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Crane and Tower Operators vs Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators

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

A factual, source-backed comparison of Crane and Tower Operators and Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators 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 Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$66,370
$58,710
Employment · BLS OEWS
42,000
469,270
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
19th pct
30th pct

At a glance

Dimension Crane and Tower Operators Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators
Median pay $66,370 $58,710
Employment 42,000 469,270
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+3.0%) About average (+3.6%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 3,800 41,900
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 11th pct · 13% of tasks
Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index — —
Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman No 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, Selective Attention, Manual Dexterity, Response Orientation, Near Vision, Critical Thinking, Oral Expression, Active Listening, Monitoring, Oral Comprehension, Perceptual Speed, Visualization, Visual Color Discrimination, Speech Recognition, Speech Clarity, Reading Comprehension, Speaking, Time Management, Deductive Reasoning, Information Ordering, Time Sharing, Finger Dexterity, English Language.

Specific to Crane and Tower Operators

  • Judgment and Decision Making
  • Mathematics
  • Spatial Orientation
  • Glare Sensitivity
  • Transportation
  • Active Learning
  • Complex Problem Solving

Specific to Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators

  • Equipment Maintenance
  • Public Safety and Security
  • Troubleshooting
  • Inductive Reasoning
  • Static Strength
  • Hearing Sensitivity
  • Auditory Attention

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 .

Specific to Crane and Tower Operators

Specific to Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Crane and Tower Operators or Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators — 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 Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators." 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; 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-operating-engineers-and-other-construction-equipment-operators

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Crane and Tower Operators vs Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/crane-and-tower-operators-vs-operating-engineers-and-other-construction-equipment-operators

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-crane-and-tower-operators-vs-operating-engineers-and-other-construction-equipment-operators,
  title  = {Crane and Tower Operators vs Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; 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-operating-engineers-and-other-construction-equipment-operators}
}

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