Work Context Index
Jobs with the most time outdoors
O*NET asks people in every occupation "How often does this job require working outdoors, exposed to all weather conditions?" and publishes the mean answer on a 1-to-5 scale. This page lists the 25 occupations whose mean sits highest, with the BLS wage, education and outlook for each.
Which jobs involve the most outdoor work?
Across the 894 occupations O*NET 30.3 rates, the 25 highest for Outdoors, Exposed to All Weather Conditions average between 4.91 and 5.0 on O*NET's 1-to-5 scale, where 1 means "Never" and 5 means "Every day"; the median across all occupations is 1.86. Highest are Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators (5.0), Driver/Sales Workers (5.0), Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers (5.0). Their median BLS wage is $55,440 (2025, 25 of 25 with a BLS line item), and 25 of the 25 with BLS education data typically need less than a bachelor's degree.
- Occupations compared
- 894 O*NET 30.3 occupations with published Work Context ratings
- What O*NET asks incumbents
- Outdoors, Exposed to All Weather Conditions: "How often does this job require working outdoors, exposed to all weather conditions?"
- Scale
- 1 = Never; 3 = Once a month or more but not every week; 5 = Every day. Values are mean incumbent ratings.
- Wage and outlook source
- BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, Table 1.2 Occupational projections, 2025–35, and worker characteristics, 2025 (Employment in thousands). 6 of the 25 occupations listed have a dedicated RoleSprint page.
Source and method
O*NET 30.3 Database (Work Context), U.S. Department of Labor, and BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2. Verified 2026-09-05. Ratings are reproduced from O*NET as published mean incumbent responses on each question's own 1-to-5 scale. Percentile ranks, composite averages and the resulting order are RoleSprint's computation and are described on the methodology page. Wage, education and outlook fields are reproduced from BLS for the matching SOC code and left blank where BLS publishes no line item.
What this page does and does not claim
People search this as “outdoor jobs”. This page answers that with the measurement behind it: Outdoors, Exposed to All Weather Conditions, rated on a fixed 1-to-5 scale by people who do each job.
It does not say which jobs suit a personality, a temperament or a health condition. It reports a measured condition of the work and lets you decide whether that condition is the one you meant.
The 25 occupations
Ordered by mean rating for Outdoors, Exposed to All Weather Conditions, highest first. Scale: 1 = Never; 5 = Every day.
| # | Occupation | O*NET value | Rank | BLS wage and education |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators O*NET-SOC 47-2073.00 | 5.00 of 5 Every day | Higher than 99% of 894 occupations | $59,850 median (2025) High school diploma or equivalent · +4.6% 2025-35 |
| 2 | Driver/Sales Workers O*NET-SOC 53-3031.00 | 5.00 of 5 Every day | Higher than 99% of 894 occupations | $38,770 median (2025) High school diploma or equivalent · +7.9% 2025-35 |
| 3 | Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers O*NET-SOC 49-9051.00 | 5.00 of 5 Every day | Higher than 99% of 894 occupations | $95,320 median (2025) High school diploma or equivalent · +10.3% 2025-35 |
| 4 | Service Unit Operators, Oil and Gas O*NET-SOC 47-5013.00 | 5.00 of 5 Every day | Higher than 99% of 894 occupations | $58,160 median (2025) No formal educational credential · +1.1% 2025-35 |
| 5 | Sailors and Marine Oilers O*NET-SOC 53-5011.00 | 5.00 of 5 Every day | Higher than 99% of 894 occupations | $51,520 median (2025) No formal educational credential · +3.2% 2025-35 |
| 6 | Meter Readers, Utilities O*NET-SOC 43-5041.00 | 5.00 of 5 Every day | Higher than 99% of 894 occupations | $48,150 median (2025) High school diploma or equivalent · -10.5% 2025-35 |
| 7 | Crossing Guards and Flaggers O*NET-SOC 33-9091.00 | 4.99 of 5 Every day | Higher than 99% of 894 occupations | $38,100 median (2025) No formal educational credential · +3.5% 2025-35 |
| 8 | Derrick Operators, Oil and Gas O*NET-SOC 47-5011.00 | 4.99 of 5 Every day | Higher than 99% of 894 occupations | $58,620 median (2025) No formal educational credential · +1.6% 2025-35 |
| 9 | Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers O*NET-SOC 37-3011.00 | 4.98 of 5 Every day | Higher than 99% of 894 occupations | $39,150 median (2025) No formal educational credential · +4.7% 2025-35 |
| 10 | Roofers O*NET-SOC 47-2181.00 | 4.98 of 5 Every day | Higher than 99% of 894 occupations | $55,440 median (2025) No formal educational credential · +5.3% 2025-35 |
| 11 | Roustabouts, Oil and Gas O*NET-SOC 47-5071.00 | 4.98 of 5 Every day | Higher than 99% of 894 occupations | $46,960 median (2025) No formal educational credential · +3.6% 2025-35 |
