Career
Telecommunications line installers and repairers
Install and repair the lines that carry communications.
$74,330
Median pay
-3.4%
Job growth, 2025–35
8,000
Openings a year
High school diploma or equivalent
Typical education
None required
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Splice cables, using hand tools, epoxy, or mechanical equipment.
- Inspect or test lines or cables, recording and analyzing test results, to assess transmission characteristics and locate faults or malfunctions.
- Clean or maintain tools or test equipment.
- Set up service for customers, installing, connecting, testing, or adjusting equipment, such as digital subscriber line modems.
- Access specific areas to string lines, or install terminal boxes, auxiliary equipment, or appliances, using bucket trucks, climbing poles or ladders, or entering tunnels, trenches, or crawl spaces.
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 information & systems?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Splice cables, using hand tools, epoxy, or mechanical equipment.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Monitoring, Critical Thinking, Speaking, Quality Control Analysis.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
No degree beyond high school, though long-term on-the-job training is typical, for a median of $74,330 a year and 8,000 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- Communications Systems Installation and Repair Technology/TechnicianCIP 47.0103
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Telecommunications Equipment Installers and Repairers, Except Line Installers$63,890 · -3.3%
- Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers$95,320 · +10.3%
- Radio, Cellular, and Tower Equipment Installers and Repairers$63,520 · +1.2%
- Audiovisual Equipment Installers and Repairers$52,600 · +4.8%
- Electrical and Electronics Installers and Repairers, Transportation Equipment$84,890 · +5.4%
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.