OverviewSalaryAboutEducationWhere are the jobsEmploymentGenderRace/Origin
Overview
Assemble, install, repair, or maintain electric or hydraulic freight or passenger elevators, escalators, or dumbwaiters.
Explore Pathways
Titles for this career often contain these words
Fewer details
Responsibilities and activities
Elevator and escalator installers and repairers typically do the following:
- Read and interpret blueprints to determine the layout of system components and to select the equipment needed for installation or repair
- Assemble elevator cars and components for similar systems
- Connect electrical wiring to control panels and motors
- Test newly installed equipment to ensure that it meets specifications
- Troubleshoot malfunctions in brakes, motors, switches, and control systems
- Dismantle elevator, escalator, or similar units to remove and replace defective parts, using hoists, ladders, and handtools or power tools
- Repair or replace faulty components in order to return elevator or escalator to fully operational status
- Conduct preventive maintenance and inspections of elevators, escalators, and similar equipment to comply with safety regulations and building codes
- Keep service records of all maintenance and repair tasks
Elevator and escalator installers and repairers, also called elevator and escalator constructors or mechanics, assemble, install, maintain, and replace elevators, escalators, chairlifts, moving walkways, and similar equipment.
Elevator and escalator installers and repairers usually specialize in installation, maintenance, or repair work. Maintenance and repair workers generally need to know more about electronics, hydraulics, and electricity than do installers. Most elevators and similar mechanisms have computerized control systems, requiring maintenance and repair workers to do complex troubleshooting.
After an elevator, escalator, or other equipment is installed, workers must regularly maintain and repair it. Maintenance includes oiling and greasing moving parts, replacing worn parts, and adjusting equipment for optimal performance. Workers also troubleshoot and may be called for emergency repair.
A service crew usually handles major repairs—for example, replacing cables, doors and other components, or machine bearings. Service crews may need to use cutting torches or rigging equipment and also may need to do major modernization and alteration, such as replacing electric motors, hydraulic pumps, and control panels.
Salary
Median salary: $88,540 annually
Half of those employed in this career earn between $62,050 and $108,080.
Context: Median Salary
How do salaries for this career compare to other jobs' salaries?
Fewer details
Salary growth for elevator and escalator installers and repairers
Is this job likely to reward you for sticking with it through pay raises and promotions? The higher a job’s “experience quotient,” the more you are likely to get as you stay there.
Take a minute to look at how much you might expect your salary to increase with each five years' experience, as well as how the numbers working at each age change. Does this seem to be a job for the young or the old, or could it be a career offering steady salary growth for many years?
Salary distribution
Number employed
About Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers
How do benefits for this career compare to other jobs? The availability of health care, especially employer provided health care, and pension plans can add significantly to the value of compensation you receive in a career. These charts compare how this career compares to other careers with regard to health care and pension plans.
Employee has health insurance
Employer is providing health insurance
Employer-provided pension plan is available
Worker concerns
Some jobs are more stressful than others, and some are just plain dangerous. The following list gives the percentages of elevator and escalator installers and repairers who report hazardous or difficult situations typically occurring at least once a week.
- Hazardous Conditions (100%)
- Hazardous Equipment (100%)
- High Places (100%)
- Responsible for Others' Health (87%)
- Exposed to Contaminants (86%)
- Consequence of Error (86%)
- Time Pressure (69%)
- Minor Burns, Cuts, Bites (63%)
- Exposed to Disease or Infections (46%)
Fewer details
Personality and skills
Can you see yourself in the ranks of Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers? Here are the skills and traits that could lead to success.
Ability to work at heights
Some elevator and escalator installers may have to work atop ladders, mechanical lifts, or in elevator shafts.
Detail oriented
Elevator and escalator installers must keep accurate records of their service schedules. They need to carefully review complex blueprints and follow blueprint instructions exactly.
Mechanical skills
Elevator and escalator installers use a variety of power tools and handtools to install and repair lifts.
Physical stamina
Elevators and escalator installers must be able to do strenuous work, including in cramped and confined spaces, for long periods.
Physical strength
Elevator and escalator installers often lift heavy equipment and parts, including escalator steps, conduit, and metal tracks. They may be required to lift equipment weighing up to 200 pounds.
Troubleshooting skills
Elevator and escalator installers must be able to diagnose problems, especially when making repairs.
Injury and Illness
About 266 elevator and escalator installers and repairers become injured or ill for every 10,000 workers, making this job more dangerous than 96% of other careers. The most common specific illnesses or injuries are detailed following.
Fractures
Soreness and pain
Bruises and contusions
Education pathways to this career
Education attained by elevator and escalator installers and repairers
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), elevator and escalator installers and repairers typically hold a high school diploma or equivalent.