| 12 | Parking Enforcement Workers O*NET-SOC 33-3041.00 | 4.98 of 5 Every day | Higher than 99% of 894 occupations | $46,730 median (2025) High school diploma or equivalent · -1.1% 2025-35 |
| 13 | Pile Driver Operators O*NET-SOC 47-2072.00 | 4.98 of 5 Every day | Higher than 99% of 894 occupations | $73,300 median (2025) High school diploma or equivalent · -5.7% 2025-35 |
| 14 | Brickmasons and Blockmasons O*NET-SOC 47-2021.00 | 4.97 of 5 Every day | Higher than 98% of 894 occupations | $62,120 median (2025) High school diploma or equivalent · +1.1% 2025-35 |
| 15 | Wellhead Pumpers O*NET-SOC 53-7073.00 | 4.97 of 5 Every day | Higher than 98% of 894 occupations | $69,960 median (2025) High school diploma or equivalent · -2% 2025-35 |
| 16 | Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas O*NET-SOC 47-5012.00 | 4.97 of 5 Every day | Higher than 98% of 894 occupations | $67,890 median (2025) No formal educational credential · +0.8% 2025-35 |
| 17 | Log Graders and Scalers O*NET-SOC 45-4023.00 | 4.96 of 5 Every day | Higher than 98% of 894 occupations | $46,330 median (2025) High school diploma or equivalent · -2.2% 2025-35 |
| 18 | First-Line Supervisors of Landscaping, Lawn Service, and Groundskeeping Workers O*NET-SOC 37-1012.00 | 4.95 of 5 Every day | Higher than 98% of 894 occupations | $58,430 median (2025) High school diploma or equivalent · +4% 2025-35 |
| 19 | Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners O*NET-SOC 47-4071.00 | 4.95 of 5 Every day | Higher than 98% of 894 occupations | $49,880 median (2025) High school diploma or equivalent · +7.8% 2025-35 |
| 20 | Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators O*NET-SOC 47-4061.00 | 4.95 of 5 Every day | Higher than 98% of 894 occupations | $70,070 median (2025) High school diploma or equivalent · +1.5% 2025-35 |
| 21 | Highway Maintenance Workers O*NET-SOC 47-4051.00 | 4.94 of 5 Every day | Higher than 98% of 894 occupations | $50,260 median (2025) High school diploma or equivalent · +3.4% 2025-35 |
| 22 | Fallers O*NET-SOC 45-4021.00 | 4.94 of 5 Every day | Higher than 98% of 894 occupations | $52,100 median (2025) High school diploma or equivalent · -9.9% 2025-35 |
| 23 | Animal Control Workers O*NET-SOC 33-9011.00 | 4.92 of 5 Every day | Higher than 97% of 894 occupations | $45,660 median (2025) High school diploma or equivalent · +4% 2025-35 |
| 24 | Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters O*NET-SOC 47-5032.00 | 4.92 of 5 Every day | Higher than 97% of 894 occupations | $61,390 median (2025) High school diploma or equivalent · 0% 2025-35 |
| 25 | Postal Service Mail Carriers O*NET-SOC 43-5052.00 | 4.91 of 5 Every day | Higher than 97% of 894 occupations | $60,550 median (2025) No formal educational credential · -0.3% 2025-35 |
Values are mean ratings from O*NET 30.3; most come from surveys of people in the occupation, some from occupational experts, and some for newer occupations from O*NET analysts. Wage, education and outlook are from BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2 for the matching SOC code and are blank where BLS publishes no line item.
How this was measured
Outdoors, Exposed to All Weather Conditions (O*NET element 4.C.2.a.1.c). The question put to incumbents: “How often does this job require working outdoors, exposed to all weather conditions?”
- 1
Never
- 2
Once a year or more but not every month
- 3
Once a month or more but not every week
- 4
Once a week or more but not every day
- 5
Every day
893 of 894 occupations have a published, unsuppressed value for this element. The percentile beside each occupation is its position among them.
The full method, including how ties are broken and what the data cannot tell you, is on the methodology page.
Narrow the list with BLS data
Each variant keeps the same measure and restricts the occupations by a published BLS threshold. A variant exists only where the restriction actually changes the list rather than the heading; the combinations that left the answer much as it was were not published.
Combine this with other conditions
The explorer ranks all occupations on any set of measures you choose, with the same values and the same arithmetic as this page.
Open the explorer with this selectionThis page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. RoleSprint has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. Wage, education and outlook figures are reproduced from BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
What to do next
These rankings describe occupations in general. The next question is whether a specific opening in one of them actually matches what you can show, and that is answered by comparing the posting with your resume.