DETAILED OCCUPATION DATA

Lay, repair, and maintain track for standard or narrow-gauge railroad equipment used in regular railroad service or in plant yards, quarries, sand and gravel pits, and mines. Includes ballast cleaning machine operators and railroad bed tamping machine operators.

Occupational Employment Statistics(OES) Wage Data
Wages Updated to First Quarter, 2020

					Percentiles
Geography	Employment	Emp SE*	Mean	Mean SE*	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th
Southwest Balance of State	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Minnesota	300	70	$26.26/hr	$0.55/hr	$20.37/hr	$23.59/hr	$26.79/hr	$29.39/hr	$30.94/hr
U S	16,180	1,311	$27.88/hr	$1.12/hr	$16.96/hr	$21.24/hr	$27.37/hr	$34.59/hr	$39.70/hr
*SE = Standard error, a measure of the statistical reliability of the estimate.

Related Occupations

Occupation (click title for details)	OES		Projections
	Employment	Median Wage	% Change  -
Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators	660	$26.08/hr	N/A
Highway Maintenance Workers	410	$25.25/hr	N/A
Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators	N/A	N/A	N/A

• Drives vehicle that automatically moves and lays track or rails over section of track to be constructed, repaired, or maintained.
• Adjusts controls of machines that spread, shape, raise, level, and align track, according to specifications.
• Turns wheels of machine, using lever controls, to adjust guidelines for track alignments and grades, following specifications.
• Drives graders, tamping machines, brooms, and ballast-cleaning-spreading machines to redistribute gravel and ballast between rails.
• Lubricates machines, changes oil, and fills hydraulic reservoirs to specified levels.
• Observes leveling indicator arms to verify levelness and alignment of track.
• Strings and attaches wire-guidelines machine to rails to level or align track or rails.
• Pushes control to close grasping device on track or rail section to raise or move section to specified location.
• Engages mechanism that lays track or rail to specified gauge.