Sometimes the typical education identified by the BLS differs a bit from the reality of the how much education current workers actually have. The donut shows the education level held by people currently working as elevator and escalator installers and repairers as reported in responses to the American Community Survey.
Details: Education and training recommended for elevator and escalator installers and repairers
A high school diploma or equivalent is typically required. High school classes in math, mechanical drawing, and physics may be helpful.
Details: Licensing and certification recommended for elevator and escalator installers and repairers
Most states require elevator and escalator installers and repairers to be licensed. Check with your state for more information.
Although not required, certification shows competence and proficiency in the field.
Elevator and escalator installers and repairers can become Certified Elevator Technicians (CET) or Certified Accessibility and Private Residence Lift Technicians (CAT) through the National Association of Elevator Contractors. They can also be certified as Qualified Elevator Inspectors (QEI) through the National Association of Elevator Safety Authorities International.
Employers may require elevator and escalator installers to have a driver’s license or reliable transportation to travel to jobsites.
Education level of Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers
Only 8% of elevator and escalator installers and repairers have a bachelor's degree or higher.
Education attained by elevator and escalator installers and repairers
None
High School
Some College
Associate's Degree
Bachelor's Degree
Master's Degree
Professional Degree
Doctorate
Fewer details
Programs recommended by the Department of Education
The Department of Education recommends the following college degree programs as preparation for this career. You can click the program row to learn more about the program and explore a list of schools that offer the program.
Number of degrees awarded in 2018
Education
Education level of awarded degrees
Assoc./Cert.
Bachelor's
Graduate
Gender
Gender of graduates
Men
Women
Race/Origin
Race/origin of graduates
White
Minority
International
Where are the jobs
State-by-state employment numbers
Some careers tend to be centered in specific parts of the country. For example, most jobs in fashion are in New York or California. Let's see if your dream job is easy to find in your dream location! We have a few choices for viewing the data that can help you get a full employment picture.
Select a state to see local area details
Number of Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers per 1,000 workers (ACS)
Fewer details
Job density versus job count
Which states hire the most elevator and escalator installers and repairers? We wonder if that's a fair question since states come in all sizes, so instead let's start with the question of which states have the highest density of people working as elevator and escalator installers and repairers. You can choose to view the number of jobs per state if you prefer.
Salaries by state
Let's get a feel for where elevator and escalator installers and repairers earn the highest salaries. There are several choices for which data we consider and how we view that data, and each can lead to different conclusions, so please read on...
Median salary versus state ratio
We use two methods to compare salaries across states:
- In-state comparisons: the ratio of median (middle) salaries for elevator and escalator installers and repairers compared to the median salary for all people working in each state, or
- Median salary: the unaltered median salaries for elevator and escalator installers and repairers.
The darkest shading corresponds to states in which elevator and escalator installers and repairers earn the highest salary when compared to other jobs in the state. We think this figure might be a better indicator than the actual salary for your buying power as a state resident.
Select a state to see local area details
Location-adjusted median salary for Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers (ACS)
Employment
2% of Elevator and escalator installers and repairers are working part time.
We’ve found that some jobs have a huge number of part-time workers, and typically that is because they are unable to find full-time work or the job itself can’t provide full-time hours. With 2% part-time workers, this occupation has a lower percentage of part-time workers than 94% of careers.
Employer types
This donut shares the break-down of workers by employer type, giving us a picture of what employers most typically hire for this career.
Employers of undefined (ACS)
Private for-profit
Private not-for-profit
Local government
State government
Federal government
Self-employed incorporated
Self-employed not incorporated
Working without pay
Fewer details
Distribution: Salaries of elevator and escalator installers and repairers by type of employer
Here are the salary distributions based on employer type.
Gender
Elevator and escalator installers and repairers and gender
With 1% women, this occupation has a lower percentage of women than 98% of careers.
Gender of Elevator and escalator installers and repairers
Men (99%)
Women (1%)
Distribution: salaries by gender
Does gender greatly influence your salary in this career? The closer the bars are, the less discrepancy there is.
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
Fewer details
Context: Women in the workforce
How does this career compare to other careers with regard to the percentage of women in the career.
Race/Origin
Race and origin of Elevator and escalator installers and repairers
This donut shows the distribution of race and origin among those employed as Elevator and escalator installers and repairers.
Race/origin of elevator and escalator installers and repairers
White (83% )
Black (7% )
Other (5% )
Asian (2% )
Multiracial (2% )
Hispanic (1% )
American Indian (0% )
Pacific Islander (0% )
Distribution: salaries by race/origin
Some careers might have a pay disparity based on race or origin, the closer the below bars are the less of a discrepancy is present.
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
