Career
Commercial divers
Work underwater, from inspections to construction.
$72,990
Median pay
+4.8%
Job growth, 2025–35
400
Openings a year
Postsecondary nondegree award
Typical education
Under 2 years
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Check and maintain diving equipment, such as helmets, masks, air tanks, harnesses, or gauges.
- Take appropriate safety precautions, such as monitoring dive lengths and depths and registering with authorities before diving expeditions begin.
- Communicate with workers on the surface while underwater, using signal lines or telephones.
- Descend into water with the aid of diver helpers, using scuba gear or diving suits.
- Inspect and test docks, ships, buoyage systems, plant intakes or outflows, or underwater pipelines, cables, or sewers, using closed circuit television, still photography, and testing equipment.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on objects & tools, then ideas & analysis?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Check and maintain diving equipment, such as helmets, masks, air tanks, harnesses, or gauges.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Speaking, Operations Monitoring.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
Under 2 years of education after high school (postsecondary nondegree award), for a median of $72,990 a year and 400 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- Diver, Professional and InstructorCIP 49.0304
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Riggers$62,640 · +3.9%
- Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters$63,800 · +6.8%
- Ship Engineers$109,530 · +2.7%
- Sailors and Marine Oilers$51,520 · +3.2%
- Boilermakers$76,410 · -1.8%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.