Pipelayers

Moderate Risk
Low High

Explore safer careers (5)

Lower estimated automation risk

First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers
24% automation risk | Low Risk
Pays better Higher growth
32.3 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Uses crew coordination, site safety, materials, equipment scheduling, and installation-quality judgement.

Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters
26% automation risk | Low Risk
Pays better Higher growth
30.4 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Direct pipe-system move using layout, grades, joints, fittings, trench work, and water or sewer infrastructure knowledge.

Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators
38% automation risk | Low Risk
Pays better More jobs
18.3 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Pipe, sewer, water-main, valve, flow, and public-works knowledge transfers with plant operations training.

Construction and Building Inspectors
25% automation risk | Low Risk
Pays better Higher growth
31.5 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Experienced pipelayers can apply code, utility, trench, grade, and installation-quality knowledge to inspections.

Civil Engineering Technologists and Technicians
30% automation risk | Low Risk
Pays better Higher growth
26.4 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Field utility construction experience supports plan reading, site measurement, materials records, and project support.

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Occupation snapshot

What does this snowflake show?
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.
JOB SCORE
3.7/10
What's this?
Job Score (higher is better):

We rate jobs using four factors. These are:

- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions

These are some key things to think about when job hunting.

Risk & user votes

Calculated automation risk

57% (Moderate Risk)

Moderate Risk (41-60%): This occupation may be meaningfully affected by automation. Some parts of the role may be suitable for AI, software, or robotics, while others still rely on human skill, judgement, trust, or real-world context. People in this range may benefit from building skills that complement automation and reduce replacement risk.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Human strengths important in this job

These are human abilities and work contexts that are important in this occupation. They may help explain why parts of the role are harder to replace end-to-end, but they are not the only inputs into the automation score.

Coaching and developing others

Quite important
Why this matters
Helps people learn and improve through coaching, mentoring, and feedback. This relies on trust, motivation, and adapting guidance to each person—work that’s hard to replace end-to-end with automation.
Jobs that also use this strength

Decision-making and problem solving

Quite important
Why this matters
Analyze information, weigh tradeoffs, and choose the best solution—especially when situations are ambiguous, high-stakes, or have real-world consequences.
Jobs that also use this strength

Communicating with people outside the organization

Quite important
Why this matters
Represents the organization to customers, the public, or government—handling questions, concerns, and relationship-building through conversations, writing, calls, or email.
Jobs that also use this strength

What users think

Based on 19 votes

42% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted they are unsure if this occupation will be automated. This assessment is further supported by the calculated automation risk level, which estimates 57% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Pipelayers will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

View sentiment trend

Pay & outlook

Wages

Low paid relative to other professions

In 2024, the median annual wage for Pipelayers was $48,710 ($23 per hour).

The median annual wage for Pipelayers was 1.6% lower than the national median annual wage, which stood at $49,500.

View wage trend

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Growth

Very slow growth relative to other professions.

The number of 'Pipelayers' job openings is expected to decline 4.1% by 2034

View employment trend

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Volume

Lower range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2024 there were 33,580 people employed as 'Pipelayers' within the United States.

This represents around < 0.001% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 4 thousand people are employed as 'Pipelayers'.

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What people are saying (2)

h (Low)
10 Mar 2020 17:56
It's certainly seeming to be a repetitive job, but you'll need very complex robots to take care of it
Chris
13 Mar 2021 02:29
We lay pipe, repair broken water mains, install and repair fire hydrants, repair water main valves, repair street patches from previous digs. The most in depth thing that’s happened over the past 8 years of being there, we’ve gone from using paper maps with pipe size and locations with books that have valve locations, to a computer that has your gps location with all the valves and pipes around you. That and the breaker that goes on a back hoe to bust up the street. That’s about it for robotic advancements for us. You still have to drill the street to isolate the leak for a dig location. Dig around utilities if others are in the way. Such a complicated under paid gig to be doing year round up north with lines breaking all winter.
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Job 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.

O*NET-SOC code: 47-2151.00