crossing guard
Crossing guards direct pedestrians in public places like streets nearby schools or railways to cross public roads and intersections by observing traffic and holding a stop sign towards the vehicles to allow the crossing of pedestrians in a safe and orderly manner.
crossing guard crossing guards direct pedestrians in public places like streets nearby schools or railways to cross public roads and intersections by observing traffic and holding a stop sign towards the vehicles to allow the crossing of pedestrians in a safe and orderly man. The role shows moderate AI exposure (0.50 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include traffic signs, road traffic laws, local geography, use signalling equipment, react calmly in stressful situations.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £44,007 a year for Protective service associate professionals n.e.c. (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
Middle half of full-time jobs: £35,435 to £54,944 a year
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 3319). ONS rates this estimate reasonably precise. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Service and sales workers” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only crossing guard, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 5. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- Public Safety and Security
- Customer and Personal Service
- English Language
- Law and Government
- Psychology
- Education and Training
- Personnel and Human Resources
- Administration and Management
What you'd actually do
- Direct or escort pedestrians across streets, stopping traffic, as necessary.
- Guide or control vehicular or pedestrian traffic at such places as street and railroad crossings and construction sites.
- Monitor traffic flow to locate safe gaps through which pedestrians can cross streets.
- Communicate traffic and crossing rules and other information to students and adults.
- Direct traffic movement or warn of hazards, using signs, flags, lanterns, and hand signals.
- Report unsafe behavior of children to school officials.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does crossing guard do?
Crossing guards direct pedestrians in public places like streets nearby schools or railways to cross public roads and intersections by observing traffic and holding a stop sign towards the vehicles to allow the crossing of pedestrians in a safe and orderly manner.
What skills does crossing guard need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include traffic signs, road traffic laws, local geography, use signalling equipment, react calmly in stressful situations, stay alert. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace crossing guard?
Our AI-durability model gives crossing guard a score of 0.50 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.