Production · Holland code RCI

Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators

Operate or maintain stationary engines, boilers, or other mechanical equipment to provide utilities for buildings or industrial processes. Operate equipment such as steam engines, generators, motors, turbines, and steam boilers.

Also called: Boiler Operator, Operating Engineer, Stationary Engineer, Utilities Operator, Auxiliary Operator, Boiler Technician (Boiler Tech), Operator, Plant Utilities Engineer.

O*NET 51-8021.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $78,620; Middle half earn $63,160 to $101,150. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Post-Secondary Certificate; 47% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 3 of 5; Medium preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034: +2% · Slower than average; 33,300 jobs in 2024, projected 34,000. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Stationary engineers and boiler operators".

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Operate or tend stationary engines, boilers, and auxiliary equipment, such as pumps, compressors, or air-conditioning equipment, to supply and maintain steam or heat for buildings, marine vessels, or pneumatic tools.
Activate valves to maintain required amounts of water in boilers, to adjust supplies of combustion air, and to control the flow of fuel into burners.
Monitor boiler water, chemical, and fuel levels, and make adjustments to maintain required levels.
Analyze problems and take appropriate action to ensure continuous and reliable operation of equipment and systems.
Observe and interpret readings on gauges, meters, and charts registering various aspects of boiler operation to ensure that boilers are operating properly.
Fire coal furnaces by hand or with stokers and gas- or oil-fed boilers, using automatic gas feeds or oil pumps.
Maintain daily logs of operation, maintenance, and safety activities, including test results, instrument readings, and details of equipment malfunctions and maintenance work.
Test boiler water quality or arrange for testing and take necessary corrective action, such as adding chemicals to prevent corrosion and harmful deposits.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Active Listening3.3 / 5
Critical Thinking3.3 / 5
Reading Comprehension3.1 / 5
Active Learning3.1 / 5
Monitoring3.1 / 5
Speaking3.0 / 5

Knowledge areas

Mechanical4.1 / 5
Chemistry3.4 / 5
Public Safety and Security3.3 / 5
Physics3.2 / 5
Engineering and Technology3.2 / 5
English Language3.1 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic100
Investigative36
Artistic0
Social2
Enterprising4
Conventional57

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

steam engineer · DE Ingenieur Druck- und Dampftechnik/Ingenieurin Druck- und Dampftechnik · FR ingénieur procédé vapeur/ingénieure procédé vapeur
steam turbine operator · DE Steuerer von Dampfturbinen/Steuerin von Dampfturbinen · FR conducteur de turbines à vapeur/conductrice de turbines à vapeur
boiler operator · DE Kesselwärter/Kesselwärterin · FR conducteur de chaudière/conductrice de chaudière
steam plant operator · DE Dampfmaschinist/Dampfmaschinistin · FR conducteur de production d’énergie sur chaudière industrielle/conductrice de production d’énergie sur chaudière industrielle

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Pipe fitters (5214)3,700 employed
Plumbers and heating and ventilating installers and repairers (5315)153,700 employed
Energy plant operatives (8133)5,600 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Plant and machine operators and assemblers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Plant and machine operators and assemblers, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€39,630
Netherlands	€37,567
Austria	€37,304
Sweden	€36,005
Germany	€34,433
Ireland	€32,617
France	€28,550
Italy	€28,330
Spain	€24,409
Portugal	€11,309
Poland	€10,259

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -0.50. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (51-8021).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

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