Pipelayers

Overview

Pipelayers has a national median salary of $49,000 per year, with -3.1% projected job growth from 2025–2035. The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists no formal educational credential as the typical education needed to enter this occupation.

Description

Lay pipe for storm or sanitation sewers, drains, and water mains. Perform any combination of the following tasks: grade trenches or culverts, position pipe, or seal joints.

Work Values

• Support
• Relationships
• Independence

Work Styles

Responsibilities

Tasks

• Grade or level trench bases, using tamping machines or hand tools.
• Dig trenches to desired or required depths, by hand or using trenching tools.
• Cut pipes to required lengths.
• Install or use instruments such as lasers, grade rods, or transit levels.
• Cover pipes with earth or other materials.

Work Activities

• Getting Information
• Handling and Moving Objects
• Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
• Controlling Machines and Processes
• Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment
• Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials
• Performing General Physical Activities
• Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
• Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships
• Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings

Detailed Work Activities

• Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
• Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.
• Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
• Using either control mechanisms or direct physical activity to operate machines or processes (not including computers or vehicles).
• Running, maneuvering, navigating, or driving vehicles or mechanized equipment, such as forklifts, passenger vehicles, aircraft, or watercraft.
• Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.
• Performing general physical activities includes doing activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling materials.
• Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
• Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
• Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.

T-A-S-K

Technology, Abilities, Skills & Knowledge

Education

Education Levels of Current Workers

The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists no formal educational credential as the typical education needed to enter this occupation. The chart below shows the highest level of education held by people already working in this field, ages 25 and older. It includes workers who earned more education than the job requires and workers who entered the field under earlier requirements, so the largest bar is not the entry requirement. For example, if someone finished an associate's degree and then started working in this field, they are counted under “Associate's degree” here, but the job itself typically asks for no formal educational credential.

Certificates

Certifications applicable to Pipelayers:

Video Resources