# Highway Maintenance Workers

US SOC code 47-4051. Markdown version of https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/47-4051

Also called: Road maintenance worker, Highway crew worker, Road crew, DOT maintenance worker, Highway technician.

## In brief

In May 2025, [BLS](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip) counted **154,960** US highway maintenance workers, with median pay of **$50,260** a year. Of the BLS counts since 2021, the May 2025 count is the highest. The earliest figure here is [an estimate](https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/candc/timeline.cfm) of **137,000** from 1935, not measured the same way as today's count. The last full technology era for highway maintenance workers: GPS fleet management and AI pavement scanning, 2010 to 2020. AI-assisted pavement scanning reduces the need for dedicated inspection crews but does not reduce the need for repair crews; it changes what repair crews are doing and in what sequence.

## What the sources say

### Official outlook

BLS projects employment to grow 3.4% from 2025 to 2035. Source: [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=47-4051&ioType=o).

### AI exposure studies

- **0%** of this job's tasks are exposed to large language models. Not a forecast of job losses. [Eloundou and others, 2023](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv)

Data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35. BLS publishes these counts as yearly survey snapshots and cautions against reading them as a precise trend.

## Highway Maintenance Workers employment and pay by year

- On record since: 1793
- Latest US employment: 154,960 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [4]
- Latest US median pay: $50,260 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [7]
- Outlook: +3.4% by 2035. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 [19]

### All 27 years of cited US data

| Year | US employment | Annual pay (median unless marked) | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1935 | 137,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., Federal Highway Administration [1] |
| 1936 | n/a | $900 (estimate) | Est., Federal Highway Administration [5] |
| 1960 | 85,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., FHWA [2] |
| 2000 | 145,790 | $30,000 (estimate) | BLS OEWS 2000 (employment) [3]; Est., O\*NET 47-4051.00 (pay) [6] |
| 2003 | 140,450 | $28,650 | BLS OEWS May 2003 [4] |
| 2004 | 136,550 | $29,550 | BLS OEWS May 2004 [4] |
| 2005 | 140,600 | $30,250 | BLS OEWS May 2005 [4] |
| 2006 | 138,670 | $31,540 | BLS OEWS May 2006 [4] |
| 2007 | 137,140 | $32,600 | BLS OEWS May 2007 [4] |
| 2008 | 136,420 | $34,000 | BLS OEWS May 2008 [4] |
| 2009 | 139,490 | $34,250 | BLS OEWS May 2009 [4] |
| 2010 | 142,530 | $34,780 | BLS OEWS May 2010 [4] |
| 2011 | 143,760 | $35,220 | BLS OEWS May 2011 [4] |
| 2012 | 141,180 | $35,260 | BLS OEWS May 2012 [4] |
| 2013 | 139,070 | $35,870 | BLS OEWS May 2013 [4] |
| 2014 | 140,650 | $36,580 | BLS OEWS May 2014 [4] |
| 2015 | 142,300 | $36,930 | BLS OEWS May 2015 [4] |
| 2016 | 143,320 | $38,130 | BLS OEWS May 2016 [4] |
| 2017 | 146,580 | $38,700 | BLS OEWS May 2017 [4] |
| 2018 | 149,260 | $39,690 | BLS OEWS May 2018 [4] |
| 2019 | 150,860 | $40,730 | BLS OEWS May 2019 [4] |
| 2020 | 149,890 | $41,660 | BLS OEWS May 2020 [4] |
| 2021 | 141,150 | $45,880 | BLS OEWS May 2021 [4] |
| 2022 | 143,330 | $44,930 | BLS OEWS May 2022 [4] |
| 2023 | 150,860 | $47,360 | BLS OEWS May 2023 [4] |
| 2024 | 151,750 | $49,070 | BLS OEWS May 2024 [4] |
| 2025 | 154,960 | $50,260 | BLS OEWS May 2025 [4] |

## Sources (82)

### Employment series

1. [FHWA Contributions and Crossroads Timeline — PWA highway labor (1933-1939 person-hours)](https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/candc/timeline.cfm), Federal Highway Administration
2. [FHWA — Origins of the Interstate Maintenance Program (state highway maintenance responsibility framework)](https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/intmaint.cfm), Federal Highway Administration
3. [BLS OES 2000 national estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oes00nat.zip), Bureau of Labor Statistics
4. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)

### Wage series

5. [FHWA Contributions and Crossroads Timeline — New Deal highway labor wage context (1930s)](https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/candc/timeline.cfm), Federal Highway Administration
6. [O\*NET 47-4051.00 — occupational wage context and BLS OEWS trajectory reference](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/47-4051.00), O\*NET / BLS
7. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)

