Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers
Also called: Accessibility and Private Residence Lift Technician (Accessibility and Private Residence Lift Tech), Accessibility Lift Technician (Accessibility Lift Tech), Building Serviceman, Contract Serviceman, Elevator Adjuster, Elevator Builder, Elevator Constructor, Elevator Erector
Assemble, install, repair, or maintain electric or hydraulic freight or passenger elevators, escalators, or dumbwaiters.
What elevator and escalator installers and repairers do
Typical tasks
- Inspect wiring connections, control panel hookups, door installations, and alignments and clearances of cars and hoistways to ensure that equipment will operate properly.
- 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.
- Disassemble defective units, and repair or replace parts such as locks, gears, cables, and electric wiring.
- Check that safety regulations and building codes are met, and complete service reports verifying conformance to standards.
- Locate malfunctions in brakes, motors, switches, and signal and control systems, using test equipment.
- Adjust safety controls, counterweights, door mechanisms, and components such as valves, ratchets, seals, and brake linings.
- Read and interpret blueprints to determine the layout of system components, frameworks, and foundations, and to select installation equipment.
- Connect car frames to counterweights, using steel cables.
- Maintain log books that detail all repairs and checks performed.
- Connect electrical wiring to control panels and electric motors.
- Test newly installed equipment to ensure that it meets specifications, such as stopping at floors for set amounts of time.
- Participate in additional training to keep skills up to date.
Typical path into the job (BLS)
Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers salary
The median annual wage for elevator and escalator installers and repairers is $109,910 (BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025–35, national). The lowest 10 percent earn less than $59,270 and the highest 10 percent earn more than $158,890. The mean annual wage is $109,820.
The mean hourly wage of $52.00 is 7.2× the federal minimum wage of $7.25. State minimums are higher in most large states. Minimum wage by state →
How does your pay compare with people your age?
Your numbers are not sent or stored. The comparison uses this occupation's BLS wage percentiles, adjusted for age with BLS median weekly earnings by age group (Q3 2026).
Pay by percentile
Annual wage percentiles from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). Percentiles are a good proxy for pay by experience.
Projected pay for Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers (3, 5 and 10 years)est.
Today $109,910 → in 3 years $121,300 → in 5 years $129,500 → in 10 years $152,700 (10-year range $131,300–$177,200). The model assumes pay growth of +3.3% per year.
What drives the annual growth rate
Projected pay = current pay × (1 + annual growth)^years. The annual growth rate starts from a base wage-growth rate and adds or subtracts labor demand (BLS projected employment growth), wage momentum and AI replacement risk for each occupation. Projections are not guarantees. How it is calculated →
Outlook score for Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers
Each component is a percentile rank among all occupations in the same country (0–100). Weights: labor demand 25, wage momentum / openings 15, pay level 15, AI resistance 25, aging workforce 10 (Japan only), entry barrier 10.
Will AI replace Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers? AI replacement risk
How AI is changing this job
A written analysis for this occupation is being prepared.
AI replacement risk compares the parts of a job that are easy to hand to AI or software (processing information, documentation, repetitive computer work) with the parts that are hard to automate (physical work, working closely with people, judgment in unpredictable settings), using O*NET work activities, work context, skills and knowledge. The result is a relative position among all occupations in the country, scaled to 0–100%. Methodology →
Labor demand for Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers
Employment projections are from the BLS Employment Projections program (2025–35). Annual openings include both new jobs and replacement of workers who leave the occupation.
Skills, education and requirements for Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers
Key skills
O*NET skill level ratings (0–7).
Key knowledge areas
What the work involves
Important abilities
Education of workers
Training before entry
Related work experience
Job Zone 3 — medium preparation needed (O*NET)
Difficulty of entry: ★★☆☆☆ Fairly easy (from education, training, experience and Job Zone)
How to become elevator and escalator installers and repairers
A step-by-step guide for this occupation is being prepared. The education, training and experience data above show the typical path.
Career path and how to earn more as elevator and escalator installers and repairers
Career-path guidance is being prepared. Pay by percentile is shown in the Pay section.