Tune a regulator on the stand
Hook the regulator to a test stand and adjust it until the gauges match its target pressures.
Career profile
Control and Valve Technician
Control and valve repairers fix and tune meters, regulators and valves governing flow and pressure.
A device that leaks or gives wrong readings sends you hunting for the cause. You fix it, then test to confirm the problem is gone.
A day in the life
Replace a broken spring
Take the control device apart, swap out the broken spring, then rebuild it following the drawing.
Make meter readings trustworthy
In utility work, you verify and tune water or gas meters with computer-aided testing gear.
Pick the next check from graphs
On equipped industrial valves, you spot excess friction or limited air supply in on-screen movement graphs.
Record what changed on the device
Enter the test results, the parts you installed and the repairs you made into the maintenance record.
Quick facts
High school + job training
United States · 2025
$74,340 a year
United States · May 2025
4.3% projected growth
United States · 2025–2035
Quick orientation
Preparation, pay & outlook
Preparation
High school + job trainingTypical entry preparation is a high school diploma or equivalent, followed by moderate-term training on the job.
Pay
$74,340 a yearNational median pay, equivalent to $35.74 an hour.
Outlook
4.3% projected growthAbout 3,600 openings a year are projected nationwide, including replacement openings.
Fit, tradeoffs & changing tools
You might like this if…
- You enjoy careful repairs with small parts.
- You like checking measurements.
- You want to investigate why a valve responds differently from what a graph predicts.
Things to weigh
- Noise and protective equipment are regular parts of many jobs.
- Utility field work can mean kneeling, bending, lifting, and working outside in poor weather.
Where AI may help
For compatible industrial valves, software can schedule tests, monitor performance while equipment runs, and help check a rebuilt valve.
What people still lead
You still connect the findings to a repair: use the manufacturer's drawings and procedures, fix the hardware, and verify the result.
What we can’t predict yet
How much diagnosis will happen automatically or from a central workstation remains uncertain. The balance will depend partly on which valves have connected controls.
Pay in context
Earnings
The national median is $74,340 a year, or $35.74 an hour. Use it as a comparison point when reading offers.
The national spread
In May 2025, the 10th-percentile annual wage was $45,910 and the 90th-percentile wage was $112,500. These mark the lower and upper ends of the wage distribution; they are not starting and senior pay rates.
Workplace type matters
A historical comparison shows different pay levels: May 2023 annual averages were $80,470 in natural gas distribution and $94,220 in electric power generation, transmission and distribution. These are industry means for this occupation, not current offers or the newer national median.
Openings include replacing workers
Employment is projected to grow 4.3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 3,600 openings annually. The openings total includes people leaving the occupation as well as newly added jobs.
Getting started
Learn through an employer
- What the route involves
- Finish high school or its equivalent, then pursue a training position or meter/regulator apprenticeship.
- What it can lead to
- Build practical competence through work with experienced technicians.
Study instrumentation
- What the route involves
- Complete an instrumentation associate degree covering measurement, controls, and troubleshooting. Texas State Technical College offers this option through in-person classes in Waco.
- What it can lead to
- Build a technical foundation for instrument-focused work involving flow, pressure, and temperature, along with the computers that control equipment.
Choose between learning through employment and studying instrumentation first. For covered gas-pipeline tasks, you must pass the operator's qualification evaluation or work while directed and observed by a qualified person.
After entry
Career paths
This starts where the entry routes leave off: early work, growing capability, and advancement or specialization.
Get reliable with routine checks
Learn to test and adjust the smaller meters in your workplace. Aim for consistent results before tackling more complicated instruments.
Handle harder valve problems
Learn the manufacturer's repair procedures and technical drawings. Add diagnostic skills so you can confirm that a repair resolved the fault.
Specialize or lead a shop
Work toward a senior specialty such as electric actuators—the devices that move valves—or pressure-relief valves.
- A shop supervisor role offers a different direction: taking responsibility for the repair shop's work.
Where you can work
Gas and water utilities
Travel between customer properties and utility sites. You work with field crews, investigate measurement problems, and handle meters and regulators outdoors as well as at service facilities.
- Field work
- Outdoors
- Vehicle
- Physical demands
- Safety-sensitive
Industrial valve repair shops
Work where large machine tools, overhead cranes, and valve-testing machines are available. Some shops handle large, high-pressure valves that need substantial equipment for repair and retesting.
- Indoors
- Physical demands
- Safety-sensitive
Mobile crews at industrial plants
Bring a repair trailer with machine tools and test equipment to the plant. During an outage, the crew can remove, repair, test, and reinstall valves without shipping them away.
- Field work
- Travel
- Safety-sensitive
Try it
See whether the job clicks before you commit to the path.
Make a paper valve-test record. Write requested openings of 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%, then invent measured positions with one mismatch. Circle the mismatch and write what you would want to check before blaming a part. Notice whether comparing response with a target interests you.
Stay safe: Keep this exercise on paper; do not adjust utility meters, gas regulators, or pressurized equipment.
Sources
- O*NET OnLine. Control and Valve Installers and Repairers, Except Mechanical Door. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- O*NET OnLine / U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. National Wages: 49-9012.00. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational projections, 2025–35, and worker characteristics, 2025. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. May 2023 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics: 49-9012. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- City of Palo Alto. Gas and Water Measurement and Control Technician. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- Texas State Technical College. Instrumentation. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- Emerson. Control Valve Diagnostics. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- Emerson. Fisher ValveLink Software. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- Emerson. Premier Service Providers. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- TEAM, Inc.. Valve Technicians and Assistants. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- United Valve. Industrial Valve Repair – In Shop. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- WARE. Mobile Valve Repair. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. 49 CFR 192.805 — Qualification program. Accessed 2026-10-03.