Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas salary

SOC 47-5023 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$60,190

per year, nationally

Middle half

$49,900–$72,450

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

19,450

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+2.9%

1,700 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$44,460$83,800

10th: $44,460
25th: $49,900
Median: $60,190
75th: $72,450
90th: $83,800

Getting in

Typical education to enter: High school diploma or equivalent
Related work experience: Less than 5 years
On-the-job training: Long-term on-the-job training

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where earth drillers, except oil and gas earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Washington	$80,490	107.0	210	0.47×
2	Alaska	$80,040	102.4	290	7.15×
3	Illinois	$79,080	100.0	330	0.44×
4	New Jersey	$77,950	108.8	400	0.74×
5	Montana	$71,470	94.6	180	2.88×
6	Wisconsin	$68,320	94.1	280	0.77×
7	California	$66,910	110.7	1,630	0.71×
8	New Hampshire	$66,410	104.2	80	0.88×
9	Connecticut	$65,710	103.6	140	0.65×
10	Kansas	$65,600	90.1	80	0.46×
11	Oregon	$64,920	103.4	510	2.08×
12	Colorado	$64,820	103.1	280	0.79×
13	Wyoming	$64,450	92.7	90	2.61×
14	Massachusetts	$64,180	105.8	130	0.29×
15	Minnesota	$63,790	98.6	340	0.93×
16	Indiana	$62,750	93.3	440	1.11×
17	North Dakota	$62,570	89.0	110	2.09×
18	Michigan	$62,570	96.2	850	1.55×
19	South Carolina	$61,500	93.7	120	0.43×
20	Vermont	$61,420	98.0	70	1.81×
21	Maryland	$61,260	105.0	120	0.34×
22	Nevada	$61,030	100.0	1,350	6.95×
23	Ohio	$61,010	92.8	390	0.56×
24	New York	$60,860	107.9	670	0.56×
25	Mississippi	$60,680	87.0	250	1.72×
26	Utah	$60,490	98.9	310	1.44×
27	Nebraska	$60,200	90.1	210	1.60×
28	New Mexico	$60,140	92.2	100	0.96×
29	Arizona	$58,870	100.7	850	2.09×
30	Texas	$58,700	97.1	1,930	1.10×
31	Tennessee	$58,670	91.9	450	1.10×
32	Pennsylvania	$57,400	97.6	730	0.97×
33	North Carolina	$57,300	94.3	290	0.47×
34	South Dakota	$57,160	88.6	80	1.34×
35	Delaware	$57,160	99.8	—	—
36	Kentucky	$56,160	90.2	80	0.34×
37	Louisiana	$55,690	88.2	190	0.77×
38	West Virginia	$55,540	89.5	240	2.68×
39	Virginia	$55,470	101.1	440	0.86×
40	Florida	$55,320	103.4	1,630	1.32×
41	Idaho	$54,830	95.5	450	4.24×
42	Oklahoma	$54,180	87.8	250	1.17×
43	Iowa	$54,000	87.8	190	0.96×
44	Missouri	$51,530	90.8	370	1.00×
45	Georgia	$50,030	96.3	870	1.42×
46	Alabama	$46,440	88.8	170	0.63×
47	Arkansas	$46,160	86.9	110	0.69×
48	Maine	$45,560	97.0	70	0.84×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where earth drillers, except oil and gas wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for earth drillers, except oil and gas

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Fairbanks-College, AK	$94,600	103.2	60	12.32×
2	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$89,300	111.1	90	0.33×
3	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$81,960	103.6	220	0.40×
4	Anchorage, AK	$80,030	105.4	—	—
5	Billings, MT	$78,410	93.5	40	3.56×
6	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$76,850	115.6	120	0.42×
7	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$74,300	104.8	140	0.57×
8	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$74,120	112.6	530	0.44×
9	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$73,560	105.4	210	1.40×
10	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$73,090	108.3	90	0.27×
11	Saginaw, MI	$72,800	90.9	30	3.24×
12	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$71,790	106.7	150	1.07×
13	Flint, MI	$71,650	93.0	30	1.97×
14	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	$71,280	100.3	40	1.14×
15	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$67,530	102.7	—	—
16	Colorado Springs, CO	$66,360	100.7	50	1.31×
17	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$64,360	102.6	240	0.66×
18	Cleveland, OH	$64,260	93.9	50	0.39×
19	Bakersfield-Delano, CA	$64,200	100.9	70	1.74×
20	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$63,760	105.8	120	0.58×
21	Midland, TX	$63,730	95.8	60	4.24×
22	Bend, OR	$63,490	103.6	40	2.82×
23	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$63,460	105.1	50	1.33×
24	Lansing-East Lansing, MI	$63,440	95.0	30	1.15×
25	Omaha, NE-IA	$63,330	91.9	60	0.99×
26	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT	$63,300	100.9	170	1.62×
27	Albuquerque, NM	$63,180	95.5	30	0.60×
28	Fresno, CA	$63,000	102.2	90	1.56×
29	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$62,790	106.4	240	1.11×
30	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	$62,710	95.7	160	1.15×
31	Jackson, MS	$62,620	89.0	60	1.82×
32	Salem, OR	$62,510	103.6	90	3.93×
33	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	$62,400	100.2	160	1.15×
34	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$61,980	95.4	50	0.40×
35	Memphis, TN-MS-AR	$61,710	92.2	50	0.67×
36	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	$61,550	98.1	170	1.04×
37	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	$61,500	97.3	110	0.63×
38	Waterbury-Shelton, CT	$61,490	99.8	40	2.06×
39	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	$61,390	96.9	60	0.61×
40	Reno, NV	$61,200	101.0	110	3.18×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where earth drillers, except oil and gas wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Roustabouts, Oil and Gas$46,960
Service Unit Operators, Oil and Gas$58,160
Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining$57,430
Continuous Mining Machine Operators$61,810
Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas$67,890
Derrick Operators, Oil and Gas$58,620
Helpers--Extraction Workers$47,730
Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining$74,500

Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where earth drillers, except oil and gas earn the most

Best paying metro areas for earth drillers, except oil and gas

Similar occupations

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