Highway maintenance worker vs street worker

The differences between highway maintenance workers and street workers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a highway maintenance worker and a street worker. Additionally, a highway maintenance worker has an average salary of $40,488, which is higher than the $34,477 average annual salary of a street worker.

The top three skills for a highway maintenance worker include CDL, highway maintenance and asphalt. The most important skills for a street worker are asphalt, CDL, and hand tools.

Highway maintenance worker vs street worker overview

	Highway Maintenance Worker	Street Worker
Yearly salary	$40,488	$34,477
Hourly rate	$19.47	$16.58
Growth rate	-	12%
Number of jobs	72,179	19,970
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 52%	High School Diploma, 35%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	12	12

Highway maintenance worker vs street worker salary

Highway maintenance workers and street workers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Highway Maintenance Worker	Street Worker
Average salary	$40,488	$34,477
Salary range	Between $30,000 And $54,000	Between $25,000 And $46,000
Highest paying City	Olympia, WA	-
Highest paying state	New Jersey	-
Best paying company	Washington State University	-
Best paying industry	Construction	-

Differences between highway maintenance worker and street worker education

There are a few differences between a highway maintenance worker and a street worker in terms of educational background:

	Highway Maintenance Worker	Street Worker
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 52%	High School Diploma, 35%
Most common major	Business	Criminal Justice
Most common college	-	-

Highway maintenance worker vs street worker demographics

Here are the differences between highway maintenance workers' and street workers' demographics:

	Highway Maintenance Worker	Street Worker
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 89.3% Female, 10.7%	Male, 84.5% Female, 15.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.8% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 11.7% Asian, 0.5% White, 74.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.6%	Black or African American, 8.6% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 10.9% Asian, 0.5% White, 74.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.5%
LGBT Percentage	4%	4%

Differences between highway maintenance worker and street worker duties and responsibilities

Highway maintenance worker example responsibilities.

Operate snow plows, haul trucks, bobcats, front end loaders, and backhoe equipment.
Maintain trucks, pavement making equipment, snowplows, and salt spreaders.
Operate all cdl equipment which include snow plow, highway striper, street sweeper and transporter.
Operate a single and tandem axle dump truck, backhoe, loader, roller, and chain saws.
Haul equipment out to job tandem dump truck with trailer operate backhoe paving roller, bobcat and loader.
Follow behind operating machinery, such as mowers, and weed whack what the mowers are unable to mow.

Street worker example responsibilities.

Mow and manicure grass on street right of way.
Repair broken or crack water pipes, clean gutter and ditches (by mowing of the grass).
Operate powered equipment such as mowers, edgers.
Use a tractor to bush hog grass around town as needed.
Monitor Medicaid and Medicare eligibility as well assist with application process.
Use hand tools, such as shovels, rakes, pruning saws, and brush trimmers.

Highway maintenance worker vs street worker skills

Common highway maintenance worker skills

CDL, 9%
Highway Maintenance, 7%
Asphalt, 7%
Hand Tools, 6%
Loaders, 5%
GRASS, 5%

Common street worker skills

Asphalt, 22%
CDL, 13%
Hand Tools, 12%
Mowing, 9%
Street Maintenance, 6%
Maintenance Equipment, 6%

Highway Maintenance Worker vs. similar jobs

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Highway Maintenance Worker vs Street Worker

Updated January 8, 2025

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