---
title: "Will AI Replace Highway Maintenance Workers?"
description: "BLS rates highway maintenance workers' exposure to AI as low. What that means, which parts of the work AI touches, and the 2025–2035 outlook (+3.4%…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-highway-maintenance-workers"
last-updated: "2026-10-15T08:19:32.066Z"
---

# Will AI Replace Highway Maintenance Workers? (2026)

**Short answer:** Very unlikely. BLS rates highway maintenance workers among the occupations least exposed to AI, and most of the work is the kind current AI tools cannot do.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics places highway maintenance workers in its low AI exposure category, among the occupations least exposed to current AI. BLS projects employment to change by +3.4% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 11,800 openings a year.

| Measure | Value | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| BLS relative AI exposure | Low | BLS Employment Projections, AI exposure categories |
| NueCareer AI-resilience score | 68/100 | NueCareer analysis of O\*NET 31.0 Database |
| Projected employment change | +3.4% | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Openings a year | 11,800 | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Median annual wage | $50,260 | BLS OEWS May 2025 |

## Exposure categories

| BLS category | Occupations |
| --- | --- |
| Low (this job) | 203 |
| Moderate | 194 |
| High | 190 |
| Very high | 199 |

Exposure means AI could be or has been used to assist with or complete some of the work. BLS says it does not imply job loss, productivity gains, automation probability or wage effects. Method: https://www.bls.gov/emp/publications/ai-exposure-categories.htm

## What holds up

- Face-to-face discussions: 4.8/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Working outdoors in all weather: 4.9/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Assisting and caring for others: 3.9/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Performing for or working directly with the public: 4.0/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)

## What AI reaches first

- Repetitive motions: 4.2/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Getting information: 4.2/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Repeating the same tasks: 3.5/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Being exact or highly accurate: 4.1/5 (O\*NET work context)

## O\*NET tasks

- Drive heavy equipment and vehicles with adjustable attachments to sweep debris from paved surfaces, mow grass and weeds, remove snow and ice, and spread salt and sand.
- Flag motorists to warn them of obstacles or repair work ahead.
- Set out signs and cones around work areas to divert traffic.
- Clean and clear debris from culverts, catch basins, drop inlets, ditches, and other drain structures.
- Drive trucks to transport crews and equipment to work sites.
- Dump, spread, and tamp asphalt, using pneumatic tampers, to repair joints and patch broken pavement.

## Related careers that are also low-exposure

- [Helpers--Extraction Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/helpers-extraction-worker): BLS exposure Low, median $47,730
- [Construction Laborer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/construction-laborer): BLS exposure Low, median $47,120; [Will AI replace construction laborers?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-construction-laborers)
- [Roofer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/roofer): BLS exposure Low, median $55,440; [Will AI replace roofers?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-roofers)
- [Operating Engineer and Other Construction Equipment Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/operating-engineer-and-other-construction-equipment-operator): BLS exposure Low, median $59,850; [Will AI replace heavy equipment operators?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-heavy-equipment-operators)
- [Painter, Construction and Maintenance](https://nuecareer.com/careers/painter-construction-and-maintenance): BLS exposure Low, median $49,400; [Will AI replace house painters?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-house-painters)
- [Sheet Metal Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/sheet-metal-worker): BLS exposure Low, median $61,800; [Will AI replace sheet metal workers?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-sheet-metal-workers)

## FAQ

**Will AI replace highway maintenance workers?**

Very unlikely. BLS rates highway maintenance workers among the occupations least exposed to AI, and most of the work is the kind current AI tools cannot do. BLS defines exposure as AI being able to assist with or complete some of the work, and says it does not imply job loss, productivity gains or wage effects. BLS projects employment to change by +3.4% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 11,800 openings a year.

**How exposed are highway maintenance workers to AI?**

BLS sorts 786 occupations into four relative categories: low, moderate, high and very high. Highway Maintenance Workers are in the low category, alongside 202 other occupations. The categories combine five public measures of where AI could be or already is used, and they compare occupations with each other rather than giving an absolute risk.

**What parts of a highway maintenance worker's job can AI do?**

In O\*NET's description of the work, the parts that overlap most with what AI handles well are repetitive motions, getting information and repeating the same tasks. The parts that hold up best are face-to-face discussions, working outdoors in all weather and assisting and caring for others. These come from O\*NET ratings of how important each activity is to the job, read through NueCareer's AI-resilience method.

**Is being a highway maintenance worker a safe career from AI?**

On NueCareer's AI-resilience score, built from O\*NET work activities, highway maintenance workers score 68 out of 100, higher than 96% of the occupations we score. The job pays a median of $50,260 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025). No job is fully safe from technological change, but the federal exposure category and the projected openings are the two numbers worth weighing.

**What careers similar to highway maintenance workers are less exposed to AI?**

Helpers--Extraction Worker (low exposure, $47,730 median), Construction Laborer (low exposure, $47,120 median), Roofer (low exposure, $55,440 median), Operating Engineer and Other Construction Equipment Operator (low exposure, $59,850 median). Each is also in the low category, and most are listed by O\*NET as related to the work.

Full profile: https://nuecareer.com/careers/highway-maintenance-worker.

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology