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Hazardous Materials Removal Workers vs Highway Maintenance Workers

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

A factual, source-backed comparison of Hazardous Materials Removal Workers and Highway Maintenance Workers 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.”

Hazardous Materials Removal Workers Highway Maintenance Workers
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$48,490
$49,070
Employment · BLS OEWS
50,570
151,750
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
3rd pct
3rd pct

At a glance

Dimension Hazardous Materials Removal Workers Highway Maintenance Workers
Median pay $48,490 $49,070
Employment 50,570 151,750
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+1.0%) About average (+3.0%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 5,000 12,300
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 · 3rd pct Low · 3rd pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 2nd pct · 9% of tasks 2nd pct · 9% of tasks
Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index Automation-leaning (42.5%) —
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: Problem Sensitivity, Oral Comprehension, Control Precision, Monitoring, Oral Expression, Near Vision, Public Safety and Security, Deductive Reasoning, Category Flexibility, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Administration and Management, Transportation, Operation and Control, Inductive Reasoning, Information Ordering, Multilimb Coordination, Active Listening, Operations Monitoring, Visualization, Manual Dexterity, Building and Construction, Speaking, Selective Attention, Extent Flexibility, English Language, Coordination, Complex Problem Solving.

Specific to Hazardous Materials Removal Workers

  • Critical Thinking
  • Written Expression
  • Speech Recognition
  • Customer and Personal Service
  • Written Comprehension
  • Speech Clarity
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Mechanical

Specific to Highway Maintenance Workers

  • Static Strength
  • Auditory Attention
  • Flexibility of Closure
  • Finger Dexterity
  • Response Orientation
  • Reaction Time
  • Trunk Strength
  • Stamina

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 , Presentation software , Word processing software , Data base user interface and query software .

Specific to Hazardous Materials Removal Workers

Specific to Highway Maintenance Workers

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Hazardous Materials Removal Workers or Highway Maintenance Workers — 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. "Hazardous Materials Removal Workers vs Highway Maintenance Workers." 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/hazardous-materials-removal-workers-vs-highway-maintenance-workers

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Hazardous Materials Removal Workers vs Highway Maintenance Workers. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/hazardous-materials-removal-workers-vs-highway-maintenance-workers

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-hazardous-materials-removal-workers-vs-highway-maintenance-workers,
  title  = {Hazardous Materials Removal Workers vs Highway Maintenance Workers},
  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/hazardous-materials-removal-workers-vs-highway-maintenance-workers}
}

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