← All 785 jobsFile 53-4011
Locomotive Engineers
Lightly edited
AI performs some of this work. Most of it still needs a person. The BLS expects 0.5% more of these jobs by 2035, slower than the 3.5% average.
- Rank
- #277 of 785 jobs, by how much of the work AI does
- US jobs, 2025 to 2035
- +0.5% All jobs: +3.5%
- Median US pay
- $81,410 a year, 2025
- People doing it
- 27,400 in the US, with about 2,000 openings a year
The work, 10 activities
The job description, marked up.
Every activity in this job, the biggest first. Tap a line for the evidence.
- deleAI does this
- +AIAI helps
- stetStill yours
AI does this: Communicate with others about operational plans or activities26%
AI performed this in about 1 in 354 Copilot conversations and completed it 90% of the time.
Still yours: Operate transportation equipment or vehicles16%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Monitor resources or inventories10%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Monitor operations to ensure adequate performance8%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Monitor equipment operation8%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Monitor safety or security of work areas, facilities, or properties8%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Signal others to coordinate work activities8%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Intervene in crisis situations or emergencies6%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Prepare reports of operational or procedural activities5%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Inspect vehicles5%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
2025 to 2035
Ten years from now.
For every 100 of these jobs in 2025, the BLS projects 100 in 2035. Across all US jobs, about 104.
About 2,000 openings a year, from growth and from people who retire or move on.
Nearby
Where your skills travel.
Jobs that share the most work with this one, where AI does less of it.
- Shares 51% of the workRailroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers5% AI does, against 26% here+0.8% by 2035 · $68,840 · High school diploma
- Shares 44% of the workCommercial Pilots16% AI does, against 26% here+5.2% by 2035 · $123,220 · Postsecondary certificate
- Shares 40% of the workCaptains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels20% AI does, against 26% here+4% by 2035 · $92,460 · Postsecondary certificate
The wire
On the wire.
Nothing filed about this job yet. The latest from the Work front:
How to read this file.
deleAI does this. In US Bing Copilot conversations from January to September 2024, AI itself performed the activity, completed it and made a real difference often enough to count.
+AIAI helps. People brought the activity to AI as their own goal, and it usually got them there.
stetStill yours. It barely shows up in AI use, AI rarely finishes it, or in this job it needs hands.
Shares are weighted by how much each activity matters in the job, using O*NET. Microsoft’s own AI applicability score for this job is 0.11, higher than 37% of jobs.
Doing an activity is not doing a job. The researchers behind this data warn against reading it as job loss, and so do we. It is US data; the shape of the work travels.
Sources: Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025) · O*NET OnLine, 53-4011 · BLS Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
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