Maintenance and Repair Worker, General Salary (2026), outlook and how to become one

Maintenance and Repair Workers, General earn a median of $49,590 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025), 3% below the $50,980 median for all US occupations. That works out at $23.84/hr. The middle half earn between $40,840 and $62,620. The top 10% earn $77,180 or more.

The median hourly wage for maintenance and repair workers, general is $23.84 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). On a full-year basis the $49,590 annual median works out to about $4,130 a month before tax.

BLS does not publish a starting salary. The nearest measure is the low end of the pay range: the lowest-paid 10% of maintenance and repair workers, general earn less than $35,350 a year and the bottom quarter less than $40,840 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). New workers often start near that end, but where a particular job starts depends on the employer, the state and the credentials you bring, so read these as the bottom of the range rather than a guaranteed entry wage.

Rarely. Even the 90th percentile is $77,180, so fewer than 10% of maintenance and repair workers, general earn $100,000 or more (BLS OEWS, May 2025). No state's median reaches $100,000; the highest is District of Columbia at $60,310.

The highest state medians for Maintenance and Repair Workers, General are District of Columbia ($60,310), Alaska ($60,270), Minnesota ($59,200) (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Adjusted for local prices using BEA Regional Price Parities, Minnesota moves to the top at $60,028.

BLS does not split maintenance and repair workers, general' pay by specialty or employer, but its range shows how far the top end runs: the highest-paid 10% earn more than $77,180, against a median of $49,590 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Location moves pay the most in the published data: the best-paying states are District of Columbia ($60,310), Alaska ($60,270), Minnesota ($59,200). BLS also counts 2 specialty careers inside this occupation (chimney sweep, ski lift mechanic), which share its federal pay figures.

No. A bachelor's degree is not the norm: BLS reports a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education for Maintenance and Repair Workers, General. BLS also lists moderate-term on-the-job training as typical on-the-job training. In O*NET's survey of people already doing the job, 63.0% hold post-secondary certificate.

BLS does not publish a fixed length; it depends on the route. What it does publish: the typical way in for maintenance and repair workers is a high school diploma or equivalent. Once hired, BLS lists moderate-term on-the-job training as typical. O*NET classes the work as needing medium preparation.

It is stable rather than fast-growing: employment is projected to change 4.2% over 2025–2035, about the same as the 3.5% projected across all occupations (BLS EP, 2025–2035). BLS still projects about 148,700 openings a year, mostly from workers retiring or moving to other work.

General maintenance and repair workers fix and maintain machines, mechanical equipment, and buildings. A core O*NET task: repair machines, equipment, or structures, using tools such as hammers, hoists, saws, drills, wrenches, or equipment such as precision measuring instruments or electrical or electronic testing devices. Employers most often ask for Computer aided design CAD software, Data base user interface and query software, Electronic mail software.

Most work more than 40. In O*NET's survey of people in the job, 63% of maintenance and repair workers, general usually work more than 40 hours a week, 38% work exactly 40 and 0% work fewer. 73% say their schedule is regular and 25% irregular. Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, Work Context.

O*NET scores Maintenance and Repair Workers, General highest on the Realistic and Conventional interest areas, so the work mixes hands-on, practical work with tools, machines or the outdoors with organising, following procedures and working precisely with data. On NueCareer's MBTI-to-interest mapping that lines up most closely with ISTJ personalities. Personality is a fit signal, not a gate. The free NueCareer quiz scores your own profile against all 1,731 careers in the bank.

Not a state license. The job itself is unlicensed in every state. The tasks are not, and that is where the variation lives. Electrical and plumbing licensing is set by states and often by cities and counties on top, with different thresholds for what counts as licensed work, different apprenticeship hour requirements, and different rules about whether a business can employ an unlicensed person to do minor work on its own property. Elevator, boiler, backflow prevention, pool operation and asbestos or lead work all carry their own separate credentials in many jurisdictions. BLS simply says licensing requirements vary by state and locality and points you to your own licensing board, which is the honest answer.

Women make up 5.2% of maintenance and repair workers, general, against 47.1% of all employed people: a heavily male-dominated occupation. 28.5% are 55 or older (23.2% across all jobs), so a larger-than-usual share of the workforce reaches retirement age over the next decade. Those exits are counted in the BLS openings figure. The median worker is 43.5 years old (all workers: 42.1). Source: BLS Current Population Survey, 2025 annual averages.