–35
- +5.7%
- At or above the all-jobs rate (3.5% to under 7%)
- Openings a year (projected)
- 1,900
- New jobs plus replacing people who leave
- Typical education to enter
- High school diploma or equivalent
- BLS
- All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
- Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
- Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.
What the work involves
Assemble, install, repair, or maintain electric or hydraulic freight or passenger elevators, escalators, or dumbwaiters.
Main tasks
- Inspect wiring connections, control panel hookups, door installations, and alignments and clearances of cars and hoistways to ensure that equipment will operate properly.
- Assemble, install, repair, and maintain elevators, escalators, moving sidewalks, and dumbwaiters, using hand and power tools, and testing devices such as test lamps, ammeters, and voltmeters.
- Disassemble defective units, and repair or replace parts such as locks, gears, cables, and electric wiring.
- Check that safety regulations and building codes are met, and complete service reports verifying conformance to standards.
- Locate malfunctions in brakes, motors, switches, and signal and control systems, using test equipment.
- Adjust safety controls, counterweights, door mechanisms, and components such as valves, ratchets, seals, and brake linings.
- Read and interpret blueprints to determine the layout of system components, frameworks, and foundations, and to select installation equipment.
- Connect car frames to counterweights, using steel cables.
Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.
Getting in
- Typical education to enter (BLS)
- High school diploma or equivalent
- Training once hired: apprenticeship
- O*NET Job Zone 3
- Medium preparation
- Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Interests it suits
The strongest of the six O*NET interest types for this occupation, highest first. The short glosses are ours.
- Realistic: hands-on work with tools, machines, plants or animals
- Conventional: organising information, records and procedures
- Investigative: research, analysis and solving problems with ideas
Fields of study that lead here
From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 1 programme to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.
Fields
Our college matcher doesn't offer this field as a major, so we can't suggest colleges for it here.
Mechanic and Repair Technologies/Technicians
- Industrial Mechanics and Maintenance Technology/Technician
Related careers
Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.
- Maintenance and Repair Workers, General
$49,590 median · +4.2% projected
- Mobile Heavy Equipment Mechanics, Except Engines
$65,510 median · +6.7% projected
- Millwrights
$65,700 median · +0.9% projected
- Rail Car Repairers
$67,530 median · +2.6% projected
- Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems Assemblers
$65,380 median · -5.6% projected
- Engine and Other Machine Assemblers
$53,710 median · -17% projected
Sources
This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. CollegeMatcher has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET 31.0 Database · CC BY 4.0
Changes: we show the core tasks in the O*NET database with the highest importance ratings (up to eight, in that order), the top three O*NET interest types by score, and shortened Job Zone names. Titles, descriptions and task text are unchanged.
Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Projections, typical entry education and training: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–35. Fields of study: NCES and BLS CIP 2020–SOC 2018 Crosswalk. All public domain. OEWS · Employment Projections · CIP–SOC crosswalk