Meter Readers, Utilities
Read meter and record consumption of electricity, gas, water, or steam.
Most important skills
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Operations Monitoring
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Operation and Control
- Time Management
- Service Orientation
Key knowledge
- Customer and Personal Service
- Computers and Electronics
- Public Safety and Security
- Mathematics
- Administration and Management
- Engineering and Technology
- Mechanical
- Physics
What the work involves
- Read electric, gas, water, or steam consumption meters and enter data in route books or hand-held computers.
- Walk or drive vehicles along established routes to take readings of meter dials.
- Upload into office computers all information collected on hand-held computers during meter rounds, or return route books or hand-held computers to business offices so that data can be compiled.
- Verify readings in cases where consumption appears to be abnormal, and record possible reasons for fluctuations.
- Inspect meters for unauthorized connections, defects, and damage, such as broken seals.
- Report to service departments any problems, such as meter irregularities, damaged equipment, or impediments to meter access, including dogs.
- Answer customers' questions about services and charges, or direct them to customer service centers.
- Leave messages to arrange different times to read meters in cases in which meters are not accessible.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Conventional, Realistic, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (94.2% of expert ratings)
- Related experience
- None (82.1%)
- On-the-job training
- Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (46.4%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Meter Readers, Utilities is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very low | Lower on contact with others than 88% of occupations compared | — |
| Dealing with the public | Moderate | Higher on dealing with the public than 50% of occupations compared | — |
| Teamwork | Very low | Lower on teamwork than 87% of occupations compared | — |
| Freedom to make decisions | Moderate | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 58% of occupations compared | — |
| Time pressure | Very low | Lower on time pressure than 86% of occupations compared | 67% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Conflict situations | High | Higher on conflict situations than 62% of occupations compared | — |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Moderate | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 57% of occupations compared | — |
| Consequence of error | Low | Lower on consequence of error than 68% of occupations compared | — |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very low
- Conflict situations: high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: moderate
- Consequence of error: low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Contact with others about half the time: 8.78%
- Contact with others most of the time: 6.65%
- Constant contact with others: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 18, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Important: 12.18%
- Very important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Extremely important: 13.2%
n = 18, Incumbent 08/2026
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Important: 12.19%
- Very important: 5.77%
- Extremely important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 18, Incumbent 08/2026
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Some freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- A lot of freedom: 32.02%
n = 18, Incumbent 08/2026
Time pressure
- Never: 0.34%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 10.17%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 67.28%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 3.18%
- Every day: 19.03%
n = 18, Incumbent 08/2026
Conflict situations
- Never: 0.69%
- Once a year or more but not every month: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a month or more but not every week: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a week or more but not every day: 18.04%
- Every day: 10.53%
n = 18, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a year or more but not every month: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a month or more but not every week: 18.96%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 15.44%
- Every day: 13.12%
n = 18, Incumbent 08/2026
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 4.33%
- Fairly serious: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Serious: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Very serious: 0.36%
- Extremely serious: 7%
n = 18, Incumbent 08/2026
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O*NET-SOC 43-5041.00 · SOC 43-5041 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8