Pile Driver Operators
Operate pile drivers mounted on skids, barges, crawler treads, or locomotive cranes to drive pilings for retaining walls, bulkheads, and foundations of structures such as buildings, bridges, and piers.
Most important skills
- Operation and Control
- Operations Monitoring
- Monitoring
- Equipment Maintenance
- Troubleshooting
- Active Listening
- Coordination
- Critical Thinking
Key knowledge
- Building and Construction
- Mechanical
- Mathematics
- Transportation
- Engineering and Technology
- Public Safety and Security
- Design
- Production and Processing
What the work involves
- Move hand and foot levers of hoisting equipment to position piling leads, hoist piling into leads, and position hammers over pilings.
- Conduct pre-operational checks on equipment to ensure proper functioning.
- Drive pilings to provide support for buildings or other structures, using heavy equipment with a pile driver head.
- Move levers and turn valves to activate power hammers, or to raise and lower drophammers that drive piles to required depths.
- Clean, lubricate, and refill equipment.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (52.6% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (38%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (21.7%)
- 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 Pile Driver Operators 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 | High | Higher on contact with others than 60% of occupations compared | 70% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very low | Lower on dealing with the public than 83% of occupations compared | 44% of surveyed respondents chose “Not important at all” |
| Teamwork | Very high | Higher on teamwork than 80% of occupations compared | 72% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 61% of occupations compared | 49% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | Low | Lower on time pressure than 68% of occupations compared | 31% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Moderate | Higher on conflict situations than 58% of occupations compared | 28% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Moderate | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 57% of occupations compared | 37% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Consequence of error | Very high | Higher on consequence of error than 92% of occupations compared | — |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: low
- Conflict situations: moderate
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: moderate
- Consequence of error: very high
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: 8.05%
- Contact with others about half the time: 2.03%
- Contact with others most of the time: 19.7%
- Constant contact with others: 70.22%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2018
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 43.65%
- Fairly important: 6.29%
- Important: 22.03%
- Very important: 18.31%
- Extremely important: 9.72%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2018
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 12.69%
- Very important: 15.04%
- Extremely important: 72.27%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2018
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 7.74%
- Limited freedom: 12.69%
- Some freedom: 48.58%
- A lot of freedom: 31%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2018
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 19.97%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 28.24%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 20.38%
- Every day: 31.42%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2018
Conflict situations
- Never: 10.72%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 28.04%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 28.15%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 21.16%
- Every day: 11.92%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2018
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 12.69%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 33.73%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 37.24%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 8.41%
- Every day: 7.93%
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2018
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 3.86%
- Fairly serious: 9.71%
- Serious: 12.06%
- Very serious: 16.11%
- Extremely serious: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 24, Incumbent 08/2018
Is this career right for me? Find jobs with conditions you prefer
Where people with this background could move
- Analyze
Roustabouts, Oil and Gas
Closeness 94/100
- Analyze
Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas
Closeness 93/100
- Analyze
Riggers
Closeness 93/100
- Analyze
Rail Car Repairers
Closeness 93/100
- Analyze
Helpers--Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Workers
Closeness 93/100
- Analyze
Tree Trimmers and Pruners
Closeness 93/100
Find more alternativesCompare skills with another job
O*NET-SOC 47-2072.00 · SOC 47-2072 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8