Commercial Divers
Work below surface of water, using surface-supplied air or scuba equipment to inspect, repair, remove, or install equipment and structures. May use a variety of power and hand tools, such as drills, sledgehammers, torches, and welding equipment. May conduct tests or experiments, rig explosives, or photograph structures or marine life.
A wage reference for United States.
Published wage percentiles describe a distribution within the source occupation group. They provide context for a career decision; employer packages and job offers have their own terms.
This wage group may include multiple detailed occupations. The figures are for the source group, which may be broader than Commercial Divers. They are not an exact-title, employer, experience or seniority match.
May 2025 · USD · United States. Annual and hourly figures are shown only when the source publishes them; neither is calculated from the other.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage data, distributed through the O*NET® OnLine service.
Annual wage thresholds
USD per year
Hourly wage thresholds
USD per hour
| Percentile | Annual wage (USD/year) | Hourly wage (USD/hour) |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | $43,330 | $20.83 |
| 25th | $54,810 | $26.35 |
| 50th · Median | $72,990 | $35.09 |
| 75th | $101,550 | $48.82 |
| 90th | $157,790 | $75.86 |
“≥” means at least the published amount; “≤” means at most that amount. These are bounds, not exact values. “Not published” means the source did not provide that figure. Occupational wages follow the source definition and do not establish an employer’s base salary, equity or total compensation.
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What this career involves.
Occupation definitions describe common work. Responsibilities and requirements vary by employer and specific job.
Selected title examples
Expand more title examples (6)
Typical tasks
- 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.
- Obtain information about diving tasks and environmental conditions.
Expand more tasks (18)
- Inspect the condition of underwater steel or wood structures.
- Operate underwater video, sonar, recording, or related equipment to investigate underwater structures or marine life.
- Repair ships, bridge foundations, or other structures below the water line, using caulk, bolts, and hand tools.
- Cut and weld steel, using underwater welding equipment, jigs, and supports.
- Carry out non-destructive testing, such as tests for cracks on the legs of oil rigs at sea.
- Take test samples or photographs to assess the condition of vessels or structures.
- Supervise or train other divers, including hobby divers.
- Perform activities related to underwater search and rescue, salvage, recovery, or cleanup operations.
- Recover objects by placing rigging around sunken objects, hooking rigging to crane lines, and operating winches, derricks, or cranes to raise objects.
- Install, inspect, clean, or repair piping or valves.
- Set or guide placement of pilings or sandbags to provide support for structures, such as docks, bridges, cofferdams, or platforms.
- Install pilings or footings for piers or bridges.
- Salvage wrecked ships or their cargo, using pneumatic power velocity and hydraulic tools and explosive charges, when necessary.
- Remove obstructions from strainers or marine railway or launching ways, using pneumatic or power hand tools.
- Drill holes in rock and rig explosives for underwater demolitions.
- Remove rubbish or pollution from the sea.
- Perform offshore oil or gas exploration or extraction duties, such as conducting underwater surveys or repairing and maintaining drilling rigs or platforms.
- Cultivate or harvest marine species or perform routine work on fish farms.
Skills used in this work
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Quality Control Analysis
- Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Expand more skills (29)
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Equipment Maintenance
- Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Operation and Control
- Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Troubleshooting
- Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Equipment Selection
- Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or programs to meet specifications.
- Science
- Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
- Management of Material Resources
- Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Management of Financial Resources
- Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
- Operations Analysis
- Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
- Technology Design
- Generating or adapting equipment and technology to serve user needs.
- Programming
- Writing computer programs for various purposes.
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