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Dredge Operators
Transportation and Material Moving · SOC 53-7031
0.0% AI Exposure — Low
$49,640
Median Annual Salary
Average
O*NET Outlook
200
Proj. Annual Openings
1,040
Employment (OEWS 2025)
-6.4%/yr
Empl. growth (2019–2025)
100/100
AI Resiliency Score
AI exposure from the Anthropic Economic Index (2025); salary from BLS; skills from O*NET. See /sources.
Decision card
Career Evidence Passport
SOC 53-7031 evidence across exposure, wages, projections, postings, certified LCAs, skills, and transitions.
Proxy / seed data labeledDescriptive-only
- SOC exposure
- 0.0%
- Low · Anthropic AEI
- Automation friction
- 55/100
- Moderate friction; broad SOC seed ORS job-requirements coverage.
- Wages
- $49,640
- No H-1B offered-wage row for this SOC.
- Projected openings
- 200
- BLS EP 2024–2034; employment change +1.2%.
- Observed/proxy demand
- —
- FY— certified LCAs; 212 postings in 2025.
Skill evidence
Operation and ControlOperations MonitoringCritical ThinkingCoordinationJudgment and Decision Making
Transition context
- H-1B values are certified Labor Condition Applications, not visa approvals.
- Job postings are seed-static / seed-derived; treat as provider-ready proxy coverage until observed provider data is wired in.
- Transition matches are directional skill-overlap context, not placement guarantees.
- This release is a FutureGrid broad-SOC seed derived from public BLS ORS requirement concepts and categories, not direct occupation-level ORS survey estimates. It describes job requirements, not worker ability, AI capability, or displacement probability. Automation friction is a FutureGrid derived score and should be read alongside exposure, demand, wage, and projection signals.
AI Exposure Analysis
AI Exposure0.0%
AI Resiliency100/100
Exposure BandLow
Sector Avg. Exposure0.2%
Across AI measures
Multiple exposure lenses for this occupation.
13.1%
Consensus
Actual adoption · Anthropic0%
AI capability · OpenAI0%
AI ability · AIOE39.4%
Automation baseline (2013) · Frey & Osborne92%
Top Skills
1.Operation and Control
2.Operations Monitoring
3.Critical Thinking
4.Coordination
5.Judgment and Decision Making
H-1B Visa Sponsorship Demand
View full H-1B trends →No H-1B certified LCA filings recorded for this occupation in FY2016–FY2025.
O*NET occupation profile
What this work involves
Operate dredge to remove sand, gravel, or other materials in order to excavate and maintain navigable channels in waterways.
Common titles: Dredge Operator, Dredger
Representative Tasks
- •Move levers to position dredges for excavation, to engage hydraulic pumps, to raise and lower suction booms, and to control rotation of cutterheads.
- •Start and stop engines to operate equipment.
- •Start power winches that draw in or let out cables to change positions of dredges, or pull in and let out cables manually.
- •Pump water to clear machinery pipelines.
- •Lower anchor poles to verify depths of excavations, using winches, or scan depth gauges to determine depths of excavations.
Detailed Work Activities
- •Operate excavation equipment.
- •Control pumps or pumping equipment.
- •Operate cranes, hoists, or other moving or lifting equipment.
- •Measure work site dimensions.
- •Direct material handling or moving activities.
Tools & Technologies
Global positioning system GPS softwareHYPACK DREDGEPACKProgrammable logic controller PLC softwareTeledyne Odom Hydrographic ODOM eChartTrimble HYDROproWeb browser software
Employment Projections & AI Exposure
15
Occupations Shown
0.8%
Avg AI Exposure
6
Bright Outlook
Horizontal bar chart showing occupations with the highest projected annual openings. Each bar length represents annual projected openings. Color uses a gradient from violet (lower) to cyan (higher). Summary statistics are shown above the chart.
Employment & Wage Trend
BLS OEWS, 2019–2025
Multi-year BLS OEWS history for SOC 53-7031: 2019 — employment: 1,550, median wage: $47,040; 2020 — employment: 1,750, median wage: $49,210; 2021 — employment: 1,650, median wage: $46,210; 2022 — employment: 940, median wage: $47,090; 2023 — employment: 940, median wage: $50,440; 2025 — employment: 1,040, median wage: $49,640.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). See /sources.
Sector Comparison
| Metric | This Career | Sector Average |
|---|---|---|
| AI Exposure | 0.0% | 0.2% |
| Outlook | Average | 20% Bright |
| Median Salary | $49,640 | N/A |
| AI Resiliency | 100/100 | N/A |