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Crane and Tower Operators vs Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining

Side-by-side · O*NET · BLS · AI-exposure research · Anthropic Economic Index

A factual, source-backed comparison of Crane and Tower Operators and Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining on the dimensions both occupations carry. Every figure is a position within an independent published dataset — not a verdict on which job is better, safer, or more “future-proof.”

Crane and Tower Operators Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$66,370
$52,550
Employment · BLS OEWS
42,000
34,210
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
19th pct
30th pct

At a glance

Dimension Crane and Tower Operators Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining
Median pay $66,370 $52,550
Employment 42,000 34,210
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+3.0%) Declining (-0.4%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 3,800 3,100
Typical education · O*NET Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree. Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
AI exposure · published exposure studies Low · 19th pct Low · 30th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 25th pct · 18% of tasks —
Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index — —
Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman No —

Pay and employment are BLS OEWS estimates; outlook and openings are BLS 2024–2034 projections; AI exposure and observed-use figures come from separate research and reflect exposure and usage, not predictions that either job will disappear. Compare like with like.

Skills

Shared: Control Precision, Multilimb Coordination, Operation and Control, Far Vision, Depth Perception, Operations Monitoring, Rate Control, Reaction Time, Problem Sensitivity, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Mechanical, Manual Dexterity, Response Orientation, Near Vision, Critical Thinking, Oral Expression, Active Listening, Monitoring, Oral Comprehension, Speech Recognition, Reading Comprehension, Speaking, Judgment and Decision Making, Time Management, Spatial Orientation, Finger Dexterity, Active Learning, Complex Problem Solving.

Specific to Crane and Tower Operators

  • Selective Attention
  • Perceptual Speed
  • Visualization
  • Visual Color Discrimination
  • Speech Clarity
  • Mathematics
  • Deductive Reasoning
  • Information Ordering

Specific to Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining

  • Auditory Attention
  • Peripheral Vision
  • Hearing Sensitivity
  • Building and Construction
  • Social Perceptiveness
  • Coordination
  • Persuasion
  • Equipment Selection

Knowledge, skills & abilities O*NET rates as important for each occupation. “Shared” are common to both; the columns list what is distinctive to each (top by the order O*NET surfaces).

Tools & technology

Shared: Spreadsheet software , Office suite software , Electronic mail software , Operating system software , Industrial control software .

Specific to Crane and Tower Operators

Specific to Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Crane and Tower Operators or Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining — tasks, the full skill graph, tools, work context, preparation, wages by percentile, industries, AI exposure and the AI work map.

More comparisons

Related occupations you can place side by side on the same sourced scale.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

Cite this page
Plain

Singulariki. "Crane and Tower Operators vs Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/compare/crane-and-tower-operators-vs-excavating-and-loading-machine-and-dragline-operators-surface-mining

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Crane and Tower Operators vs Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/crane-and-tower-operators-vs-excavating-and-loading-machine-and-dragline-operators-surface-mining

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-crane-and-tower-operators-vs-excavating-and-loading-machine-and-dragline-operators-surface-mining,
  title  = {Crane and Tower Operators vs Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/compare/crane-and-tower-operators-vs-excavating-and-loading-machine-and-dragline-operators-surface-mining}
}

Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.