Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels build operation and control, operations monitoring and judgment and decision making skills that carry over to other work. Below are 25 careers ranked by how closely their skills match, with pay from BLS May 2025. The closest match is Commercial Pilots (86%).
Updated October 2026 · Data: O*NET 31.0 and BLS OEWS May 2025 · How we match careers
Sorted by skill match.
| # | Career | Skill match | Median pay | Pay change | Extra education |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Commercial Pilots | 86% | $123,220 | +33% | None |
| 2 | Locomotive Engineers | 79% | $81,410 | −12% | None |
| 3 | Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers | 78% | $232,140 | +151% | Bachelor's degree |
| 4 | Gas Plant Operators | 72% | $87,820 | −5% | None |
| 5 | Subway and Streetcar Operators | 72% | $86,380 | −7% | None |
| 6 | Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers | 71% | $96,710 | +5% | None |
| 7 | Railroad Conductors and Yardmasters | 69% | $78,000 | −16% | None |
| 8 | Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers | 69% | $68,840 | −26% | None |
| 9 | Aviation Inspectors | 68% | $92,100Pay for the broader BLS group “Transportation Inspectors” | Not compared | None |
| 10 | Hydroelectric Plant Technicians | 68% | $102,040Pay for the broader BLS group “Power Plant Operators” | Not compared | None |
Compared with Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels, median $92,460. Skill match is our estimate (0–99) from O*NET 31.0 skills, knowledge, work activities and interests, adjusted for preparation and big pay drops. Pay: BLS OEWS May 2025, national median.
How important each skill is in work as captains, mates, and pilots of water vessels (O*NET importance, scale 1–5).
The gaps that show up most often across your top 10 matches.
Free and low-cost training: use the CareerOneStop training finder below.
A concrete first step, the skills to add, and the hard parts of each job, from O*NET 31.0 education, training and work context data.
86% skill match · $123,220 · +33% pay
Operation and Control · Operations Monitoring · Systems Evaluation
79% skill match · $81,410 · −12% pay
Operations Monitoring · Operation and Control
78% skill match · $232,140 · +151% pay
Operation and Control · Operations Monitoring · Time Management
If you want to stay close to what you do now, these roles are the nearest.
The closest matches are Commercial Pilots (86% skill match, median $123,220), Locomotive Engineers (79% skill match, median $81,410) and Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers (78% skill match, median $232,140), based on O*NET 31.0 data and BLS May 2025 pay.
Among the 25 matches, 9 pay more than captains, mates, and pilots of water vessels at the median. The biggest increases: Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers (+151%, $232,140), Commercial Pilots (+33%, $123,220) and Nuclear Technicians (+19%, $110,240).
23 of the 25 matches usually need no more education than you have now, based on O*NET Job Zones.
We compare the importance of skills, knowledge, work activities and interests in O*NET 31.0 for your job and every other career, then adjust for extra preparation and big pay drops. The full method is on our Methodology page.