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Role hub · Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers

Elevator Mechanic: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.

The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.

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Updated Nov 2, 2026 · Data: BLS OEWS May 2025 · O*NET 31.0
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Median percentile pay

Half of elevator mechanics earn more than this and half earn less.

Annual
$109,910
Hourly
$52.84
Source
BLS May 2025
Quick answer

Elevator Mechanics assemble, install, repair, or maintain electric or hydraulic freight or passenger elevators, escalators, or dumbwaiters. The median pay is $109,910 a year ($52.84 an hour) (BLS, May 2025). O*NET respondents report a high school diploma or equivalent and a post-secondary certificate about equally often (47% of workers surveyed by O*NET each), so no single level is the most common.

Median pay
$109,910
BLS May 2025
Employed in the U.S.
23,790
BLS May 2025
Preparation
Job Zone 3 of 5
medium preparation
Most common education
High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) or Post-Secondary Certificate (about equal)
47% of workers

Data Government data groups this job as Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers (O*NET-SOC 47-4021.00). Figures on this page are for that occupation.

Key facts

Elevator Mechanics at a glance

  • Elevator and escalator installers and repairers in the United States earned a median annual wage of $109,910 in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

  • In its 2025–35 employment projections, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education for elevator and escalator installers and repairers in the United States.

    Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35

  • BLS projects employment of elevator and escalator installers and repairers in the United States to grow 5.7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,900 openings a year on average, including replacement openings.

    Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35

  • BLS estimated that 23,790 people were employed as elevator and escalator installers and repairers in the United States in May 2025, not counting the self-employed.

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

Explore the role

Every page for Elevator Mechanics

SalaryElevator Mechanic salary

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The work

What elevator mechanics do day to day

Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).

  1. Inspect wiring connections, control panel hookups, door installations, and alignments and clearances of cars and hoistways to ensure that equipment will operate properly.
  2. Assemble, install, repair, and maintain elevators, escalators, moving sidewalks, and dumbwaiters, using hand and power tools, and testing devices such as test lamps, ammeters, and voltmeters.
  3. Disassemble defective units, and repair or replace parts such as locks, gears, cables, and electric wiring.
  4. Check that safety regulations and building codes are met, and complete service reports verifying conformance to standards.
  5. Locate malfunctions in brakes, motors, switches, and signal and control systems, using test equipment.
  6. Adjust safety controls, counterweights, door mechanisms, and components such as valves, ratchets, seals, and brake linings.
  7. Read and interpret blueprints to determine the layout of system components, frameworks, and foundations, and to select installation equipment.
  8. Connect car frames to counterweights, using steel cables.
Where this career works

Industries that employ it

Data Share of all elevator mechanic jobs in each industry, 2025 (BLS Employment Matrix).

  1. Specialty trade contractors89.7% of all jobs in this occupation · +6.0% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $112,130
  2. Machinery manufacturing4.1% of all jobs in this occupation · +2.2% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $107,940
  3. Government, excluding state and local education and hospitals1.1% of all jobs in this occupation · +3.4% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $112,460
  4. Professional, scientific, and technical services0.7% of all jobs in this occupation · -1.7% projected change here 2025–35
  5. Educational services; state, local, and private0.7% of all jobs in this occupation · +3.3% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $107,610
  6. Merchant wholesalers, nondurable goods0.3% of all jobs in this occupation · +1.5% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $50,870

Sources: BLS 2025–35 National Employment Matrix (share of the occupation's jobs, projected change) and BLS OEWS May 2025 industry estimates (mean wage). Different industry estimates are not a pay forecast for any person.

Skills that matter

Ranked by importance to the job

Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.

Equipment MaintenancecoreTroubleshootingcoreRepairingcoreOperations MonitoringCritical ThinkingInstallationQuality Control AnalysisComplex Problem SolvingEquipment Selection

Knowledge areas: Mechanical, Customer and Personal Service, Building and Construction, Public Safety and Security, Computers and Electronics, Mathematics.

Tools and technology

Software elevator mechanics use

Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.

  • Computerized maintenance management system CMMSFacilities management software
  • Elevator Controls INTERACTAnalytical or scientific software
  • Troubleshooting softwareAnalytical or scientific software
  • WORLD Electronics FreedomwareAnalytical or scientific software
  • Microsoft ExcelSpreadsheet softwareHot technology
  • Microsoft OutlookElectronic mail softwareHot technology
  • Microsoft WordWord processing softwareHot technology
  • Scheduling softwareCalendar and scheduling software

Also called: Elevator Adjuster, Elevator Constructor, Elevator Installer, Elevator Repair and Maintenance Technician (Elevator Repair and Maintenance Tech), Elevator Service Mechanic.

Method

How this page is built

Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the cosine similarity of the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level and subtract the average across all occupations, then compare the direction of the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 means unrelated or opposite (negative values are shown as 0). Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.

What this page can't tell you
  • How a specific employer defines the job.
  • Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
  • Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
Sources
  1. O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
  2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).

How TryHired builds this data: sources, methods and downloads. Spotted an error? Report a correction.