### Tool eras

8. [FHWA — The First American Macadam Road, 1823 (Boonsborough Turnpike construction method)](https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/rakeman/1823.htm), Federal Highway Administration
9. [T2M / International Assoc. for History of Transport — "Hand-Made Streets: Labor in Making and Maintaining Street Pavement"](https://t2m.org/hand-made-streets-the-role-of-labor-in-making-installing-and-maintaining-street-pavement-prior-to-the-dominance-of-asphalt/), T2M / International Association for History of Transport, Traffic and Mobility
10. [FHWA — Federal Aid Road Act of 1916: Building the Foundation (Good Roads Movement and road technology context)](https://highways.dot.gov/public-roads/summer-1996/federal-aid-road-act-1916-building-foundation), Federal Highway Administration
11. [EH.net — "Turnpikes and Toll Roads in Nineteenth-Century America" (road labor transition from hand work to machine work)](https://eh.net/encyclopedia/turnpikes-and-toll-roads-in-nineteenth-century-america/), EH.net / Economic History Association
12. [FHWA — Origins of the Interstate Maintenance Program (state-based maintenance responsibility post-1956)](https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/intmaint.cfm), Federal Highway Administration
13. [National Archives — National Interstate and Defense Highways Act, 1956 (lane-mileage expansion and maintenance obligations)](https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/national-interstate-and-defense-highways-act), National Archives
14. [FHWA — SAFETEA-LU Fact Sheet: Interstate Maintenance Program (IM Program history and funding)](https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/safetealu/factsheets/im.htm), Federal Highway Administration
15. [National Academies — AI Applications for Automatic Pavement Condition Evaluation (2024)](https://www.nationalacademies.org/publications/27993), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
16. [Pavemetrics — LCMS-2 Laser Crack Measurement System (product overview and deployment scale)](https://www.pavemetrics.com/), Pavemetrics Systems
17. [Roads and Bridges — "Tech That's Transforming Work Zones" (2024 smart work zone technology overview)](https://www.roadsbridges.com/work-zone-safety/article/55282917/tech-thats-transforming-work-zones), Roads and Bridges
18. [Traffic Safety Store — AI-Powered Smart Work Zones (queue-warning system deployments and crash reduction data)](https://www.trafficsafetystore.com/blog/ai-powered-smart-work-zones/), Traffic Safety Store

### Forecasts and exposure studies

19. [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35, National Employment Matrix: 47-4051 Highway maintenance workers (2025: 161.8 thousand; 2035: 167.3 thousand; +3.4%)](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=47-4051&ioType=o), Bureau of Labor Statistics
20. [Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), "GPTs are GPTs", occupation-level exposure data occ\_level.csv (O\*NET-SOC 47-4051.00, human-rated β 0)](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv), OpenAI

### Historical notes

21. [EH.net — "Turnpikes and Toll Roads in Nineteenth-Century America"](https://eh.net/encyclopedia/turnpikes-and-toll-roads-in-nineteenth-century-america/), EH.net / Economic History Association
22. [FHWA Contributions and Crossroads Timeline — Division of Road Maintenance established (1914)](https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/candc/timeline.cfm), Federal Highway Administration
23. [Federal Aid Road Act of 1916 — Wikipedia (legislative history and maintenance requirement)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Aid_Road_Act_of_1916), Wikipedia
24. [HISTORY — "Works Progress Administration: WPA and New Deal" (WPA road employment and mileage)](https://www.history.com/articles/works-progress-administration), HISTORY
25. [National Archives — National Interstate and Defense Highways Act (1956)](https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/national-interstate-and-defense-highways-act), National Archives
26. [FHWA — SAFETEA-LU Fact Sheet: Interstate Maintenance Program (ISTEA 1991 origins)](https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/safetealu/factsheets/im.htm), Federal Highway Administration
27. [Wikipedia — Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Bipartisan Infrastructure Law: federal highway funding overview)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrastructure_Investment_and_Jobs_Act), Wikipedia

### Predecessors & successors

28. [EH.net — "Turnpikes and Toll Roads in Nineteenth-Century America" (toll road maintenance labor)](https://eh.net/encyclopedia/turnpikes-and-toll-roads-in-nineteenth-century-america/), EH.net / Economic History Association
29. [FHWA — Federal Aid Road Act of 1916: Building the Foundation](https://highways.dot.gov/public-roads/summer-1996/federal-aid-road-act-1916-building-foundation), Federal Highway Administration
30. [HISTORY — "Works Progress Administration" (WPA highway and road project employment)](https://www.history.com/articles/works-progress-administration), HISTORY

### Present-day analysis

- [O\*NET 30.3 — Highway Maintenance Workers (47-4051.00)](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/47-4051.00), accessed 2026-06-05
- [Eloundou et al. 2024 — GPTs are GPTs (Science)](https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130), accessed 2026-06-05
- [BLS OEWS May 2024 — 47-4051 Highway Maintenance Workers (national flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), accessed 2026-10-07
- [Roads and Bridges — Tech Transforming Work Zones (2024)](https://www.roadsbridges.com/work-zone-safety/article/55282917/tech-thats-transforming-work-zones), accessed 2026-06-05
- [National Academies — AI Applications for Automatic Pavement Condition Evaluation (2024)](https://www.nationalacademies.org/publications/27993), accessed 2026-06-05
- [AWP Safety — Smart Work Zone Technology FAQs](https://www.awpsafety.com/news/smart-work-zone-technology-faqs/), accessed 2026-06-05
- [Beyond Vision — Smart Drones for Highway Surveillance and Road Safety (Wayback archive; page removed from live site)](https://web.archive.org/web/20260615085215/https://beyond-vision.com/smart-drones-for-highway-surveillance-and-road-safety/), accessed 2026-09-13
- [Traffic Safety Store — AI-Powered Smart Work Zones](https://www.trafficsafetystore.com/blog/ai-powered-smart-work-zones/), accessed 2026-06-05

How to read these figures: https://futurehistory.earth/methodology. Every figure links to its own source; gaps stay gaps.