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Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators vs Pipelayers

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

A factual, source-backed comparison of Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators and Pipelayers 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.”

Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators Pipelayers
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$51,650
$48,710
Employment · BLS OEWS
45,680
33,580
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
1st pct
8th pct

At a glance

Dimension Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators Pipelayers
Median pay $51,650 $48,710
Employment 45,680 33,580
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+3.2%) Declining (-4.1%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 4,000 2,400
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 · 1st pct Low · 8th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 11th pct · 13% of tasks 18th pct · 15% 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, Building and Construction, Operations Monitoring, Problem Sensitivity, Operation and Control, Multilimb Coordination, Mechanical, Rate Control, Reaction Time, Static Strength, Trunk Strength, Far Vision, Critical Thinking, Coordination, Oral Comprehension, Oral Expression, Deductive Reasoning, Information Ordering, Visualization, Selective Attention, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Manual Dexterity, Extent Flexibility, Depth Perception, Speech Recognition, Speech Clarity, Active Listening, Speaking, Judgment and Decision Making, Finger Dexterity, Near Vision, Quality Control Analysis.

Specific to Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators

  • Monitoring
  • Troubleshooting
  • Repairing
  • Response Orientation
  • Equipment Maintenance
  • Spatial Orientation
  • Time Sharing
  • Mathematics

Specific to Pipelayers

  • Public Safety and Security
  • Stamina
  • Engineering and Technology
  • Administration and Management
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Time Management
  • Written Comprehension
  • Category Flexibility

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 .

Specific to Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators

Specific to Pipelayers

    Full profiles

    This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators or Pipelayers — 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. "Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators vs Pipelayers." 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/paving-surfacing-and-tamping-equipment-operators-vs-pipelayers

    APA

    Singulariki. (2026). Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators vs Pipelayers. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/paving-surfacing-and-tamping-equipment-operators-vs-pipelayers

    BibTeX 
    @misc{singulariki-paving-surfacing-and-tamping-equipment-operators-vs-pipelayers,
  title  = {Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators vs Pipelayers},
  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/paving-surfacing-and-tamping-equipment-operators-vs-pipelayers}
}

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