How To Become A Steel Crane Operator: What It Is and Career Path

What is a steel crane operator and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a steel crane operator. For example, did you know that they make an average of $18.7 an hour? That's $38,900 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 7% and produce 56,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreSteel Crane OperatorUS Average

Salary

3.0

Avg. Salary $38,900

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.5

Growth rate 7%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.54%

Asian 0.71%

Black or African American 11.58%

Hispanic or Latino 15.40%

Unknown 3.64%

White 67.14%

Gender

female 1.46%

male 98.54%

Age - 48

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 48

Stress level

7.5

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.4

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.1

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a steel crane operator

Explore steel crane operator education requirements

Most common steel crane operator degrees

High School Diploma

54.3 %

Bachelor's

20.0 %

Diploma

11.4 %

Start to develop specific steel crane operator skills

Skills	Percentages
Hand Tools	75.84%
Customer Orders	10.93%
Torches	7.46%
CNC	5.77%

Complete relevant steel crane operator training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New steel crane operators learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a steel crane operator based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real steel crane operator resumes.

Research steel crane operator duties and responsibilities

Certify with Hilti nail guns and oxygen torches.
Perform specialized production line and quality control duties in a professional production environment specializing in plastic extrusion.
Operate Kone overhead cranes to offload railcars, load CTL line with steel coils and fix coil rows.
Perform specialized production line and quality control duties in a professional production environment specializing in plastic extrusion.

Prepare your steel crane operator resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your steel crane operator resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a steel crane operator resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable steel crane operator resume templates

Build a professional steel crane operator resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your steel crane operator resume.

Apply for steel crane operator jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a steel crane operator job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do steel crane operators rate their job?

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Steel crane operator reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Sep 2020

Pros

With concentration, using the right lifting material, watching for safe environment while lifting and offloading, having the LMI working etc, you'll have a less accident work delivery.

Cons

Other works going on around lifting and offloading point, etc.

A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2019