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Highway Maintenance Workers vs Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners

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

A factual, source-backed comparison of Highway Maintenance Workers and Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners 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.”

Highway Maintenance Workers Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$49,070
$49,140
Employment · BLS OEWS
151,750
29,050
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
3rd pct
25th pct

At a glance

Dimension Highway Maintenance Workers Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners
Median pay $49,070 $49,140
Employment 151,750 29,050
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+3.0%) Growing fast (+7.6%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 12,300 2,900
Typical education · O*NET Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not. Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
AI exposure · published exposure studies Low · 3rd pct Low · 25th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 2nd pct · 9% of tasks 3rd pct · 10% 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: Public Safety and Security, Control Precision, Multilimb Coordination, Operation and Control, English Language, Operations Monitoring, Oral Comprehension, Problem Sensitivity, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Static Strength, Transportation, Manual Dexterity, Near Vision, Auditory Attention, Monitoring, Coordination, Oral Expression, Flexibility of Closure, Visualization, Selective Attention, Reaction Time, Trunk Strength, Extent Flexibility, Far Vision, Active Listening, Administration and Management, Deductive Reasoning, Inductive Reasoning, Perceptual Speed.

Specific to Highway Maintenance Workers

  • Building and Construction
  • Information Ordering
  • Finger Dexterity
  • Response Orientation
  • Stamina
  • Education and Training
  • Speaking
  • Complex Problem Solving

Specific to Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners

  • Customer and Personal Service
  • Mechanical
  • Depth Perception
  • Hearing Sensitivity
  • Mathematics
  • Critical Thinking
  • Equipment Maintenance
  • Troubleshooting

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 , Word processing software , Internet browser software .

Specific to Highway Maintenance Workers

Specific to Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Highway Maintenance Workers or Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners — 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. "Highway Maintenance Workers vs Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners." 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/highway-maintenance-workers-vs-septic-tank-servicers-and-sewer-pipe-cleaners

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Highway Maintenance Workers vs Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/highway-maintenance-workers-vs-septic-tank-servicers-and-sewer-pipe-cleaners

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-highway-maintenance-workers-vs-septic-tank-servicers-and-sewer-pipe-cleaners,
  title  = {Highway Maintenance Workers vs Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners},
  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/highway-maintenance-workers-vs-septic-tank-servicers-and-sewer-pipe-cleaners}
}

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