Compare Occupations

	Railroad Conductors and Yardmasters	Transportation Inspectors	First-Line Supervisors of Material-Moving Machine and Vehicle Operators	Traffic Technicians	Signal and Track Switch Repairers
SUMMARY	58% Moderate Risk	36% Low Risk	33% Low Risk	45% Moderate Risk	45% Moderate Risk
JOB SCORE	4.0/10	4.1/10	5.4/10	3.7/10	5.0/10
POLLING	59% (Moderate Risk, Based on 107 votes)	60% (High Risk, Based on 20 votes)	There hasn't been enough votes on this occupation yet	69% (High Risk, Based on 18 votes)	32% (Low Risk, Based on 21 votes)
GROWTH by year 2034	1.1%	1.7%	3.7%	3.7%	1.7%
WAGES	$74,080 or $35.61 per hour	$85,750 or $41.22 per hour	$61,890 or $29.75 per hour	$58,480 or $28.11 per hour	$83,600 or $40.19 per hour
VOLUME as of 2024	42,710	23,320	605,510	7,580	8,210
SNOWFLAKE [?] The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
DESCRIPTION	Coordinate activities of switch-engine crew within railroad yard, industrial plant, or similar location. Conductors coordinate activities of train crew on passenger or freight trains. Yardmasters review train schedules and switching orders and coordinate activities of workers engaged in railroad traffic operations, such as the makeup or breakup of trains and yard switching.	Inspect equipment or goods in connection with the safe transport of cargo or people. Includes rail transportation inspectors, such as freight inspectors, rail inspectors, and other inspectors of transportation vehicles not elsewhere classified.	Directly supervise and coordinate activities of material-moving machine and vehicle operators and helpers.	Conduct field studies to determine traffic volume, speed, effectiveness of signals, adequacy of lighting, and other factors influencing traffic conditions, under direction of traffic engineer.	Install, inspect, test, maintain, or repair electric gate crossings, signals, signal equipment, track switches, section lines, or intercommunications systems within a railroad system.

Compare Occupations Side by Side

Curious how automation and AI could affect your career? Our comparison tool lets you view two or more jobs side by side, helping you quickly spot differences in risk level, pay, growth, and popularity. All of this is based on a mix of academic research, user polling, and official labour data.

Automation Risk

Each occupation shows a probability of automation. A higher score means machines and algorithms are more likely to take over the role in the future.

Job Score

A quick summary of how a job performs overall — factoring in wages, growth, volume, and automation risk. It’s a handy way to see the bigger picture at a glance.

Polling Data

Thousands of visitors cast their votes on how “automatable” each job feels. These community insights are shown alongside the calculated probabilities.

Growth & Wages

See how fast each occupation is projected to grow and what people earn on average. High wages don’t always mean high security — automation risk still matters.

Volume of Workers

Explore how many people currently work in each occupation and in which year the data was recorded. Popularity can affect how disruptive automation will be for the wider economy.

The Snowflake Diagram

Each snowflake visualises the balance between automation risk, wages, growth, and job volume. Bigger and greener areas mean stronger performance in that dimension.

Use this comparison page to research careers, guide students, or simply explore the future of work. All data is regularly updated to keep the results relevant.