Features

• As of May 2010, the 20,430 elevator installers and repairers employed in the U.S., earned a mean annual wage of $70,010, according to the bureau's Occupational Employment Statistics survey. The bottom ten percent earned $39,060 and the top ten percent were paid $101,390 per year. The bureau calculates mean annual wages by multiplying the mean hourly wage by 2,080 hours -- the usual number of hours worked annually by a full time employee.
  
  

Industries

• The industry that employed the largest number of elevator repairers was building equipment contractors; mean annual wages in that industry were $70,920. Building equipment contractors was also the top paying industry for elevator repairers. Other high paying industries were wholesale electronic markets at $69,390, and colleges, universities and professional schools at $61,100.
  
  

Locations

• The five states that employed the highest numbers of elevator repairers as of May 2010 were New York, Texas, California, Maryland and Florida. Mean annual wages ranged from $48,680 in Florida to $90,510 in California. The top paying state for elevator repairers was New Hampshire, with a mean annual wage of $97,530. Maine, Nevada, Michigan and California round out the top five. Elevator repairers in these states earned at least $90,000 per year. In the top paying metropolitan area for elevator repairers, Sacramento, Calif., mean annual wages were $101,030.
  
  

Considerations

• The bureau estimates that employment for elevator installers and repairers will grow by 9 percent through the year 2018. Growth will be spurred largely by the need to maintain and upgrade older elevators. There is also a need for more elevator installers and repairers to install and maintain elevators in homes, primarily for use by the elderly or disabled. More than 50 percent of elevator installers and repairers are union members, according to the bureau.