Parking Enforcement Workers
Patrol assigned area, such as public parking lot or city streets to issue tickets to overtime parking violators and illegally parked vehicles.
Most important skills
- Speaking
- Monitoring
- Active Listening
- Critical Thinking
- Social Perceptiveness
- Time Management
- Reading Comprehension
- Coordination
Key knowledge
- English Language
- Public Safety and Security
- Law and Government
- Psychology
- Customer and Personal Service
- Computers and Electronics
- Education and Training
- Administrative
What the work involves
- Patrol an assigned area by vehicle or on foot to ensure public compliance with existing parking ordinance.
- Maintain close communications with dispatching personnel, using two-way radios or cell phones.
- Write warnings and citations for illegally parked vehicles.
- Mark tires of parked vehicles with chalk and record time of marking, and return at regular intervals to ensure that parking time limits are not exceeded.
- Respond to and make radio dispatch calls regarding parking violations and complaints.
- Identify vehicles in violation of parking codes, checking with dispatchers when necessary to confirm identities or to determine whether vehicles need to be booted or towed.
- Perform simple vehicle maintenance procedures, such as checking oil and gas, and report mechanical problems to supervisors.
- Observe and report hazardous conditions, such as missing traffic signals or signs, and street markings that need to be repainted.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Enterprising.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (80.1% of expert ratings)
- Related experience
- None (84.5%)
- On-the-job training
- Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (43.6%)
- 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 Parking Enforcement Workers 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 | Moderate | Lower on contact with others than 52% of occupations compared | 64% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very high | Higher on dealing with the public than 98% of occupations compared | 85% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | High | Higher on teamwork than 63% of occupations compared | — |
| Freedom to make decisions | High | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 71% of occupations compared | — |
| Time pressure | Low | Lower on time pressure than 68% of occupations compared | 32% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very high | Higher on conflict situations than 97% of occupations compared | — |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 96% of occupations compared | 45% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Consequence of error | Moderate | Higher on consequence of error than 57% of occupations compared | 29% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: low
- Conflict situations: very high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
- Consequence of error: moderate
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: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Occasional contact with others: 14.26%
- Contact with others about half the time: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Contact with others most of the time: 21.61%
- Constant contact with others: 64.13%
n = 12, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Fairly important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Important: 3.99%
- Very important: 10.57%
- Extremely important: 85.44%
n = 12, Incumbent 08/2026
Teamwork
- Not important at all: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Fairly important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Important: 7.34%
- Very important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Extremely important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 12, Incumbent 08/2026
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Very little freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Limited freedom: 21.61%
- Some freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- A lot of freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 12, Incumbent 08/2026
Time pressure
- Never: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a year or more but not every month: 28.15%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 11.34%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 28.53%
- Every day: 31.99%
n = 12, Incumbent 08/2026
Conflict situations
- Never: 0.96%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 17.3%
- Once a month or more but not every week: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a week or more but not every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 12, 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: 0.96%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 17.3%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 45.26%
- Every day: 36.48%
n = 12, Incumbent 08/2026
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 18.44%
- Fairly serious: 21.61%
- Serious: 17.3%
- Very serious: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Extremely serious: 28.95%
n = 12, Incumbent 08/2026
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O*NET-SOC 33-3041.00 · SOC 33-3041 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8