Riggers

Moderate Risk
Low High

Explore safer careers (4)

Lower estimated automation risk

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

Advancement path using crew coordination, lift plans, safety briefings, schedules, and quality checks.

Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers
39% automation risk | Low Risk
Pays better Higher growth
12.4 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Weaker but realistic for utility riggers using heights, line hardware, lifting, safety, and field teamwork.

Millwrights
29% automation risk | Low Risk
More jobs
22.5 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Uses machinery placement, alignment, rigging, mechanical systems, drawings, hand tools, and industrial safety.

Industrial Machinery Mechanics
41% automation risk | Moderate Risk
Higher growth More jobs
10.5 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Uses mechanical equipment, rigging, parts handling, troubleshooting, tools, and industrial maintenance routines.

Compare this job with others
or search for another job
Share your results with friends and family.

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
4.8/10
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

51% (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.

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

Education and training expertise

Quite important
Why this matters
Designing and delivering instruction—adapting lessons to different learners and measuring whether training actually works.
Jobs that also use this strength

What users think

Based on 34 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 51% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

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

View sentiment trend

Pay & outlook

Wages

Moderately paid relative to other professions

In 2024, the median annual wage for Riggers was $62,060 ($30 per hour).

The median annual wage for Riggers was 25.4% higher 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

Moderate growth relative to other professions

The number of 'Riggers' job openings is expected to rise 3.2% 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 24,190 people employed as 'Riggers' within the United States.

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

Put another way, around 1 in 6 thousand people are employed as 'Riggers'.

People also viewed

Lawyers Commercial Pilots Actors Computer Programmers Web Developers

What people are saying (2)

Peter Powell (Shanks) (No chance)
31 Mar 2026 16:51
The legal requirement under LOLER, Lifting Operations & Lifting Equipment Regulations. requires that all lifting operations are carried out by a competent 'PERSON', competent means trained with the knowledge, Ai could have the knowledge, but it would require a change in the law to remove the 'PERSON', insurance liability would probably not allow this.
Graham Galea (Uncertain)
06 Sep 2025 09:48
Riggers need to climb towers, run Coax cables and install Antennas. I struggle to see this automated.
Leave a reply about this occupation
0/8000

Job description

Set up or repair rigging for construction projects, manufacturing plants, logging yards, ships and shipyards, or for the entertainment industry.

O*NET-SOC code: 49-9096.00