Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas Salary - BLS OEWS Wage Benchmarks
SOC 47-5023 · National · May 2025 OEWS Data
Median Annual Salary
$60,195
$28.94/hr
Verified BLS OEWS data · Updated May 18, 2026
Source: BLS OEWS · Published May 15, 2026
Next refresh: May 2027
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The national median salary for Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas is $60,195 per year ($28.94/hr) according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025. The middle 50% of earners make between $49,899 and $72,446 annually. Top earners at the 90th percentile reach $83,803 per year. There are approximately 19,450 earth drillers, except oil and gas employed in the United States.
About This Role
BLS Standard Occupational Classification 2018
Operate a variety of drills such as rotary, churn, and pneumatic to tap subsurface water and salt deposits, to remove core samples during mineral exploration or soil testing, and to facilitate the use of explosives in mining or construction. Includes horizontal and earth boring machine operators.
Career Outlook
BLS Employment Projections · 2024-2034
10-year growth
+2.9%
About as fast as average
Annual openings
2K
per year, on avg
Workforce today
18K
as of 2024
Why those openings exist
3% from new growth97% from people leaving the role
Most openings come from replacement, not growth. Retention matters more than recruiting here.
Typical entry requirements
Education
High school diploma or equivalent
Experience
Less than 5 years
On-the-job training
Long-term on-the-job training
Industry Wage Breakdown
Top 5 industries by employment · median annual wage, sector-specific
Industry
Workforce
Median Pay
Utility System Construction
NAICS 237100
9K
$61,260
Other Specialty Trade Contractors
NAICS 238900
3K
$58,370
Support Activities for Mining
NAICS 213100
2K
$59,790
Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services
NAICS 541300
2K
$56,160
Nonmetallic Mineral Mining and Quarrying
NAICS 212300
780
$59,980
Wage Percentiles
Hourly & annualized (2,080 hours)
Percentile
Hourly Rate
Annual Salary
P10
$21.37
$44,450
P25
$23.99
$49,899
P50MEDIAN
$28.94
$60,195
P75
$34.83
$72,446
P90
$40.29
$83,803
Market Context Signal
JOLTS · manufacturing sector
Stable
Openings Rate
3.5%
Quits Rate
1.4%
Manufacturing openings ticked up to 462K (+19K) in March, with the rate at 3.5%. Hires rose to 310K. The sector has stabilized after late-2025 softening.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average earth drillers, except oil and gas salary?
The national median salary for Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas is $60,195 per year ($28.94/hr) according to BLS OEWS May 2025 data. The middle 50% earn between $49,899 and $72,446 annually.
How much do top-earning earth drillers, except oil and gas make?
The 90th percentile salary for Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas is $83,803 per year ($40.29/hr). The 75th percentile is $72,446 per year.
What is the entry-level salary for earth drillers, except oil and gas?
Entry-level Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas (10th percentile) earn approximately $44,450 per year ($21.37/hr). The 25th percentile is $49,899 per year.
Wage figures on this page come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025 release. OEWS surveys roughly 1.1 million establishments annually. It is the most comprehensive employer-reported wage dataset in the United States.
P10 through P90 percentiles represent the wage distribution across all surveyed employers (not self-reported by workers). Geographic adjustments use BLS-derived cost multipliers calibrated from regional wage variation.
Wages are estimates. Individual compensation depends on experience, education, employer size, industry, and negotiation. Use this as benchmark context, not absolute ground truth.
CompSignal is a free labor market intelligence tool built for HR, compensation, and talent acquisition teams. We make BLS data, the same primary source Mercer and Radford cross-reference in their paid surveys, searchable and actionable without an enterprise subscription.
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