Career
Rotary drill operators, oil and gas
Run the drills on oil and gas rigs.
$67,890
Median pay
+0.8%
Job growth, 2025–35
1,100
Openings a year
No formal educational credential
Typical education
None required
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Train crews, and introduce procedures to make drill work more safe and effective.
- Observe pressure gauge and move throttles and levers to control the speed of rotary tables, and to regulate pressure of tools at bottoms of boreholes.
- Maintain records of footage drilled, location and nature of strata penetrated, materials and tools used, services rendered, and time required.
- Push levers and brake pedals to control gasoline, diesel, electric, or steam draw works that lower and raise drill pipes and casings in and out of wells.
- Connect sections of drill pipe, using hand tools and powered wrenches and tongs.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on objects & tools, then information & systems?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Train crews, and introduce procedures to make drill work more safe and effective.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Operation and Control, Operations Monitoring, Critical Thinking, Monitoring.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
No degree beyond high school, though moderate-term on-the-job training is typical, for a median of $67,890 a year and 1,100 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- Well Drilling/DrillerCIP 46.0504
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas$60,190 · +3.6%
- Helpers--Extraction Workers$47,730 · +1.7%
- Service Unit Operators, Oil and Gas$58,160 · +1.1%
- Roustabouts, Oil and Gas$46,960 · +3.6%
- Wellhead Pumpers$69,960 · -2.0%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.