Highway Maintenance Workers vs Roof Bolters, Mining: $50K vs $79K Median Pay

Highway Maintenance Workers vs Roof Bolters, Mining: what changes?

Consider Highway Maintenance Workers if you want to maintain highways, municipal and rural roads, airport runways, and rights-of-way. Consider Roof Bolters, Mining if you would rather operate machinery to install roof support bolts in underground mine. Both list high school diploma or equivalent; compare training and prior experience separately.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Highway Maintenance Workers and Roof Bolters, Mining. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

Compare the practical differences

Highway Maintenance Workers

National median pay (2025): $50,260
Route into the job: High school diploma or equivalent; More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Set out signs and cones around work areas to divert traffic.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 11,800

Know before you choose

The work can involve real occupational hazards. Training, protective equipment, and routine safety discipline matter every day.

See the full Highway Maintenance Workers brief

Roof Bolters, Mining

National median pay (2025): $78,540
Route into the job: High school diploma or equivalent; More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Drill bolt holes into roofs at specified distances from ribs or adjacent bolts.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 100

Know before you choose

BLS projects employment to shrink 18.9% from 2025 to 2035. Openings can still occur when existing workers leave.

See the full Roof Bolters, Mining brief

How the national numbers differ

Highway Maintenance Workers has the edge on annual openings

Highway Maintenance Workers is at 11,800 annual openings, compared with 100 annual openings for Roof Bolters, Mining.

Highway Maintenance Workers has the edge on projected growth

Highway Maintenance Workers is at 3.4% projected growth, compared with -18.9% projected growth for Roof Bolters, Mining.

Roof Bolters, Mining has the edge on median pay

Roof Bolters, Mining is at $78,540, compared with $50,260 for Highway Maintenance Workers.

56/ 100

Highway Maintenance Workers

33.4/ 100

Roof Bolters, Mining

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

Detailed evidence

Highway Maintenance Workers vs Roof Bolters, Mining

Dimension	Highway Maintenance Workers	Roof Bolters, Mining
Median pay (2025)	$50,260	$78,540
Pay percentile	33 percentile	69.9 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)	3.4%	-18.9%
Annual openings (2025–2035)	11,800	100
2025 employment	161,800	2,200
How you qualify	High school diploma or equivalent; More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing	High school diploma or equivalent; More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
O*NET preparation group	Job Zone 2	Job Zone 2
Related work experience	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
On-the-job training	More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.	More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.

The table reports national benchmarks and reviewed work descriptions. It does not rate personal suitability, job security, or physical safety.

Read Highway Maintenance Workers brief Read Roof Bolters, Mining brief

Highway Maintenance Workers vs Roof Bolters, Mining: what changes?

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Highway Maintenance Workers

Roof Bolters, Mining

How the national numbers differ

Highway Maintenance Workers has the edge on annual openings

Highway Maintenance Workers has the edge on projected growth

Roof Bolters, Mining has the edge on median pay

Highway Maintenance Workers vs Roof Bolters, Mining

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