COMMERCIAL DIVING CAREERS

This short introduction to commercial diving jobs and roles gives a glimpse into the full range of career paths and roles commercially trained divers from CDI may consider as they advance in their commercial dive training. Although the job comes with a demanding and challenging environment, proper training along with good physical fitness ensures your team gets the job done safely and efficiently. CDI is the place to get started!

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For more information about CDI and our programs, get in contact with a member of our team today.

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Where Diving Careers Thrive 

The best place to establish and grow your diving career is a place with plenty of access to large, deep bodies of water. This can include areas near the coasts, rivers, and lakes. However, you’re not limited to just those locations. Often there are specific local needs for commercial divers, such as at golf courses or water treatment facilities. 

One of the benefits of working as a commercial diver means that there are plenty of job opportunities that allow you to live anywhere. Many companies operate nationally or even internationally. This allows you to visit new places and new countries while experiencing different cultures. 

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Domestic 

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There are plenty of states within the country that need commercial divers. They often match the characteristics laid out above, but you may also be surprised by some of the states that employ the most commercial divers. Land-locked states like Missouri, Tennessee, Indiana, and Ohio all employ hundreds of divers each year. 

 

According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, these five states employ the most divers in the country: 

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• Florida 

• California 

• Texas 

• Louisiana 

• Alaska 

 

It’s clear from this list that states surrounding the Gulf of Mexico have an increased need for commercial divers. This means you may find work in Alabama, Mississippi, and some Caribbean islands. 

If you’re looking to maximize your salary from your commercial diving career, though, you’re more likely to find high-paying work on the coasts of the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean. According to the same BLS study, companies in these five states tend to pay the highest average annual salary: 

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• Alaska: $86,600 

• Washington: $84,480 

• New Jersey: $77,080 

• New Hampshire: $75,500 

• Connecticut: $72,400 

 

Texas, Maryland, California, New York, Alabama, and Indiana also have average annual salaries that fall between $56,410 and $70,540. Falling just below that mark, you’ll find states like Michigan, Virginia, Florida, Louisiana, and Texas with average annual salaries that range between $43,700 and $53,590. 

 

As anyone who’s driven through the country can attest, though, states often contain a diverse mixture of urban and rural areas. For some larger states, like California, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, you can still find high-paying commercial diving jobs by sticking to the major metropolitan centers. 

 

Commercial divers living in the Los Angeles area, for instance, make around $84,000 annually on average. Divers in the Philadelphia area average around $70,000 annually, and those in and near Virginia Beach typically make just under $59,000 each year.  

 

So, looking just at metropolitan areas, you’ll find these cities offer the highest average annual salary for commercial divers:

 

• Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA: $84,370 

• Anchorage, AK: $83,210 

• Portsmouth, NH: $81,550 

• New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA: $70,900 

• Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD, $70,410 

• Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL: $70,280. 

 

All of this is to say that your commercial diving career should be able to support you practically everywhere within the United States. Looking at where there’s a specific need, and in larger cities, though, will help you net the most profitable career. 

 

International 

 

As demonstrated by all the places domestically, you can make a career as a commercial diver; it goes to say that you’ll have plenty of opportunities internationally to establish your career, too. This doesn’t mean you’ll have to work for an international company, though, as plenty of American-based companies work internationally. The Underwater Construction Corporation, for example, is headquartered in the U.S. but has regional offices and operates throughout the world.  

 

Places like China, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and South America all need commercial divers for the same reasons America does. Of course, working internationally often requires work visas and other administrative paperwork, but it comes with the benefit of living in a new place and immersing yourself in new cultures. 

 

Beyond the four countries or continents listed above, you should be able to find other countries in need of commercial divers:

 

• Canada 

• Greece 

• Japan 

• Malaysia 

• Mexico 

• Russia 

• Singapore 

 

Many members of our staff have worked overseas, and they are more than happy to discuss their experiences working overseas. Feel free to ask them any questions to help you better understand if you’d prefer to work domestically or internationally. 

 

Companies Hiring Commercial Divers 

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Even with the skills, knowledge, and experience needed to excel as a commercial diver, it always helps to know what companies are looking to hire. To make the search a bit easier, we’ve compiled a list of some companies who are often in need of commercial divers: 

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• American Underwater Services (Fort Worth, TX) 

• Bidco Marine Group (Buffalo, NY) 

• Bisso Marine (New Orleans, LA) 

• Collins Engineers (Chicago, IL) 

• Global Diving & Salvage (Seattle, WA) 

• Marine Technologies (Baltimore, MD) 

• Muldoon Marine Services (Long Beach, CA) 

• Specialty Underwater Services (Baltimore, MD, and Pittsburgh, PA) 

• Subsea Global Solutions (Tampa, FL, and Houston, TX) 

Underwater Marine Contractors (Cleveland, OH)